AUSTRALIAN PARTICIPATION MURDER MYSTERIES

We have a suite of murder mystery programs named for the Ivy League Schools. When we came up with our first one, the Cambridge Solution, we thought is was Harvard Smart! Entertaining for private parties, team building for companies, and engaging for audiences, Participants get directly involved as characters in the show! It's easy and fun to play and our professional hosts help your people to be stars!

MYSTERY FAQs CONTACT US

THEY improv works with groups of all sizes and discovered a need for a mid-sized event in addition to smaller and larger event options. Our Participation Events are the solutions to those situations.

TYPES OF PARTICIPATION EVENTS

AN APPROACH FOR ANY GROUP

THE CAMBRIDGE SOLUTION

One of the more flexible approaches, it uses several of your people as characters that either go group to group, usually at tables, to answer questions to solve the crime. Alternatively, the characters could be stationed in locations around a room, a facility, or outside, waiting for characters to come to them to ask them questions. This is a double contest with people trying to determine the murderer and those playing the suspects trying to be the best actor.

THE DARTMOUTH PLAN

Similar to the Cambridge Solution, the Dartmouth Plan is for smaller groups allowing for everyone to be both a suspect and detective. This is usually more of a mix-and-mingle affair, though it can be done Speed Dating style.

THE CORNELL CONUNDRUM

This is more of a team building version with presentation skills involved. The people in the room are in teams of prosecutors in the DA's office. They choose from a collection of suspects the one they want to prosecute, with each team selecting a different suspect. They are provided with a dossier with additional information and can make any sort of presentation to the DA that they may want to. This can include Infomercials, MTV Music Videos (that used to be a thing), Haikus, whatever!

THE PRINCETON PERMUTATION

This is an adaptation of the Cambridge Solution for much larger groups. Each of the suspects deliver a speech about how they are angry with the person who will be the victim. The murder is announced and then the suspects deliver another speech throwing others under the bus. This can be followed by stationing the suspects around the room to be interrogated or we can move directly to solutions to the crime.

ADD-ONS

We have add-ons that can make your event more effective!

THE PROVIDENCE ADDENDUM

For larger groups, you may want to give the audience a little more of a part. Each person at a table is given a generic character. These are archetypes, like "The Lawyer" or "The Uber Driver" as examples. These characters don't have names and just a generic background. It gives them something fun to play. They each have a couple of pieces of information about the suspects and so have a head start on the mystery. We can provide an additional prize for each table and have them vote at their table for their table's best actor.

THE COLUMBIA COLLABORATION

We can take some members of your audience on a comedic trip through a crime scene and interrogating suspects. There are visual and audio clues and we can either have some people on stage as entertainment, or rotate the entire audience through one team at a time, most likely through a series of sets that we use. Think of it as an escape room where they go room to room until they've solved the crime.

THE DEAD BODY

We can provide an additional actor to play the dead body. this person would come in and die. It will NOT look like a crime scene, but it will provide the opporutnity for individuals or teams to come up and take group photos. That person will later come back and be an assistant to your host.

JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE - For Charity
These are all designed as less expensive alternatives to help reduce our costs. However, there are ways to help raise additional money. If you get sponsors for the event, some might pay to play the characters. They get to get in front of everyone, show their support for your organization or cause, and develop relationships that can prove profitable in the future. Likewise, we can use some of your volunteers to be snitches who sell tips along the way with the proceeds going to your cause.

HOW TO HIRE US

WE GO THROUGH A PROCESS TO BRING YOU THE BEST OPTIONS

CALL US

We will have conversations to better explain how this works and to get the details from you that can assist us to help you decide on the best approach for your group.

DECIDE ON AN APPROACH

With an understanding of your desired results and details of your event, we work with you to determine the best approach. You, of course, are the decider. We simply advise and concent to get you a plan that will work.

CHOOSE A THEME

We work with you to choose a theme. This can be one of our standards, partially customized to your group, or it could be a brand new scenario created just for you. While this can work in things from your office, we usually try to persuade you against that. You don't want people in the office thinking that you are actually talking about them as either worthy of killing or capable of being a murderer. We usually recommend a bit of fantasy to allow your guests to fully let go and have fun in the game, leaving the cares and worries of the office behind!

CONTRACTING WITH US

Our contracts are in PLAIN ENGLISH. They are usually one page and are meant to allow for a complete understanding of the obligations on both parts. We require a 50% deposit with the balance due one-week prior to the event. The cost of your chosen payment method is passed on to you. We will need to know the gender of participants, if there are any. We would then prepare a scenario for your approval. We would go back and forth until it is the approach you are looking for. A host is assigned, and that person will contact you directly a couple of days before the event.

We know for a fact that your people will likely make some mistakes along the way. Our professional host, or hosts, listen and adjust the final answer to what your people said rather than what we wrote. This helps to make certain that your people appear to be the rock stars of the evening! This means that we bring high-quality hosts for your corporate event, fundraiser or private party!

SCENARIOS

THESE ARE JUST SOME OF OUR SCENARIOS

Death of The Alderman

This 1920s themed party involves the election of an Alderman to the local city council. The party is a celebration of his victory and those in attendance are his supporters dressed as flappers and mobsters. This includes the North Side Mob, the South Side Mob, his spouse, political figures and temperance workers. It's a great time had by all and we can add a costume contest as well.

The Godmother

This mobster themed show involves the death of the head of the organization of the local families, the Godmother. Taking on the personality of your city, the show quickly customizes to the audience involved. Suspects usually include the heads of the families that are a bit comedic and designed to easily be played by your people. Other characters can include politicians, someone from the old country, reporters, and business people. You'll laugh...if you know what's good for you!

Murder of The Millionaire

One of the more standard scenarios, this involves a millionaire who made his wealth on the backs of many others who want a piece of the action. This likely includes a spouse, a girlfriend, a business rival, a yes-man, a competitor and a politician. We have offshoots on the Coast of Spain, the Coast of France, the Coast of Italy, Hawaii and others to get one appropriate for your party.

The Murder of 008

Our own take on the spy genre has the death of 008. You Only Live Twice? Not so fast! Our second fiddle secret agent to his more famous counterpart decides to retire and a rogues gallery of suspects emerge. it's a great way to have outlandish fun with bizarre characters!

A Golf Mystery

The head of the FBI Division fighting fraud in golf is killed on the night that he was announcing that he would retire and write a tell all book! Which one of the interesting characters committed the crime? The characters include his wife, a golf equipment manufacturer, the course golf pro, the person running the pro shop, and many more.

Custom Scenarios

We can create just about any scenario that you can think of. The writing does take some time and there is a nominal fee, but having a customized event for your party is often worth it. Just ask and we can discuss the possibilities.

The performance usually runs the full course of dinner, from salad through dessert, but can be scheduled to operate in other ways. Contact us for more information on how a Cambridge Solution can be the perfect corporate or private murder mystery for your team building, charity or simple entertainment needs.

THE DARTMOUTH PLAN
The Cambridge Solution is named because we thought it was Harvard-smart when we came up with it. For smaller groups, under 30 people, we have The Dartmouth Plan. Named for the smallest of the Ivy League schools, everyone is a character in more of a mix-and-mingle game designed as an icebreaker and to help quickly get people to be more comfortable with everyone to enhance the success of your event.

THE PRINCETON PERMUTATION
Named for another Ivy League School, the Princeton Permutation is designed for larger groups where going table to table isn't practical. Usually for 100 or more audience members, this event has the audience suspects delivering speeches with a comedic approach. The first speech explains why they are upset at an offstage character. The second speech, delivered after the murder is announced, is about how much they miss the victim and how they suspect one of the other characters for having committed the crime. Likely, time would be allowed for audience members to ask them questions around the room before coming up with a solution by table.

THE CORNELL CONUNDRUM
Named for the Ivy League school in Ithaca, the Cornell Conundrum is designed for groups to be able to operate separately. No one plays the characters. Your people are in the prosecutors office and each time chooses the dossier of the suspect that they would like to prosecute. Each team chooses a different suspect and make their case to the District Attorney, played by our comedic host, as to which should be prosecuted. They can make their presentation in any format that they like including a court case, a music video, an infomercial, a haiku, or anything else. All members of the team must participate in the presentation. This is an event that can easily allow for social distancing or video presentations.

OTHER MODERN DAY SCENARIOS

OFTEN WITH LESS COSTUMING NEEDED

DEATH AT A WINE TASTING

When a millionaire gets into the business of wine-making, there's always people that wouldn't be happy. There are competitors, neighbors, politicians and ex-spouses, all of which could have reasons to be stressed by the millionaire's success. Maybe they should have some wine! This is perfect for our Grapes of Laugh programs at wineries.

DEATH OF A CELEBRITY

We have a couple of variations on the theme of having a celebrity who is having a party and is found dead. The participants play a variety of celebrities that are the suspects and others could be adoring fans. There are a collection of pseudo celebrities who are the suspects and may have have committed the crime of the century of the week!

UNDATABLE: FINDING A PERFECT DEATH MATCH

This is a singles event where the leader of a match making event is murdered and the suspects are those who have yet to find love and have taken issue with their match maker. The characters are a bunch of troubled people and lets them show off that they have a sense of humor about being single. This allows them to be the stars of the event and build their confidence.

CHAMBER MUSIC

The leader of a local chamber music society is killed. The political in-fighting and topics of gossip come to the fore as the group investigates their own. There are questions about the Music Director, the starving artist, the Vice President of the organization, the spouse, and many others. It's a classical good time for audience with an appreciation for the finer things.

DUDE RANCH

A millionaire from the city wanted a place to get away from it all and bought a nice ranch. He decided to throw a hoe-down and invited people from both of his worlds. The combination of city-folk and ranchers create an odd mixture. With the death of the millionaire, there are plenty of potential suspects to choose from. It appears time to apply some frontier justice!

CUSTOMIZED POLITICAL SCENARIOS

We have a history of producing customized political scenarios. For example, we had a mystery where someone stole Hillary's server and another where someone stole Trump's hair. We are aggressively non-partisan and have worked for both the Democratic and Republican parties with equal fervor. We can also have mysteries surrounding either side of single issues.

WE USE YOUR PARTY THEME
We have many themes and can customize to just about any other that you can think of. Some of the more common themes include: The 1920s or 1930s for a Prohibition Era party, A Millionaire's Mansion, A Movie Mogul, Mobsters, A Wedding, Spies, and many others. If you want to have a particular theme that is not on this page, just let us know!

SOME SCENARIOS FROM HISTORY

ENJOY DRESSING UP AND PLAYING YESTERYEAR

1920s-1930s: DEATH OF THE ALDERMAN

This 1920s or 1930s themed party involves the election of an Alderman to the local city council. The party is a celebration of his victory and those in attendance are his supporters dressed as flappers and mobsters. This includes the North Side Mob, the South Side Mob, his spouse, political figures and temperance workers. It's a great time had by all and we can add a costume contest as well. We also have a couple of other 1920s scenarios.

1980s: DEATH OF THE MUSIC MOGUL

Music mogul Mickety Mack is found killed at a meeting of his latest charity record venture. There are a collection of pseudo celebrities who might have committed the crime. Characters include Michael George, Girl Georgina, Ave Maria, Miguel Llackson or many other pseudo celebrities from the decade of excess! Girls may just wanna have fun, but attendees of our events actually get to do so! We can also customize other scenarios, such as Greed is Good.

PIRATES OF THE CITY

While this one is not officially assigned to a specific time period, it is definitely playing another time. Because they are fictional pirates from the local city, we can play off of issues that are contemporary to the community. Characters are offshoots of popularized characters and it is the leader of the local pirates that is killed. It's also a great event for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is September 19th! ARRRGGGGHHH!

NO CLASS SHERLOCK

Created for a college environment, Sherlock had lectured at the university and now that the Dean has been found dead, the students have to determine the murderer using the skills of deduction taught by the famous consulting detective. This scenario is in the Victorian era and is at your university on the bank of the Thames River in England. Suspects include various professors and other faculty of the university.

WE COME TO YOU!
We work with groups that are small, medium and large. We also work with people that are in the city, the suburbs, and that are in more rural areas. It never made sense to get our own facilities. We come to a venue of your choosing and this allows you to make your own food and beverage options. In general, you want enough light to see, enough space to move around comfortably, and it should be quiet enough to hear. Everything else can be adjusted to. We also have our insurance in order and can have COIs with your venue as an additional insured, if required.

HOLIDAY SCENARIOS

CREATE A NEW TRADITION

HERE COMES SANTA'S CORPSE

It's the North Pole and the unthinkable has happened. Santa is found dead in the cookie shop! Who could have committed the crime? Maybe it's Santa's second wife or the head of the Elfs union, Jiminy Hoffa!

THE MAUL SANTA

It's a popular shopping mall during the holiday season and the mall Santa is found dead. Which of the mall employees or others could have committed such a terrible crime?

SANTA GOT HIT BY A SNOWPLOW

Originally a customized scenario produced for a snow plow company, it has proven to become a strangely popular holiday favorite. Who committed this bizarre crime? And, who will clean the truck?

VARIATIONS OF OUR OTHER THEMES

We can adapt our Millionaire's Mansion and Mobster scenarios to be a party that is taking place during any holiday. It's a great way to save on our customization fees. Simply ask us how!

THE PROVIDENCE ADDENDUM
This is an add-on to our standard Cambridge Solution event named for the location of Brown University. This involves the creation of additional generic characters for each person at the table. These characters are repeated at tables around the room and each character is provided with some specific information about one or two of the suspects that they will be speaking with. The characters might be doctors, cab drivers, attorneys, psychologists, etc. and it is a great way to allow everyone to participate while limiting the lack of information should they choose not to play.

Murder Mysteries

THEY improv brings unique approaches to Australian murder mystery events for private parties, banquets and corporate dinners. We can help you achieve other goals while your group has a great time!

THE STRAIGHT MURDER

We bring our actors to entertain your group mingling with your crowd. We build up to a murder and your people work as small teams to solve the crime!

THE AMBUSH

Our specialty item, we create a scenario that the audience thinks is real until the murder occurs. They then work as teams to bring the murderer to justice!

THE CAMBRIDGE SOLUTION

A great way to get people speak to one another, we use a few of your people as characters talking to teams that interrogate them guided by our professional detective.

THE PRINCETON PERMUTATION

An offshoot of our Cambridge Solution, the characters make speeches to reveal their backgrounds and potential motivations prior to speaking directly to audience members.

Likewise, the scripts can be adjusted to bring your audience members under suspicion of being the culprits. Information known about their past and clues can be intertwined to simply dig them deeper into the murder mystery.

Because every corporate event and private party is custom designed you have to contact THEY improv directly to receive a quote for your event. We will learn about your goals, the size of your group, and the venue, and we will come up with something just for your special occasion!

Company Parties

Let us help your employees to come together to enjoy your Australian private corporate parties.

HOLIDAY PARTIES

To celebrate the season, specific holidays, such as Christmas or Halloween, or to simply facilitate gift exchanges, ask how we can help!

PRODUCT LAUNCHES

Let us help to bring your products out with a bang, to entertain your clients and put your business in a favorable light.

MEETINGS AND INCENTIVES

We can take your corporate events to the next level and allow your employees to be motivated to want to participate.

AWARDS

Giving out awards can be a great way to reward your employees, but it can also be a great way to bore them. Let us show how we can keep everyone entertained while still maintaining the sanctity of the event.

THEY improv has worked for over half of the Fortune 500 in the U.S. and seeks to serve their clients wherever they might go. This means having people and relationships to serve multi-national clients throughout Australia and Oceania. Sometimes travel is involved as well as legal filings depending on dates chosen, locations and availability of staff. Simply contact us to determine what these needs might be.

Contact us to find out how we can bring some of the best available talent to serve Americans traveling to the continent for their getaways and corporate meetings and incentives awards events as well as for multi-national clients with operations in Australia.

THEY improv can provide these in hotels, resorts and on cruise ships throughout Australia in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, the Great Barrier Reef, and elsewhere, along with everywhere in Oceania including New Zealand. Travel may be required and you should simply contact us to find options that are available.

CONTACT US

EMAIL US AT INFO@THEYIMPROVAUSTRALIA.COM OR CALL +1 786.543.9472 USA (also available on WeChat and WhatsAPP).