by Ed Fortune

Dungeons & Dragons has had a lot more influence on culture than we tend to give it credit. Because it’s essentially a storytelling game, it divides stories into discrete chunks in order to make it something that everyone can place. So now have fantasy tropes such as ‘Fighter’ or ‘Wizard’, and players build from there to create fully formed characters. 

Or not, as the case may be. Mistakes Were Made is a fantasy gaming-inspired improv show that forgoes character development to make way for the fun. Rather than having a bunch of comedians sit around a table and make jokes whilst rolling dice, the Mistakes crew are in full costume and physically embody the role. However, the fighter is called Fighter, the druid called Druid and so on.

Audience participation is simple; select audience members have a twenty-sided die and a dice tray, and they can interrupt at any time to roll the die. Just to the side of the stage is a Games Master, who turns those numbers into prompts for the performers. This tends to be stuff like ‘swap roles’ or ‘speak in rhyme’. The Games Master also sets the scene and provides narrative and the like; they are essentially the grown-up in the room.

The performances are very good, especially as this is barely controlled anarchy. Tabletop shows like this can snowball into very silly improv quite quickly, but there’s something about being in full costume that adds to the chaos. The costuming is good, in a LARP sort of way, which suits the show perfectly. (The LARP weapons do look like they’ve been rested on their tips, so LARPers should brace themselves for this mild bit of accidental horror). 

This show owes more to Viva La Dirt League and 8-Bit Theater than it does to the likes of shows such as Critical Role, Oxventure or Questing Time, and that’s a good thing. It’s fresh, new and fun, and the talent on stage is rather good. Catch it if you can.

You can find the show here and learn more about Bottoms Up Theatre here.