Mistakes Were Made are a UK-based improv comedy troupe that uses D&D and situational comedy to tell ludicrous stories. We say D&D, but this isn’t Critical Role. It’s long-form improv that uses the tropes of the world’s biggest fantasy franchise as a shorthand of sorts. So the characters have names like ‘Ranger’ and ‘Paladin’, which means we know exactly what to expect from them.
Dice are passed round the audience, and a table of prompts is consulted. So an audience member rolling a five might mean that a cast member is prompted to have amnesia, which adds to the improv chaos. It’s a pretty good format, combining the trappings of D&D with a more controlled way of getting suggestions from the crowd, as they are only 20 possible things the performers can be asked to do, rather than the near infinite (but mostly boring) silliness the general public can suggest
The show’s biggest problem is that there’s a lack of cohesion in the performers. A good improv troupe tends to read off each other and share a vibe, adding to the rollercoaster of funny. It’s like a dance, but rather than acrobatic stunts, it’s feats of wit. Alas, the Mistakes Were Made crowd don’t quite have the sauce this year, so it was fun, but we got the feeling it could have been epic.
This year the theme was pirates, as the name suggests. Maybe it was the route one style plot and the rail-roaded ending, but the nautical theme simply failed to take full advantage of the format. Still, it is in an excellent format, and the crew are very comfortable with it. There’s a touch of the rapid fire to it all when the audience suddenly cottons on to exactly how much carnage they can generate with the dice. Still one of the most novel D&D improv shows we’ve seen, and we’ve seen a lot.
