My Comedy Career: Sarah Kempton

Hit show CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. It returns to Wilton's Music Hall on 28th September, following on from the group's sell-out show there in July. We chat to Sarah Kempton, one of the co-creatives and actors, about how she got started in comedy, and what key skills you need to be an improv player.

Tell us what you do in your job.

I am an actor, voice over artist and most importantly a comedy improviser with CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation. Now in our 10th year, we do an improvised comedy murder mystery based on the audiences' suggestions.

I think the key thing with improv is that it's a team, we're constantly working together, listening to every word our fellow players make to build a show together on stage. That synchronicity as a team is essential, as are the techniques needed to be able to create a consistently funny, enjoyable show on the spot. So there's a huge amount of technique and skill work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure we're all able to play on the day. So yes, I promise it's entirely made up, but we're not just rocking up and messing about on stage!!

How did you first get involved in the comedy industry?

I've always been obsessed with comedy but got sidetracked by wanting to be a very serious, ever-so-earnest classical actor. Then I got booked to do a hidden camera show where I was a planted actor. I spent three hours in character with a poor woman in a car making her life hell. It went by in a blur, I have no memory of what happened... Brilliantly, it never aired, so I'll never know! Anyway, that reminded me I wanted to learn to properly improvise, and so it began.

What key skills do you need to be able to do your job well?

Listening. Being a team player. Playfulness. Listening. Making strong choices and... listening. Also, weirdly, it's useful to be good at admin, for all the show planning.

What has been your biggest career achievement to date?

It honestly is CSI. It just took off more than we could have dreamed. I remember when the five of us started it in 2014, we talked about how we would fund the shows, as obviously improv doesn't make money. Ten years down the line we've just finished our 7th sell out year in a 200 seater in Edinburgh; are about to play Wilton's Music Hall for the second time; and, last year, won a Leicester Comedy Award.

I've learned it's all about the team. We work together so well as a group it just means the shows can be fun, and the planning for shows gets done quickly and efficiently. It was a massive stroke of luck we found each other.

And what has been the biggest challenge/disappointment?

I'm still waiting for my very serious classical acting career... overcoming it by putting it here, so the National Theatre see.

Talk us through a typical day.

My day to day is I'm a voiceover artist, so I spend most of my time in a small padded room. I talk into a mic about anything from pipe lining solutions to playing alien monsters in games. All very normal. I have a home studio so I can structure my own days which is pretty good.

There's 11 of us in CSI now, and 5 of us split the admin. I do a lot of the producing for shows, so in gaps from narrating a textbook on psychology, I'm sitting emailing venues and filling in risk assessments.

I aim for a good work life balance by making endless lists of stuff to do... I then spend my free time bumping those things onto the next day, and so on.

Tell us a trick/secret/resource that you use to make your job quicker/easier.

Lists... List apps, lists on my walls, lists in notebooks. Lists.

How are you paid?

I'm fully self-employed, so the answer is pay is chaos! Always per job for me so I live in a world of feast or famine. Living the dream.

If you could change one thing about the comedy industry, what would it be?

That improv is taken seriously as a comedic form. I could say a lot about this!!! In a nutshell, there are a lot of different types of improv out there from rooms above pubs to playing at the Royal Albert Hall. From student shows to Olivier Award winning ones. There's enormous variety and talent out there. I'd love it if it was as respected as a form as it should be.

What tips would you give for anyone looking to work in your area of the industry?

Train in improv! It's fun and the skills are transferable to real life. I highly recommend courses at Free Association and Hoopla in London. When you fall in love with it, look at courses in the US, at schools like UCB, IO Chicago and Second City. Then it's just that thing of doing it for 10,000 hours. Easy.

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CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation can be found online at crimesceneimpro.com