All this month we are having a weekly conversation with the improviser Lee Aspey. If you have not heard of Lee you would of definitely of heard of the groups that he is a part of – CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation and Your Flaws The Musical – both these two shows are proving to be a success at comedy festivals over and over again. Today we discuss the year so far, beginnings and Tokyo….

Hello Lee how are you? How has 2023 been going for you so far?

 Great! @crimesceneimpro won “Best Musical/improv” at the Leicester Comedy Festival, I’ve had a wonderful time teaching at Easylaughs in Amsterdam, and whilst I feel like I’m juggling three more balls than I can manage, we’re sliding into the nice half of the year where the hard work to pay-off ratio starts to tip in a more comfortable direction.

Tell us a little bit about yourself just in case our readers are not aware?

 I’m a filmmaker and improviser. Been performing and teaching globally for over a decade now. I love any realisation or reminder that “oh yeah, we don’t HAVE to do it that way.”

 I’m a big beardy guy with bleached blonde hair so come say hi if you see me.

How did you get into improv?

 I started at the Tokyo Comedy Store whilst living in a one bedroom flat in Shibuya. I was writing a sitcom pilot at the time and wanted to break unhealthy perfectionist tendencies so I’d get more written. Then improv went unexpectedly well in a kind of upward spiral.

What have been your favourite shows to date?

 A CSI steampunk Christmas murder involving heartwarming messages about family as well as lobsters with dynamite strapped to them.

 A Multiverse musical where we, sliding doors style, discovered that “Love is Love”, with a triumphant chorus of that sung by the entire audience, on the day of a Pride march.

 The Your Flaws: The Musical show where someone asked us to use the medium of musical theatre to roast her noisey baby.

What teams are you a part of?

Maybe I’m an outlier but I see each show as it’s own production, with cast brought in for that show specifically, rather than start with a team and work it out that way around.

 The current active shows I’m involved in are ‘CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation’, ‘Your Flaws: The Musical’, ‘Slice of Rhyme’ and then showing up as a guest whenever someone’ll have me.

Who are your improv inspirations and why?

I try to take pieces of inspiration from everyone but to try and narrow that down:

Bruce Lee (“Take what is useful, absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own,”)

 Dave Razowsky (“You are enough”, “dare to be lovely.”)

Sophie Pumphrey (“Sit in the shit!”)

I’m always inspired by the combined silliness and honest emotions of Steen Raskopolous and the RH Experience.

And, this sounds obvious but it’s worth saying, everyone I work with. Improv is a thousand times easier when you’re genuinely excited by the people you surround yourself with and in awe of their personal super powers.

What is the way you wind down from a show?

 Cauldron of Joy: The cast form a circle and share small things that brought them joy during the show.

 Then eating my bodyweight in chicken.

How do you warm up for a show?

It varies by show but generally clapping with eye contact, wordball (with multiple balls so the emphasis is on seeing who needs to throw and being there for them), something dumb and physical and then some very boring scenes. As a guideline: things that prime us to forget about being good and focus on being together.

 If I’m rapping or singing I’ll do a few numbers and/or rap with a random word generator to get my brain loose.

You have a lot of exciting things happening this year which we will discuss more in the coming weeks – what can you tease us for now?

 Maximising the murder mystery medium. Converting concerns into cathartic comedy. Leading a loosely linked labyrinth of lightning lyricists.

If people want to follow you on social media – where can they?

@leeapsey

@crimesceneimpro 

@ yourflawsshow

@sliceofrhymelive

 Several projects now grouping under the umbrella @asimilarriver 

In three words why do you love improv?

 Necessary flow states.