A Murder Mystery Dinner hosted in the University of Minnesota’s Coffman Union on Friday allowed event attendees to enter their own murder mystery.

The event, put on by members of the University’s Long-Form Improv Troupe, saw more than 150 attendees come to throw their detective caps into the ring to try and solve this mystery.

“So the thought process about it was bringing the boardgame Clue to life,” said event organizer Calvin Hume. “I know that murder mysteries, like events with just your friends, are a really big thing right now, so I wanted to bring that to students.”

According to Hume, this is not the first time in recent years the University has hosted an event such as this, though this year did see a difference in planning.

“I found a website where you can buy a game and it gives you a script, it gives you everything that the improv group needed,” Hume said.

The event was a masquerade theme, providing masks for the attendees to wear throughout the night. Many attendees also dressed the part, wearing fancy and gothic-inspired outfits to help immerse themselves.

Whether guests went alone or with some friends, every attendee had the opportunity to work with a team to help solve the case. Single guests were paired at tables with groups in order to fill the allotted eight seats per table and ensure each guest could participate with other attendees.

Members of the University’s Long-Form Improv Troupe played the story’s characters, including the hosts, murder victim and suspects.

“What we knew is our characters, the motives, and who did it, and that was basically it,” said Tyler Wiyninger, a second-year member of the troupe who portrayed suspect Big Boy Blue during the dinner.

“I actually found out that I was going to do it two days (before), so I dropped into this pretty unsure of what was happening,” Wiyninger said. “But that’s kind of just what improv is. You get a character, some basic interactions, and you just roll with it and try to have some fun.”

The evening consisted of three rounds, each with a new clue.

The first round began with the suspicious death of the character Mr. Black, after which the rest of the cast began to circulate the room and discuss their characters’ backstories and relationships with attendees seated at the many tables throughout the room.

Attendees were required to fill out a ballot each round with their guess as to who Mr. Black’s killer may be. Round three had a bonus round where attendees could guess the thief of a bag of diamonds owned by the evening’s fictitious host, Ms. White.

“I think people loved it,” said Pearl Elliott, a second-year member of the troupe who portrayed Ms. White. “I was surprised that people stayed afterwards and asked for pictures with us. That was pretty cool.”

According to Elliott, the event had a capacity for 150 people but organizers were forced to find extra tables and seating due to the unexpectedly larger turnout.

“I didn’t know what to expect the engagement level to be, but people didn’t want to stop talking to us when it came time to go on to the next round,” Elliott said. “People were really just trying to get in one extra question before we moved on.”

Elliott and Wiyninger said they were given “bare bones” scripts and were merely outlines with basic facts about the characters and their relationships with each other. Everything else the actors discussed with event attendees was pure improvisation.

“I think we practiced once before today,” Elliott said. “So when we say it’s improv, we really mean it’s improv.”

However, the improv team was not the only group who enjoyed the event. The student attendees appeared engaged and enthusiastic throughout the entire three-hour dinner.

Elliott, Wiyninger and Hume each said the University should host a similar event in the future.