Games We Play
|
| Listed below are just some of the games we play. Feel free to read the descriptions below if you're looking to be better prepared to play. |
|
A Day in the Life
This is a free form game meant to follow an audience interview. Performers do a collection of scenes that reenact an average day in the life of our featured audience member. All basic improv editing tools may be used. |
|
Alphabet
This is a scene consisting of 26 lines of dialogue. The first line starts with a given letter (say `R`). The reply to that line must start with a `S`, and so on, until the whole alphabet has been covered. After `Z` comes `A`. Players that hesitate, or use the wrong letter `Die`, and are replaced by another player. The replacement needs to take over the character of the player she replaces.
Notes - Urge players not to `stick` to the game - if you can`t think of a good sentence to advance the story, it`s better to just `die` than to screw up the story |
|
Back in My Day...
Players line up, and the audience provides nouns, people, occupations, etc. One player acts as host and calls out the audience suggestions. When a suggestion is called players need to complete the sentence with the suggestion and offer a punch line in the following format. Example Facebook. "Back in my day, we didn't have Facebook, we just punched people in the face!" |
|
Beastie Rap
Two teams or "posses" form on either side of the stage. Each posse has a front man. A name is taken as a suggestion. The first front man begins with the line, "I've got a friend his name is _____." The next front man must come up with a line to rhyme to that line. His posse must guess and say in rhythm the last word of the front man's line as a group. This goes back and forth until one posse can not guess the last word as a group. The front man that lost has to move to the back of the group and a new front man is rotated in. This goes on for a while until the winner is chosen. |
|
Blank Walks into a Bar
Players line up, and the audience provides nouns, people, occupations, etc. One player acts as host and calls out the audience suggestions. When a suggestion is called players need to fill in the "blank" with the suggestion and offer a punch line in the following format. Example Duck. A Duck walks into a bar and the bartender says, "I'm sorry we don't serve ducks here they tend to run up a bill." |
|
Catch Phrase
This game is played with three people. Two of the people have "catch phrases", two lines of dialogue that are collected from the audience. During the scene those "catch phrases" are the only thing they can say. They may change the inflection or add different punctuation, but they may not change the words or the order of them. The third person must play the scene like normal and help bring it to a conclusion. |
|
Centerpiece
This game is a lot like Revolver. 4 players in a Diamond; One person stands at the front as the centerpiece. The MC or host asks for an audience suggestion for the 2 players in front (One from the diamond and the center piece). Then the host asks the players to turn the diamond (to the right or to the left). So now we have a different player in front with the centerpiece. These 2 get an audience suggestion. Turn again and ask for suggestion again and do this once more. Then have players take their original position. The game is played as follows: the 2 players in front start improvising a scene. Players play until the host yells "Rotate right or Left", at which time all players rotate in the desired direction. The 2 players in front start playing a scene based on their suggestion until MC calls again. This is repeated. They can either plainly continue it, or continue at some time in the future (a day later, a year later, a century later). The center piece needs to remember each character and where they were in each scene. |
|
Chainsaw
The game leader gets three or four audience members. All but one leaves the room. Then the game leader gets an occupation, a location and an object. One audience member returns and the person who remained gives clues to help the returning member guess what the three things are beginning with the occupation. The catch is that the person giving clues cannot use words, only gibberish and actions. When the guesser thinks they know what the occupation is they clap and the clue giver moves on to location following the same rules. When the object is guessed it is used to kill the clue giver and the guesser now becomes the clue giver. The next person enters. When all the people who left have taken turns then they line up and tell, in reverse order, what the occupation, location and object were as far as they know. |
|
Dating Game
This is played like a Blind Date show. One player leaves the room, and the audience provides endowments for the 3 others. Examples might be No. 1 is stupid, No. 2 is a serial killer and No. 3 thinks he`s a macho. 4th player returns and gets to ask questions of each contestant. Player 4 should try to guess what the endowments were. |
|
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
One guesser will play someone late for work. At the start of the game they will be sent out of the room. The host, who will be playing their "boss," gets two more players (One Audience, one Player) to act as the other player's "co-workers." The host will then get audience suggestions for a series of crazy events that once made the "boss" late for work. Once the late employee is called back in, they must come up with that exact series of events as his excuse for being late. His "co-workers" will help out by miming the events, in order, behind the "boss'" back. When he gets all of it, the Boss will relate to his problem and the scene ends. |
|
FAMily Dinner
This is a free form game meant to follow an audience interview. Performers will act out a scene, each playing a different character (Friend, Enemy or Family Member) from the interview. The FAM will sit off to the side with two other improvisors. Each of those improvisors will play a buzzer. One "ding" one "buzz". If the performers are playing the characters in the FAM's life correctly, then she can hit the "ding" button. If not, then she will hit the "buzz" button and then the performer will have to change their character until the FAM presses the "ding" button. The scene will go on until the FAM feels we got her family and friends right. |
|
Famous Last Words
Host suggests from list or asks the audience for famous (living or dead) people, or characters in movies, cartoons or songs. Players line up and invent `famous last words` for the subjects. |
|
Fortunately, Unfortunately
2 players tell a story, taking turns. One player starts with some good, fortunate things like, "Once upon a time Mary had a beautiful little lamb." Then the other storyteller tells the next part of the story, but it is all unfortunate, so, "Unfortunately, the lamb had anthrax and a peg leg." The fortunate storyteller, "Fortunately, Mary was a neuroscientist, and had developed a vaccine that made anthrax fun and the lamb crapped Skittles." Other player: "Unfortunately, Skittles were illegal in Greece, where they lived, and Mary and the lamb were sent to farmer's prison and tortured." Etc, etc. 2 other players mime out the story as it happens. |
|
Freeze Tag
This is a free form game. Two people start a scene, at anytime someone can yell "Freeze". When "Freeze" is called all players freeze, the person who called it comes up, tags one person out of the scene, takes their exact same physical position and begins a completely different unrelated scene. That scene continues until someone else calls "Freeze" and so it continues. |
|
Good Cop/Bad Cop
One player is sent out of the room while the host gets what the crime committed was from the audience. Usually the crime consists of killing a celebrity and how the murder was committed. 2 other players play cops with one being good and the other being bad. Players need to get the criminal to confess their crime. |
|
Grand Theft Auto
This is a warm up game played with three teams and a "car" set up on stage. Each team will take turns in the car. As one team is in the car, they will exclaim, oh my god we are being taken over by _____. Another team must become what ever that suggestion was, over take the car and continue until they yell out what they are being taken over by. This continues until a high point is reached and scene is called. |
|
Greatest Hits
This is a musical improv game. The host will get a one word suggestion and the last text message on someone's phone. The game will be hosted by two people telling us about the new Greatest Hits Album based on the one word suggestion. Four "singers" will be standing by to sing the greatest hits song suggested. One, Two, Three or all Four may step up and sing the song. Then at the end the hosts will tell us about the best song on the album, which will use the text message as the chorus line. The whole group of singers will sing the song together and everyone can sing along to the chorus. |
|
Guacamole
This is a song game where two singers sit off the side of the stage, each singing the internal monologue for a different character on stage. The two characters on stage act out the scene. Both the singers and the characters must listen to each other and help each other through the scene. Other characters may come on to help enhance the scene. |
|
Helping Hands
Scene played by 4 players, playing 2 characters. Each character consists of one player, who does the voice, holding his hands behind his back. Another player stands behind player 1, and provides the `hands`. The story should be a give and take between voices and hands. |
|
Hoedown
This is a musical game where a subject is chosen and four performers each get 4 lines of a song to sing about the subject in a AABB rhyme scheme. When the last performer sings the last line, that line becomes the hook that everyone sings. |
|
Hot Seat
Warm-up game where one person sits in a seat, another person comes up and says anything to get the person to vacate the chair. The person in the chair gets up and the other person sits in the chair. This continues with all people taking turns. It is a wonderful example of Yes anding. |
|
Interrogation Lineup
A lineup of criminals leave the room. An investigator and witness stay in the room. A crime, accomplice, and location are gathered through suggestion. The criminals then form a back line as if on the other side of a double-sided mirror. (Criminals pretend to not see the investigator or witness). The investigator and witness give clues discussing the crime as criminals take turns stepping forward to exclaim their innocence through "guessing". The audience snaps and claps if they are close. The investigator or witness determine who is the culprit or culprits as they choose at the end of the game. The chosen criminals are then arrested. |
|
Irish Drinking Song
This is a song game where a topic is chosen and four singers each sing one line of the song with a fun musical interlude. Can also be played as a Mexican Drinking Song. |
|
Lines from a Cookie
Same thing as "Lines from a Hat," but from a delicious cookie! |
|
Lines from a Hat
Players get suggestions for famous quotes, lines of dialogue, sayings or even cliches from the audience by having them write their ideas down on slips of paper. An idea is obtained i.e. location, relationship, conflict. Two players are selected and they take some of the lines from the "hat". The scene begins and at random times during the scene the players substitute the written lines in their pocket for their dialogue. Other players may enter but must pull from the hat and use the audience lines also. The scene runs to a logical conclusion by calling "scene". |
|
Marriage Counsel Endowment
One player is sent out of the room while the host gets 2 relationship problems from the audience. 2 other players play a couple with these problems, and player one is the therapist. Players need to get the therapist to figure out what the relationship problems are. |
|
Meanwhile
This is a free form game. Two people start a scene, at anytime someone in the scene may mention or reference a location. Someone from the back line can cross in front of the scene yelling the line "Meanwhile at the (For mentioned location)." and a couple of new players step forward, take their place and begin a completely different scene. That scene continues until someone else crosses the scene resting the location again. |
|
Movie Critics
Ask the audience for a fictitious movie title or general suggestion and you create the movie title. 2 players will do a movie review. As the movie is discussed, certain scenes are suggested as clips (keep it vague) and the other players act out the clips. Usually do three clips. |
|
Party Quirks
One player plays a character that is having a party. The other players will be the guests, and the audience provides us with who the guests might be or what their quirks might be. Of course the host does not know who the guests are. His task is to guess who the guests might be, based on hints the guests offer. The games is over as soon as the host has guessed all guests. |
|
Pavlovian Response
This is a three person scene where each person is affected by their own conditional response. Each person is going to receive a stimulus {something to respond to} and a reaction {response}. A stimulus can be anything from hearing a specific word to an action or movement made by the other players. The reaction, again, can be anything from saying words/phrases to performing specific actions. Example: Anytime person B or C says the word "the", person A twitches. The stimuli and reactions can be something subtle or something big and outrageous. One player is Pavlov, and knows the other players stimuli. The other players are participants in the experiment and so they do not know anyone else's stimuli, but if they can figure it out, they can use it to there advantage. The scene will go to a logical ending point where we ask the two participants about the other stimuli and reactions. |
|
Pillars
Two people are sitting at the front of the stage, that fill in the blanks on lines during a scene. Players are selected for scene and an idea is obtained i.e. location, relationship, conflict. The scene begins and at random times during the scene the players point to the two seated people for a word to fill in a blank in the dialog of the scene. They must make these suggestions make sense in the scene. The scene runs to a logical conclusion by calling "scene". |
|
Post It
Players get locations, occupations and objects from the audience. These are written on post it notes and stuck to an object in the middle of the stage. Then two players get up and each picks one post it and they play a short scene. Then two other players take post its and play another short scene. The scenes are quick and in rapid succession until all post its are used. |
|
Press Conference
This is a verbal improv game, played with 3 to 8 players. One player leaves the room, while the audience provides the name of a famous or historical person. The `absent` player will give a press conference, but he does not know who he is. The other players are journalists, whose questions should provide indications to who the mystery guest might be. Game ends when our player guesses who he is.
Notes - The `journalists` should really play journalist characters. They can take photographs, or have a fight about who gets to ask the next question.
Variations - Instead of a famous or historical person, choose an expert. The game is over when the `expert` figures out what he or she is expert in. |
|
Questions
We need 5-6 volunteers. Two people get a suggestion from the audience and begin a scene using only questions. When someone slips up and uses a statement they are out and another player takes their place. You're out for statement, repeating, rhetorical and unrelated questions that don't help drive the scene. The scene should play to its logical conclusion. |
|
Remake
The title of a fictitious movie is gotten from the audience. Two players play a scene from the film. The audience is then told that the movie was remade in a different genre. A new genre is procured from the audience and two new players play the same scene in the different genre. This is repeated one more time. |
|
Revolver
4 players in a square; 2 in front, 2 behind them. The MC or host asks for an audience suggestion for the 2 players in front. Then the host asks the players to turn the square (to the right or to the left). So now we have a different combination of players in front. These 2 get an audience suggestion. Turn again and ask for suggestion again and do this once more. Then have players take their original position. The game is played as follows: the 2 players in front start improvising a scene. Players play until the host yells "Rotate right or Left", at which time all players rotate in the desired direction. The 2 players in front start playing a scene based on their suggestion until MC calls again. This is repeated. They can either plainly continue it, or continue at some time in the future (a day later, a year later, a century later). |
|
Rope
This is a warm-up game intending to get you to not think or plan stuff out. A line of players is created. The first person in line steps forward. The second person in line turns their back to them. The first person does any non-verbal action. Someone lets the second person know that the first person is ready. The second person delivers a single line as they turn around. The first person must respond verbally with a line that appropriately ties the action and the second person's delivered line together. If they are unsuccessful, someone from the line can call out, "Rope" and they must start over with a new action and line. If they are successful than the first person goes to the end of the line, the second person becomes the first person and a third person becomes the second person. We continue on till someone calls "scene." |
|
Say It Again
Players begin a scene with one player acting as director. At any time the director will ask a player to say a line differently by either ringing a bell or saying "Say It Again". The scene runs to a logical conclusion then someone calls "scene". |
|
Shopkeeper
One player leaves the room. Audience provides an object, and something not-so-obvious that is wrong with the object for three other players. In the game the player that is `the shopkeeper` needs to solve the problems, without knowing what they are. People snap fingers when the shopkeeper is close to guessing or on the right track. Everyone claps when the object and problem is guessed. |
|
Short Cutz
This is a free form game similar to most improv editing. A scene will begin during that scene or any other scene edits can be made. You can tap out, move time, change location add elements or just wipe the scene to start a new unrelated scene. There are many other types of edits, that can be used from any of the forms of improv edits out in the world. |
|
Sit, Stand, Lie Down
Host gets a situation from audience and gets three players to play the scene. At any point in time, there should always be one player standing, one player sitting and one player lying down. As soon as a player changes position, one of the other players has to change also to maintain the three positions while trying to justify the moves! |
|
Six Pack
Three teams of two people are formed. Each team gets a different one word suggestion to start their scene. Group one starts a scene, at any time either of the other groups may clap, which stops the scene. The group that stops the scene then start their scene with the last line of the previous group. This continues and increases in speed until a common ending is reached. |
|
Slogans
Players line up, and the audience provides nouns, people, occupations, etc. One player acts as host and calls out the audience suggestions. Players step out and give suggestions for Slogans to help sell the suggestions. |
|
Space Jump
One person starts a scene based off of suggestion for ONE beat. At the beat, anyone else can clap-in and join. Similar to Freeze Tag, a whole new scene starts with those two people in relation to the physicality at hand. After a couple beats another person claps in. This continues until all members are on stage. At this point, you start clapping-out in the order. The last person to clap-in is the first person to clap themselves out. The scenes go back down the line picking up somewhere near where they left off or a bit in the future. It gets back to that first person, they clap. Scene. |
|
Sports Commentator
3 players, and an every day activity (brushing your teeth, washing your car). In this game, the every day activity is performed as if it were done at the olympics or at a world championship. One player is the athlete, and the two others are in a commentators - one is the play by play person and the other is the color guy. Usually, something goes wrong and the athlete fails miserably. Gimmicks may include:
Interviewing the athlete on the field after the win (or the disaster),
Asking for a replay of a particularly dramatic moment,
Asking for a replay with a different camera (different angle),
Seeing something in slow motion. |
|
Story, Story, Die
Players form a line on the stage. A title for a story, and a story genre is obtained from the audience. The MC starts the game by pointing to a player, who needs to start telling the story. At any point in time the MC can switch to another player, who needs to continue the story flawlessly, even if the switch happened in the middle of a sentence or even in the middle of a word. Players that hesitate, or whose sentences are not grammatically correct or don`t make sense, are boo-ed out of the game, by the audience yelling `Die`. The last player left ends the story. Feel free to add genres or themes to each player to increase difficulty. |
|
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
3 players, form a line (or sit down). The audience provides questions or problems for which they need advice. The 3 players provide good, bad, and really bad advice. Have the MC choose who provides what advice, so everyone can have a stab at really bad advice. If the `bad advice` is really bad, then the Ugly advice should be even worse. You can play this as a die game - if a bad advice is not followed by an even worse advice, replace the last player by another one. |
|
The Quickest Minute
Two people get a suggestion from the audience and perform a scene which is timed and completed in 60 seconds. The same scene is performed in 30 seconds and then again in 10 seconds. The results are hilarious. Can also be done in ascending time order. |
|
Timmy in the Well
This is game that plays on the old Lassie TV show. One or two people, (The Guessers) leave the room. Two or three volunteers play the "dog" who will get three elements: "Who is in trouble, doing what and where?" The guessers come back in the room and must guess the three elements. The "dogs" using only mime and dog speak (ie. bark, woof, arf.) must give clues to help them guess so they can save "Timmy in the Well." |
|
Try That On For Size
This is an association game, where two people go head to head at a time. The first person starts an very repetitive motion and then says what they are doing. They follow it up by saying, "Try that on for size." The second person does the exact same action, but says they are doing something completely different that make sense with the action. Then it goes back to the first person with the same action. This goes back and forth until one person cannot come up with something for that action. They are then eliminated and a new person comes and takes their place and a new action is chosen. |
|
Typewriter
This is a nice handle to structure scenes. One of the players is the Narrator. He has a (mimed) typewriter and starts the scene by reading aloud as he types. As soon as the Narrator has given a few elements, the players take over and start playing the scene. At any point, the Narrator can take over again, perhaps switch to another location, introduce new character, provide tilts or flashbacks. Variations - When a scene goes bad, the Narrator can mime ripping a couple of pages of his story apart, and restart the scene (or the story). |
|
Wait Right Here
This game is similar to Hot Seat, where one person sits in a seat, another person comes up and says anything to get the person to vacate the chair. The person in the chair gets up and the other person sits in the chair. The catch is, what ever character the person used to get the first person to get out of the chair they have to keep. The next person has to come up and do something to get that "character" out of the chair. And so it continues. This game forces you to not think while yes anding. |
|
What Are You Doing?
This is really a dissociation game, but fun to play. Form two lines. The first player of line 1 steps into the center and starts miming an activity. As soon as the activity is clear, a player from line 2 approaches the player from line 1 and asks "What are you doing". The first player answers something that has nothing to do with what he's actually doing. E.g. if player 1 is cutting someone's hair, when asked what he's doing he might say "I'm reading the newspaper". First player moves away, and the second player starts miming the activity stated by the previous player. A third player comes up to player 2, asks what he is doing, and so on. Play until everyone has mimed something, and has answered the question. |
|
World's Worst
World's Worst - Players line up, and the audience provides verbs, hobbies and occupations. The players need to come up with the worst possible way of doing/being what the audience suggests. |
| |
