IMPROV
TOP TEN RULES OF IMPROV-(shamelessly borrowed from Wikipedia, improvencyclopedia.org, learnimprov.co, Tina Fey, and Jenny and Kevin Goff)
- Accept offers – Say “Yes!"
- After you say yes, add something
- Make statements
- Establish Setting – Let us know where you are
- Establish relationships – Tell us who you are and how you know each other
- Justify – have a reason for who you are and what you’re doing
- Show, don’t tell
- Give and take – don’t let one person do all the work
- There are no mistakes, only opportunities
- Have fun
IMPROV GAMES AND EXERCISES
1) Yes, Let's! - This is a game to get everybody agreeing. First person shouts a suggestions, for example, "Let's dig holes." The rest of the group responds "Yes, let's!" Then they all begin pantomiming digging holes. Then another person yells a suggestion, "Let's was the car." Again everyone says, "Yes, let's!" and takes up that action. The game continues as long as there are suggestions.
2)Zip, Zap, Shazoom - for connection, paying attention, also it's a metaphor for a story in that things are going along nice and normal until you get in a pickle and have to do something big to change circumstances... but if you do the big thing too often, it's not interesting anymore - Zip always goes to the person next to you with the same movement as Zip, Zap, Zup. Zap bounces the offer back to the person who sent it to you with the movement of facing the person who just zipped you and pointing your thumb over your shoulder. It’s a counterintuitive motion with the sound. Shazoom can go to anyone who is not directly next to you with the movement of both arms straight out to the person you're Shazooming. You can not Zap a Shazoom. And you can not Zap a Zap. Go around the circle once with all zips before anything else happens. Then you can start throwing in the Zaps (reverse) or Shazooms (anyone) as you build.
3)Ask Mr. Wizard -3-4 students sit next to each other. They are collectively “Mr. Wizard.” A separate person , “the Interviewer,” asks a question and “Mr. Wizard” answers one person at time, each student adding a separate word to create the answer.
Example:
Interviewer asks: Why do we brush our teeth?
W1: We
W2: brush
W3: our
W4: teeth
W1: because…
The performers must listen to each other to make an interesting answer to the question. There is no correct answer, but should be fun and as outlandish as possible.
4) Word Ball (or Sound Ball) - listening, accepting offers, responding to offers - Using an invisible ball, say a word (or make a sound) as you throw the invisible ball to anyone in the circle. They must repeat your word and then throw their own word to someone else. It does not have to relate to the word thrown, but it can. The important thing is not to stop to think about it too much, and don't plan ahead. Just accept the word (or sound) that's thrown and throw your own. If you're having a hard time, you can juggle the ball and repeat the word you've received until you think of something else to throw. Avoid sets (plate, fork, spoon, knife)... try to keep branching out.
5) Back to Back – Can be used as a trust exercise. Players sit or stand with backs touching and perform a scene. Characters need not be static. They must concentrate on listening to each other.
6)Hot Spot - Ask for a word or a theme. The first person who thinks of a song jumps into the center and sings until someone else jumps in with a new song that is somehow related to the last song. (Example: I'm singing "You Light Up My Life" and Anne jumps in with "This Little Light of Mine." The connections don't always have to be that obvious.) This goes on as long as you like. It’s great for energy. This game is about support for the team – when someone is running out of steam, someone else on the team will jump in and take over.
7)Alphabet Game- Introduction: This is a scene consisting of 26 lines of dialogue.
Description: The first line can start with any letter of the alphabet, for example, R. The reply to that line must start with an "S," and so on, until the whole alphabet has been covered. After Z comes A. The story is finished when they get to Q.
8)Clap Focus - Introduction: This warm-up is to get people listening, responding fast, and reacting without thinking. Form a circle.
Description: One person picks a random person in the circle and claps at that person, sometimes taking a half step into the circle while doing so. The person that was singled out with the last clap immediately picks another random person by clapping at them. In turn, the clapping flies back and forth across the circle. Ideally there will be a constant clapping noise. Eventually the players will be so attentive and so quick to respond it sounds like one person clapping rapidly.
9) Slow Motion Samuri: This warm-up will get us feeling silly, get the blood flowing and help us get workign together.
Description: Everyone starts milling around the area and then begin to move in slow motion. Once a stable rate of speed is determined, the players all become Samurai with poisonous blades built into their forearms. The object is to kill all the other Samurai. If anyone is touched by the forearm of another player, he must die a poisoned eath in slow motion. It is important to keep the speed continuous. The point is not to win, but to have fun. If players are moving too fast and massacring everyone else, simply tell them to sow down. It helps people work together. The warm-up usually ends when there is a large pile of bodies on the floor.
10)Pass Catch (Warm-Up) – Introduction:This warm-up will get the blood flowing, improve our reactions and get us feeling comfortable about being silly.
Description - Once everyone is in the circle make sure that they have enough space to move freely without accidentally clouting each other in the head. One player in the circle throws himself into a bizarre stance and makes a corresponding noise along with it. This gesture is made to the player to their right in the circle. That player immediately reflects back the gesture and noise, imitating the other player as best she can. Once she has done that she immediately turns around and creates a new and wonderful gesture and noise to the player to her right. The process is repeated and goes around the circle for a few minutes. It is important that the players not stop to think in between the poses. The player should receive, reflect, turn and create a new pose without pause.
11)Freeze Tag – Two players begin acting out a scene. At any point in time, another player can call “Freeze.” This player then tags out one of the 2 actors and takes his place. Both players then start a new scene, justifying their positions.
12)What are you doing .Everyone in a circle. The first player of the line steps into the room and starts miming an activity. As soon as the activity is clear, player 2(to the right of #1) faces player 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".
The second player now starts miming the activity stated by the previous player (reading newspaper). 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.
Variation: Choose 2 letters, and make all responses begin with those letters.
For example: CH - What are you doing? – Catching hamsters, curling hair, carving handrails, etc.
13) Goalie -Great high-tempo exercise. 1 player up front. He`s the goalie. The other players all think of an opening line for a scene, and a character. When everyone has their opening line and character, we bombard the goalie with these offers, one at a time. Goalie needs to react right away to an offer, acknowledging the opening and character, snap into an opposite character and reply to the opening. Immediately after that the next player comes up with his or her offer.
This exercise is good for teaching players to react right away, and to snap into a character almost without thinking.
14) Trifecta is an exercise in attack and idea association that targets impulse, offers and stage pictures all at once!
Rules: Students create a backline. With or without a suggestion, a student will step forward and physically create something, announcing what they are. For example, a student might step forward and make fists at their sides, announcing, “I am a fire hydrant.”
A second student then adds to that picture by creating a complimentary idea to the first offer. There should be no hesitation. For example, “I am a dog.” The student might sidle up to the “hydrant” and lift their leg.
A third student then offers a complimentary idea to those two, such as, “I am a hot summer’s day.”
After the third idea has been created, the first student (in this case, the hydrant) will choose one of the other two ideas to take off stage. For example, “I’ll take the dog.” The hydrant and the dog leave the stage.
A new set of ideas begins with the remaining student reiterating what they are, as in, “I am a hot summer’s day.” A new set of two ideas grows from there, related to hot summer’s day but unrelated to hydrant or dog.
The game continues from there, with the first (i.e.: the remaining) student in each trifecta choosing one of the other two and taking them away.
15) Word at a Time Story - This game helps to develop storytelling and listening skills. Group sits in a circle. Give them the title for a story, and they must tell the story one word at a time (each person contributes a word as it goes around the circle. They must listen to the story to be sure that when it is their turn, they can move the story along in a logical manner. You can coach them as they go along to make sure that each element adds to the story and is not there just to be funny. The humor comes from the story, not from weird elements they drop in.
16) Character Spin - One player stands in front of the group, does a quick spin and assumes a character. As this character, he answers 2 or 3 questions truthfully from the group. Then he spins around again and becomes another, totally different character who must answer more questions from the group. If a player gets stuck, it is helpful to make 2 strong choices, one verbal and one physical. These will help to define the character.
As for the more skill builders – there’s
1) CROW – Not so much of a game as a structure. All good improv skits need:
C – Character
R – Relationship
O – Obstacle
W – Where/When
2) What happened next/What did you do? – for the difference between action and gossiping about action, also for story telling and for making simple one-line offers: Stand in two lines with the two people at the front of the line facing the moderator. The moderator will give them the beginning of a situation: “I was walking to school today and I saw a bird trying to eat a giant worm… what happened next?” One line is “what happened” and one line is “what did you do?”… but they are both playing the same character in the same story. So the “what happened next” person gives a one line offer as to what happened next (the bird saw me and flew away). Moderator asks the other “what did you do next.” (I bent down to look at the worm.) This goes back and forth – make sure to stop them if they answer the wrong kind of question – until they reach a logical stopping point in the story. Then they go to the back of the opposite line and the next pair moves forward for a new story.
3) Conducted Story (Exercise)
Start with four or five players in a line and one person to conduct a story.
Description - The goal of the conducted story is to have the players tell a story that moves seamlessly from one player to another. The goal of the conductor is to make the story flow as well as possible. If the conductor moves from one player to another, the new player who is speaking must continue on as though there was no pause. For instance, moves from player A who said, "Many children were afraid of Carl for he was known to ha.." to player B, who would continue seemlessly "..ve piles of library books that were overdue." The key is listening. It is a listening exercise. The four players that are not speaking must always be listening. They all must have the next word ready to go, and only if they are listening will that word make any sense. The players must also be accepting of what is happening in the story. Forcing their own agenda will show up quickly. Words like, 'but' and 'instead of' reflect someone denying another player’s offers.
4) 0-1-2-3-4 – to help you get in all the elements of CROW, make simple, one-line offers – these scenes are short and about making things simple, so they’re rarely funny. But they are good for learning how to develop a story line.
0 – person A makes a silent physical offer – this probably helps define a WHERE – ex. Start washing dishes
1 – person B enters and makes a one line offer that defines RELATIONSHIP
ex. “Hi Mom.”
2 – person A makes a one line offer of an OBJECTIVE that creates conflict or need ex. “You were supposed to come home an hour ago.”
3 – person B makes a one line offer that escalates the conflict or need
ex. “You always treat me like a baby.”
4 – person C enters and makes a one line offer that resolves the conflict or need – “Hey guys, sorry, but I forgot to reset the clock for daylight savings.”
Six Episodes
Description
Excellent game to teach group storytelling. Give a big task, like The launch of a new flavor of Coke, or Building a new clubhouse for the Girl Scouts. The players get 1 minute to prepare 6 scenes, in which the given task needs to be completed. After 1 minute there is no more discussing, they just play the 6 scenes. Time it and see if they can make their minds up. Quarreling will just slow them down, so this will only work if players agree; they should be immediately accepting any usable ideas.
A Glossary of Improv Terms
The following is a list of terms used in teaching and discussing improvisational theatre. If you have any additions or modifications you'd like to see made, email me ().
Accepting
Embracing the offers made by other performers in order to advance the scene.
Advancing
The process of moving the scene forwards. .
Blocking
Rejecting information or ideas offered by another player. One of the most common problems experienced by new improvisors. In conventional theatre, the term is used to mean something different (pre-planned stage movement).
Endowing
Assigning attributes to another performer's character.
Focus
The audience's attention should only be in one place at any given time; that place (or person) is the "focus" of the scene. If more than one thing is going on simultaneously, the focus is split.
Gagging
Trying to make a joke or do something funny that doesn't flow naturally from the scene. Always a bad idea.
Gossip
Talking about things instead of doing them. Also, talking about things that are offstage or in the past or future. .
Masking
Standing in a place where you can't be seen properly, or in such a way that you're hiding someone else or some important action. Should be avoided.
Mugging
Making silly faces instead of reacting truthfully. Generally frowned upon.
Objective
The thing that a character in a scene is trying to achieve.
Offer
Any dialog or action which advances the scene. Offers should be accepted.
Physicalization
Turning intent into action and movement.
Plateau
A period during which a scene is not advancing. Usually a bad thing.
Platform
The who, what and where of a scene. The success of a scene often depends on having a solid platform.
Talking heads
A scene that involves a lot of standing (or worse yet, sitting) around talking rather than engaging in physical action.