Improv games mentioned in “Integrating Improv!”
Before we get to the descriptions, I’d like to note that I did not invent any of these games. Some of them I’ve played, or variants of them, since childhood. Like oral stories or any childhood games, they change over time, adding and subtracting elements as each new group experiences them. I wrote down how I play them. Feel free to experiment and add variations of your own! I did not put an * next to any of these, though they may appear in one or both improv books I used for my presentation. (In fact, variants probably appear in many books about improv games.)
For the other games listed below, I adapted the descriptions from one of two books:
*Use You Know -- Make Up What You Don’t! by Brad Newton, and
**The Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom by Katherine S. McKnight and Mary Scruggs.
Both books are filled with many, many more fabulous games, but the ones I’ve listed are the ones I tend to play most often, and have found the most fun and useful in the past. If you’d like to use improv in your classroom, I highly recommend both these books, as they have much more in-depth descriptions and include valuable information about the skills each game can build. These very brief instructions below are merely a quick reference guide for anyone who just wants to try out some games to get started.
Note: the “stage” or “playing area” is any space in your classroom that you denote as the performance space. Also, the 2nd City book recommends teaching the students how to form a "back line" in which the appropriate number of students line up, facing the audience, shoulder to shoulder at the back edge of the stage. This is a good technique to use for getting them ready to go with whatever game you're going to play.
Warm Ups/Introductory Games
Mirror Mirror Students stand or sit facing one another. One is the “person” the other the “mirror.” The person begins a slow movement, which is to be mirrored by her partner. Emphasize that their goal is to be so fluid and in-tune that an observer can’t tell who is who. Looking at the partner’s face instead of the hands/body is very helpful.
Letter Point* Students stand in a circle, facing in. A “spinner” points to a random person and gives them a letter. The player must come up with a word that begins with that letter. (Alternately, there is no spinner. Each player chooses the next person to go and gives them a new letter.) No repeats! The teacher can add categories like “nouns” or “science” or “things to do with food” to add content and a layer of difficulty.
Alphabet** Either alone or with a partner, students are assigned a letter of the alphabet to make with their bodies. Letters can be capital or lower case. Groups could be assigned to spell out a word.
Mystery Leader Students sit in a circle. One student leaves the room while a Mystery Leader is chosen. When the students return, the students pat their knees together and chant “Mystery Leader, Mystery Leader, Can you guess the Mystery Leader.” After that, the ML changes the rhythmic motion -- clapping, patting the floor, touching his nose, snapping, etc. all in rhythm. The rest of the group must follow him as smoothly as possible without giving him away. The guesser gets three guesses. Repeat until everyone has had a turn to be either guesser or Leader.
Foundational Skill Building Games
World Wide Web* Like “Letter Point,” student stand in a circle. The group chooses a topic. A center “Pointer” spins, and the chosen student must give a word that fits the topic. After several students have gone, the teacher says “Switch” and the last person who spoke becomes the new spinner and her word the new topic.
Broccoli Cauliflower (Yes/No) Students work in pairs (a trio is acceptable if necessary.) Without discussing it before beginning, they are to have a conversation in which one person may only say “Broccoli” and the other may only say “Cauliflower.” (Or “Yes” and “No” which changes the tone of the game.) After 2 - 3 minutes of conversation, have students stop and share with the group what their conversation was about. This may also be played with one pair on “stage” at a time, with the audience guessing what the conversation was really about.
Give and Take** In this exercise, any number of students begin by practicing a “neutral walk.” This walk is easy and natural, without poses, at a slow to moderate pace. Practice freezing and unfreezing, and posing, so they can see the difference between a pose and just freezing. Then, unfreeze only one student with a touch or command. After awhile, unfreeze a different student, freezing the first, so that only one person is ever moving at a time. The moving student now has the power to unfreeze another student, at which point he re-freezes. Have the student practice unfreezing with a touch, then only words, then without words, then with nothing more than a look.
Space Walk** In this exercise, any number of students begin a “neutral walk” through the stage area. Practice freezing and unfreezing and posing. Once they are used to that, invite them to walk through various environments -- a dark room, 6 inches of mud, a floor covered in legos. Other variants include: being different ages, having different status levels, varied speeds, leading with different body parts, showing different emotions, various levels of contact (like nods, waves, handshakes, looking away) with other players. An enormous range of skills can be explored with this exercise through many repeat uses.
Object Work/Clay Play/Pantomime 8 - 12 Students sit in a circle, facing one another, including the teacher. She shows the students a block of clay, miming its size, shape and even heft with her hands. She pushes it down, molds and sculpts it into a “thing” and then uses it. Students have 3 guesses as to what it is. Then the clay is passed to the next player. Student should be encouraged to really “feel” the shape, working slowly and deliberately. The goal is not to confound the other players, but to be so accurate that it is easy to guess.
Emotional Parade Students stand in a circle, or just around the playing area. The teacher asks them to show an emotion, like “sad.” Encourage them to use their entire body, not just their face. Introduce ranges of an emotion, like “glad” to “happy” to “exuberant” to “ecstatic.” Student should think about how intense each emotion is, and how to show it.
Machine Group students into teams of 4 - 7 that may all play simultaneously. Each team is to build a machine, one part at a time. The first student creates a mechanical sound and repetitive sound and motion. The next student needs to fit her motion in with the first, and join to the 3rd student and so on. As the machines grow, students will need to practice their rhythm and working together until they have a smoothly functioning machine. An option is to have teams share their creations with the class, and indicate what their machine does and what task each player completes towards production.
Improv Games that Build Story
Conducted Story** 5 - 8 students stand in a semi-circle with the conductor at the center. The audience provides a prompt, such as Title and Genre, Moral, or Topic. The conductor points to a student to begin the story with a motion, and stops her with a 2nd motion, passing the story mid-stream (even mid-sentence!) to another student. Continue passing until all have had a turn. Elements such as introduction, rising action, climax, denouement can be incorporated via the teacher’s “conducting” for more sophisticated students.
Beginning, Middle, End** Students create 3 line story. 3 students stand facing the audience in a line. The leftmost tells the beginning sentence of a story. The middle student tells the middle sentence and the 3rd student the ending sentence of the story. Announce “New Story!” as the first student moves all the way to the right and begin again with the child who had been in the middle. Quick pacing is essential -- keep the story moving, even when it doesn't make sense. (and they often won't, especially with beginners.)
Bus Trip** 5 - 8 students are waiting at the bus stop. An audience member suggests the weather. Once on the bus, they can eat their imaginary snacks, letting the audience know what they are eating. After eating, they should think about where they are going on this trip, and portray that with their body language and facial expression. The teacher asks audience members how they think each character is feeling, and why. The player share where they are going, and how they feel about it.
Slide Show**Two narrators sit to the side of the playing area. One at a time, 5 - 8 players come from the back line to the center and freeze. They should all have different poses, levels, expressions, etc. The audience suggests a location for this vacation slide, and the narrators then describe in detail what was happening when this picture was taken. The teacher, or narrator, calls "next!" and the players move to a new spot, level and pose.
String of Pearls** 8 - 12 students stand in a line, facing the audience. One volunteers to come forward to tell the first sentence of a story. (I find it helps to have marks on the floor to indicate 1st position, 2nd and so forth for this exercise.) A 2nd student comes forward to tell the ending sentence of the story, stepping on the “end” mark. (I do not accept “they all lived happily ever after” or variants thereof, nor “It was all a dream” or “Everyone died.” This is my own choice, but I find those tend to stifle creativity.) One by one, students volunteer to come forward, adding exactly one more sentence to the story, in any order. Each time a student fills in a spot, the whole story is re-told from the beginning. Once the last gap is filled in, students re-tell the entire story beginning to end.
Reruns* In this game, 3 - 5 students begin onstage. The audience can suggest a setting, characters and problem. The players act out about 45 seconds of the scene, remaining fairly neutral and flat in their emotional tone, until the director freezes them. Then they wind it back, and play it again, this time with an emotion suggested by the audience. After 1 or 2 reruns, a new set of players from the audience can try the scene. It isn't important that each rerun is exactly the same, though the characters, setting and problem should all stay consistent. What changes is the tone. More advanced players can be instructed to play to a different mood, or even try sped up, slowed down, higher or lower status, etc. The classic skit "meatloaf" is a more scripted version of this game.
More Advanced Improv Games
Panel of Experts** In this game, three students sit in chairs on the stage. The audience gives each player a topic in which they are the "expert." Topics can be ones of general knowledge, or specifically related to content you have been working on. Audience members then pose questions, through a moderator (you) such as "What's the best way to sell my house?" or "I want a vegetable garden. What's the best way to go about planting one?" Each expert answers in turn, through the lens of his/her expertise. For example, a math expert might recommend measuring everything in the house first, and calculating the cost per cubic foot of space.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly This is a variant of Panel of Experts. In this case, each advice-giver has a persona. The "good" advice giver provides helpful information. The "bad" advice expert says the opposite of what the questioner should do. The "ugly" adviser gives the most crazy-bizarre answer s/he can imagine that still relates to the question asked.
Hey, Taxi!* Arrange four chairs "car style" on the stage, at an angle to the audience. One player is the driver. A 2nd player hails the taxi -- "Hey, taxi!" and sits in the passenger seat. S/he plays a character -- anything from a famous person to an animal to a snowman. The driver must figure out who/what the passenger is and mimic those traits. A 3rd player hails the taxi, and begins a new character, which the other players must take one. Continue once more till the cab is full. At that point, you can begin again, or the driver can leap out, allowing a new driver to come on board, letting passengers off and on.
Yes, But…*In this questioning game, two players have the stage. The audience chooses a theme, such as sports or food, and player one asks player two a question involving the theme (Do you like pizza?) Player two must respond "Yes, but..." and elaborate (Yes, but I only like when I make it at home.") Player one must build on that statement with a new question ("So you bake a lot?" "Yes, but I hate cleaning up afterwards.") Player one can often put player two into rather awkward situations ("So, you're saying that you're a slob and don't clean up after yourself?" "Yes, but...!) This can also be played as "Yes, And..."
Freeze! This game begins with two players, although more can be added in an advanced version. One player is always silent, the other may talk. The silent player starts the scene by miming an action -- it can be on a topic suggested by the audience, or on a theme you've been studying in class, or player's choice of any everyday action. The talker then responds to the mimed motion and interacts with whatever imaginary thing the silent player has been holding. At the height of the action, an audience member yells "Freeze!" and comes up to take the silent player's place. This new person is now the talker, and the former talker becomes the silent player. With words and actions, the new player indicates the change in scene. Flexible thinking is key to this game!
Alien Interpreter In this game for 3 players there is an alien, a TV personality interviewer, and an interpreter. The TV personality welcomes people to the studio and warms up the interview with a few questions for the alien. The interpreter "translates" into alien language. The alien responds, complete with facial expressions, gestures and body language, and the interpreter shares the response in English. The Interviewer can also take questions from the audience. This is an opportunity to teach "rich questioning." Questions that elicit one word answers are not rich. How and Why questions allow for greater depth in answers, and often yield funnier results, too.
Before we get to the descriptions, I’d like to note that I did not invent any of these games. Some of them I’ve played, or variants of them, since childhood. Like oral stories or any childhood games, they change over time, adding and subtracting elements as each new group experiences them. I wrote down how I play them. Feel free to experiment and add variations of your own! I did not put an * next to any of these, though they may appear in one or both improv books I used for my presentation. (In fact, variants probably appear in many books about improv games.)
For the other games listed below, I adapted the descriptions from one of two books:
*Use You Know -- Make Up What You Don’t! by Brad Newton, and
**The Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom by Katherine S. McKnight and Mary Scruggs.
Both books are filled with many, many more fabulous games, but the ones I’ve listed are the ones I tend to play most often, and have found the most fun and useful in the past. If you’d like to use improv in your classroom, I highly recommend both these books, as they have much more in-depth descriptions and include valuable information about the skills each game can build. These very brief instructions below are merely a quick reference guide for anyone who just wants to try out some games to get started.
Note: the “stage” or “playing area” is any space in your classroom that you denote as the performance space. Also, the 2nd City book recommends teaching the students how to form a "back line" in which the appropriate number of students line up, facing the audience, shoulder to shoulder at the back edge of the stage. This is a good technique to use for getting them ready to go with whatever game you're going to play.
Warm Ups/Introductory Games
Mirror Mirror Students stand or sit facing one another. One is the “person” the other the “mirror.” The person begins a slow movement, which is to be mirrored by her partner. Emphasize that their goal is to be so fluid and in-tune that an observer can’t tell who is who. Looking at the partner’s face instead of the hands/body is very helpful.
Letter Point* Students stand in a circle, facing in. A “spinner” points to a random person and gives them a letter. The player must come up with a word that begins with that letter. (Alternately, there is no spinner. Each player chooses the next person to go and gives them a new letter.) No repeats! The teacher can add categories like “nouns” or “science” or “things to do with food” to add content and a layer of difficulty.
Alphabet** Either alone or with a partner, students are assigned a letter of the alphabet to make with their bodies. Letters can be capital or lower case. Groups could be assigned to spell out a word.
Mystery Leader Students sit in a circle. One student leaves the room while a Mystery Leader is chosen. When the students return, the students pat their knees together and chant “Mystery Leader, Mystery Leader, Can you guess the Mystery Leader.” After that, the ML changes the rhythmic motion -- clapping, patting the floor, touching his nose, snapping, etc. all in rhythm. The rest of the group must follow him as smoothly as possible without giving him away. The guesser gets three guesses. Repeat until everyone has had a turn to be either guesser or Leader.
Foundational Skill Building Games
World Wide Web* Like “Letter Point,” student stand in a circle. The group chooses a topic. A center “Pointer” spins, and the chosen student must give a word that fits the topic. After several students have gone, the teacher says “Switch” and the last person who spoke becomes the new spinner and her word the new topic.
Broccoli Cauliflower (Yes/No) Students work in pairs (a trio is acceptable if necessary.) Without discussing it before beginning, they are to have a conversation in which one person may only say “Broccoli” and the other may only say “Cauliflower.” (Or “Yes” and “No” which changes the tone of the game.) After 2 - 3 minutes of conversation, have students stop and share with the group what their conversation was about. This may also be played with one pair on “stage” at a time, with the audience guessing what the conversation was really about.
Give and Take** In this exercise, any number of students begin by practicing a “neutral walk.” This walk is easy and natural, without poses, at a slow to moderate pace. Practice freezing and unfreezing, and posing, so they can see the difference between a pose and just freezing. Then, unfreeze only one student with a touch or command. After awhile, unfreeze a different student, freezing the first, so that only one person is ever moving at a time. The moving student now has the power to unfreeze another student, at which point he re-freezes. Have the student practice unfreezing with a touch, then only words, then without words, then with nothing more than a look.
Space Walk** In this exercise, any number of students begin a “neutral walk” through the stage area. Practice freezing and unfreezing and posing. Once they are used to that, invite them to walk through various environments -- a dark room, 6 inches of mud, a floor covered in legos. Other variants include: being different ages, having different status levels, varied speeds, leading with different body parts, showing different emotions, various levels of contact (like nods, waves, handshakes, looking away) with other players. An enormous range of skills can be explored with this exercise through many repeat uses.
Object Work/Clay Play/Pantomime 8 - 12 Students sit in a circle, facing one another, including the teacher. She shows the students a block of clay, miming its size, shape and even heft with her hands. She pushes it down, molds and sculpts it into a “thing” and then uses it. Students have 3 guesses as to what it is. Then the clay is passed to the next player. Student should be encouraged to really “feel” the shape, working slowly and deliberately. The goal is not to confound the other players, but to be so accurate that it is easy to guess.
Emotional Parade Students stand in a circle, or just around the playing area. The teacher asks them to show an emotion, like “sad.” Encourage them to use their entire body, not just their face. Introduce ranges of an emotion, like “glad” to “happy” to “exuberant” to “ecstatic.” Student should think about how intense each emotion is, and how to show it.
Machine Group students into teams of 4 - 7 that may all play simultaneously. Each team is to build a machine, one part at a time. The first student creates a mechanical sound and repetitive sound and motion. The next student needs to fit her motion in with the first, and join to the 3rd student and so on. As the machines grow, students will need to practice their rhythm and working together until they have a smoothly functioning machine. An option is to have teams share their creations with the class, and indicate what their machine does and what task each player completes towards production.
Improv Games that Build Story
Conducted Story** 5 - 8 students stand in a semi-circle with the conductor at the center. The audience provides a prompt, such as Title and Genre, Moral, or Topic. The conductor points to a student to begin the story with a motion, and stops her with a 2nd motion, passing the story mid-stream (even mid-sentence!) to another student. Continue passing until all have had a turn. Elements such as introduction, rising action, climax, denouement can be incorporated via the teacher’s “conducting” for more sophisticated students.
Beginning, Middle, End** Students create 3 line story. 3 students stand facing the audience in a line. The leftmost tells the beginning sentence of a story. The middle student tells the middle sentence and the 3rd student the ending sentence of the story. Announce “New Story!” as the first student moves all the way to the right and begin again with the child who had been in the middle. Quick pacing is essential -- keep the story moving, even when it doesn't make sense. (and they often won't, especially with beginners.)
Bus Trip** 5 - 8 students are waiting at the bus stop. An audience member suggests the weather. Once on the bus, they can eat their imaginary snacks, letting the audience know what they are eating. After eating, they should think about where they are going on this trip, and portray that with their body language and facial expression. The teacher asks audience members how they think each character is feeling, and why. The player share where they are going, and how they feel about it.
Slide Show**Two narrators sit to the side of the playing area. One at a time, 5 - 8 players come from the back line to the center and freeze. They should all have different poses, levels, expressions, etc. The audience suggests a location for this vacation slide, and the narrators then describe in detail what was happening when this picture was taken. The teacher, or narrator, calls "next!" and the players move to a new spot, level and pose.
String of Pearls** 8 - 12 students stand in a line, facing the audience. One volunteers to come forward to tell the first sentence of a story. (I find it helps to have marks on the floor to indicate 1st position, 2nd and so forth for this exercise.) A 2nd student comes forward to tell the ending sentence of the story, stepping on the “end” mark. (I do not accept “they all lived happily ever after” or variants thereof, nor “It was all a dream” or “Everyone died.” This is my own choice, but I find those tend to stifle creativity.) One by one, students volunteer to come forward, adding exactly one more sentence to the story, in any order. Each time a student fills in a spot, the whole story is re-told from the beginning. Once the last gap is filled in, students re-tell the entire story beginning to end.
Reruns* In this game, 3 - 5 students begin onstage. The audience can suggest a setting, characters and problem. The players act out about 45 seconds of the scene, remaining fairly neutral and flat in their emotional tone, until the director freezes them. Then they wind it back, and play it again, this time with an emotion suggested by the audience. After 1 or 2 reruns, a new set of players from the audience can try the scene. It isn't important that each rerun is exactly the same, though the characters, setting and problem should all stay consistent. What changes is the tone. More advanced players can be instructed to play to a different mood, or even try sped up, slowed down, higher or lower status, etc. The classic skit "meatloaf" is a more scripted version of this game.
More Advanced Improv Games
Panel of Experts** In this game, three students sit in chairs on the stage. The audience gives each player a topic in which they are the "expert." Topics can be ones of general knowledge, or specifically related to content you have been working on. Audience members then pose questions, through a moderator (you) such as "What's the best way to sell my house?" or "I want a vegetable garden. What's the best way to go about planting one?" Each expert answers in turn, through the lens of his/her expertise. For example, a math expert might recommend measuring everything in the house first, and calculating the cost per cubic foot of space.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly This is a variant of Panel of Experts. In this case, each advice-giver has a persona. The "good" advice giver provides helpful information. The "bad" advice expert says the opposite of what the questioner should do. The "ugly" adviser gives the most crazy-bizarre answer s/he can imagine that still relates to the question asked.
Hey, Taxi!* Arrange four chairs "car style" on the stage, at an angle to the audience. One player is the driver. A 2nd player hails the taxi -- "Hey, taxi!" and sits in the passenger seat. S/he plays a character -- anything from a famous person to an animal to a snowman. The driver must figure out who/what the passenger is and mimic those traits. A 3rd player hails the taxi, and begins a new character, which the other players must take one. Continue once more till the cab is full. At that point, you can begin again, or the driver can leap out, allowing a new driver to come on board, letting passengers off and on.
Yes, But…*In this questioning game, two players have the stage. The audience chooses a theme, such as sports or food, and player one asks player two a question involving the theme (Do you like pizza?) Player two must respond "Yes, but..." and elaborate (Yes, but I only like when I make it at home.") Player one must build on that statement with a new question ("So you bake a lot?" "Yes, but I hate cleaning up afterwards.") Player one can often put player two into rather awkward situations ("So, you're saying that you're a slob and don't clean up after yourself?" "Yes, but...!) This can also be played as "Yes, And..."
Freeze! This game begins with two players, although more can be added in an advanced version. One player is always silent, the other may talk. The silent player starts the scene by miming an action -- it can be on a topic suggested by the audience, or on a theme you've been studying in class, or player's choice of any everyday action. The talker then responds to the mimed motion and interacts with whatever imaginary thing the silent player has been holding. At the height of the action, an audience member yells "Freeze!" and comes up to take the silent player's place. This new person is now the talker, and the former talker becomes the silent player. With words and actions, the new player indicates the change in scene. Flexible thinking is key to this game!
Alien Interpreter In this game for 3 players there is an alien, a TV personality interviewer, and an interpreter. The TV personality welcomes people to the studio and warms up the interview with a few questions for the alien. The interpreter "translates" into alien language. The alien responds, complete with facial expressions, gestures and body language, and the interpreter shares the response in English. The Interviewer can also take questions from the audience. This is an opportunity to teach "rich questioning." Questions that elicit one word answers are not rich. How and Why questions allow for greater depth in answers, and often yield funnier results, too.