Improv Games List - Part 4

Welcome to the fourth part of our dive into improv exercises....

Mirroring

• Aims: Develop focus and physical awareness.

• Instructions: Participants pair up, with one acting as the leader and the other mirroring their movements as closely as possible. After a set time, they switch roles. Then they continue the activity with the aim that they cant tell when one is leading.

• Keywords: Focus, Physicality, Teamwork, Mirroring, Awareness.

5 Things

• Aims: Enhance quick thinking and creativity.

• Instructions: One participant names a category (e.g., types of fruit), and the others must quickly list five items that fit that category.

• Adaptations: Increase the number of items to list or change the time limit for responses.

• Keywords: Quick Thinking, Creativity, Categorization, Teamwork, Fun.

ABA

• Aims: Build on ideas and enhance collaboration.

• Instructions: One person starts a scene with a line (A), the second person adds to it (B), and the first person builds on the second line (A), building the scene together.

• Adaptations: Limit the number of lines or themes.

• Keywords: Collaboration, Scene Building, Dialogue, Creativity, Teamwork.

Freeze Tag

• Aims: Encourage spontaneity and listening to physicality offers.

• Instructions: Two players start a scene while others watch. At any moment, someone from the audience can shout "freeze," and the actors must freeze in place. The audience member then replaces one actor and starts a new scene based on the frozen positions (the scene should be different to the previous scene).

• Adaptations: Introduce specific themes or emotions for the scenes; limit the number of freezes. In blind freeze tag, players turn around to shout freeze to that they can’t choose the position.

• Keywords: Spontaneity, Quick Reactions, Scene Change, Creativity, Fun.

Schwing

• Aims: Foster energy and enthusiasm in performance.

• Instructions: Participants form a circle. One person starts with a movement and sound like swinging a sword (and saying ‘schwing), and the next person must mimic it keeping the energy moving in the same direction. This continues around the circle. Places have the option to 1- continue the swing, 2-change the direction of the schwing by miming a shield and saying ‘clang’ 3- moving the energy across the circle using a bow and arrow, saying ‘twang’. 

• Adaptations: Change the type of sound or movement; allow for group improvisation.

• Keywords: Energy, Creativity, Sound, Movement, Circle.

Mad Sad Glad Afraid

• Aims: Explore emotions and character development.

• Instructions: Participants take turns starting two-person scenes. Each person chooses an emotion for their character before the scene starts. They should try to build the emotion throughout the scene.

• Keywords: Emotions, Expression, Character, Physicality, Interaction.

Hitchhiker

• Aims: Enhance character improvisation and scene work.

• Instructions: One person starts as a driver in a car, and others take turns as hitchhikers who enter the scene with a quirky character. As a person brings a character in, all of the improvisers in the scene take on that character. One person eventually finds a reason to leave and another person enters with a new character.

• Adaptations: Set specific themes for characters or limit the number of hitchhikers.

• Keywords: Character Work, Scene Building, Interaction, Creativity, Improv.