Games & Exercises
84 games — warmups, shortform, longform and exercises.
Big Booty
Rhythmic chanting circle. Each player has a number; on your turn chant your number plus someone else's without breaking rhythm. Mistakes send you to the end. Joyful chaos.
Bunny Bunny
One player does 'bunny bunny' hands at a neighbor who becomes the bunny, while both neighbors flap ears. High-speed silliness that kills self-consciousness.
Categories
A category is called (e.g. breakfast cereals). Going around the circle, each player names one item on the beat. Hesitate or repeat and the category changes. Trains fast access under pressure.
Crazy Eights
Shake out right arm 8 times, left arm 8, right leg 8, left leg 8, then 4 of each, 2, 1. End with a group cheer. Physical wake-up in ninety seconds.
Enemy & Defender
Everyone secretly picks an 'enemy' and a 'defender' in the group, then moves to keep their defender between themselves and their enemy. Chaos with a hidden pattern. Great to shake off the day.
Follow the Follower
The circle mirrors one leader, then leadership passes silently, then nobody leads and everybody mirrors everyone. The group moves as one organism. Deep group-mind builder.
Gibberish Circle
Pass a gibberish phrase around the circle; each player repeats what they heard and transforms it. Then hold short gibberish conversations in pairs. Frees players from clever words.
Group Counting (21)
Eyes closed or looking down, the group counts to 21 — one person per number, no order, no signals. If two speak at once, restart. Pure group listening.
Hot Spot
One player jumps to the center and sings a song; the group supports loudly. Anyone can tag them out with a new song at any moment. Teaches supporting your teammates and jumping in before you're ready.
Kitty Wants a Corner
One player in the middle asks 'Kitty wants a corner'; others reply 'Ask my neighbor' while players silently swap places behind their back. The kitty steals an empty spot. Playground energy.
Mind Meld
Two players count '1, 2, 3' and simultaneously say any word. Then both try to say the word 'between' the two previous words. Repeat until the group converges on the same word. Celebrate when it happens!
Name Six
A ball or beanbag passes around the circle while one player in the middle must name six items in a category before it returns to the starter. Fast, sweaty, fun.
Pass the Clap
In a circle, two players clap at the same time to pass a clap around. Aim for perfect synchronization. Speed up, reverse direction, send it across the circle.
Samurai
One player 'strikes' at another across the circle with a loud 'HA!'; the target raises their sword with 'HA!' and their neighbors strike their sides with 'HA!'. Big voice, big body, zero hesitation.
Sound Ball
Throw an imaginary ball around the circle. The thrower makes a sound; the catcher repeats it, then throws with a new sound. Add more balls, change sizes and weights.
Walk Stop Jump Clap
Players walk the space obeying commands: walk, stop, jump, clap. Then reverse the meanings — 'walk' means stop, 'jump' means clap. Excellent brain-scrambler and focus reset.
Whoosh Bang Pow
Energy circle with commands: 'Whoosh' passes energy, 'Bang' blocks it back, 'Pow' sends it across the circle. Add your own commands as the group learns.
Word Association Circle
Around the circle, each player instantly says the first word triggered by the previous word. No judging, no planning. Variation: 'and that makes me think of…'
Yes Let's!
Anyone calls 'Let's all… paint a fence!' Everyone shouts 'YES LET'S!' and does it fully until someone offers a new activity. The purest yes-and drill there is.
Zip Zap Zop
Stand in a circle. Pass energy with a clap and point, saying 'Zip', then 'Zap', then 'Zop' in sequence. Eye contact and commitment matter more than speed. Great first warmup for any group.
Alphabet Game
A scene where each line of dialogue must start with the next letter of the alphabet, starting from a random letter and looping. Trains listening while keeping the scene emotionally real.
Ask the Expert
An expert takes audience questions on a topic they know nothing about (suggested by the audience). Confidence is everything — the expert is never wrong.
Blind Line
Audience writes lines on slips scattered on stage. Mid-scene, players pick one up, read it cold, and justify it as their own dialogue. Justification showcase.
Chain Murder Mystery
Like a gibberish game of telephone: player 1 learns a profession, location, and weapon, then mimes/gibberishes them to player 2, who passes to 3, then 4. The last player guesses. Escalating chaos.
Dubbing
Two players act on stage moving their lips only; two offstage players provide all their voices. Sync struggles are part of the joy. Swap roles halfway.
Emotional Zones
The stage is divided into zones, each with an emotion. As players move through zones mid-scene, their emotion snaps to match — but the scene's content continues logically.
Forward Reverse
A scene where the host calls 'reverse' and players rewind the scene line by line, then 'forward' again. Precision memory plus comic timing.
Freeze Tag
Two players improvise a scene with big physicality. Anyone calls 'Freeze!', taps in, takes over an exact frozen pose, and starts a completely new scene justified by the positions. Keep it rotating fast.
Genre Replay
Play a 1-minute neutral scene, then replay it in genres from the audience: film noir, western, telenovela, horror. Keep the story beats identical — the genre does the comedy.
Gibberish Translator
One player speaks only gibberish; a translator renders it into English. The gibberish speaker's emotion and body language drive the story. Swap roles halfway.
Good, Bad, Worst Advice
A panel of three gives advice on audience problems: one gives good advice, one bad advice, one terrible advice. Simple frame, huge character room.
Half Life
Play a 60-second scene, then replay it in 30 seconds, 15, 7, and 3. Forces you to find what actually mattered. Kills darlings beautifully.
Helping Hands
One player stands with arms behind their back; a partner kneeling behind provides the arms. Try cooking demos or first dates. Physical comedy, real props optional (messy!).
Interrogation
One player leaves; the audience picks a crime, location, and accomplice. Detectives interrogate, feeding clues through wordplay and mime, until the suspect can 'confess' the details.
Irish Drinking Song
Four players improvise verses in the classic da-da-da rhythm on an audience topic, one line each, with a group 'ay-dee-die-dee-die' chorus. Rhyme helps; commitment saves.
New Choice
A host dings a bell at any line; the player must instantly replace it with a new choice — again and again. Teaches infinite options on every offer.
Party Quirks
A host prepares a party; three guests arrive with secret quirks or identities suggested by the audience. The host must guess who or what they are. Endorse big character choices.
Pillars
Two audience members stand on stage as 'pillars'. Whenever a player taps one, the pillar says any word, which the player must weave into their dialogue instantly.
Questions Only
Players may only speak in questions. Statements get you buzzed out and replaced. Try to keep it a real scene rather than a tennis match of nonsense.
Scenes From a Hat
Audience suggestions go in a hat: 'things you shouldn't say at a wedding', etc. Players step out in pairs and deliver quick hits. Fast, low-stakes, great show-opener.
Sit Stand Bend
Three players; at every moment one must be sitting, one standing, one bending. When one moves, the others adjust — while playing a truthful scene. Physical awareness under narrative load.
Slide Show
One player narrates their holiday slide show; the others form each frozen slide as it's 'clicked'. Narrator justifies whatever the tableau shows. Alternate who narrates.
Sound Effects
Two players act a scene; two audience members (or players) provide every sound effect live. The actors must incorporate every sound they hear. Audience interaction gold.
Space Jump
One player starts a solo scene. Each new player 'freezes' the stage and joins, starting a new scene with everyone. Then unwind: players leave one by one, and each earlier scene resumes exactly where it froze.
Superheroes
A crisis is announced. Hero #1 gets a ridiculous superhero name from the audience and names each arriving colleague ('Thank goodness you're here, Captain Whisper!'). Each must embody their name.
Three-Headed Expert
Three players are one expert answering questions one word at a time (or one sentence each). The head agrees with itself, always. Silly and surprisingly hard.
Typewriter
An author at a desk narrates a story; players act it out, and can grab narrative control back through their choices. Author edits, skips, and heightens. Nice showcase for narrative players.
World's Worst
Step out and demonstrate the world's worst person in a given profession or situation. Quick hits; step out, hit it, step back. Great pace-changer.
Armando
A monologist tells a true personal story inspired by the suggestion; players improvise scenes inspired by its themes (not a re-enactment). More monologues punctuate the set. Great with a guest storyteller.
Deconstruction
A long opening two-person scene is then deconstructed: subsequent scenes explode its themes, flashbacks, tangents and inner monologues. Analytical and rich; for experienced teams.
Improvised Documentary
Mockumentary format: talking-head interviews alternate with 'footage' scenes about a community event suggested by the audience (the pumpkin festival, the ferry race). Characters return and evolve.
Improvised Movie
Take a genre and a title, then perform the film — with a director's voice calling cuts, camera angles, montages and reshoots. Big fun with cinematic teams.
Invocation (Opening)
Players invoke the suggestion as an object of worship: 'It is… you are… thou art…', building from literal description to mythic exaltation. High-commitment poetic opening.
La Ronde
Scene 1: characters A and B. Scene 2: B and C. Scene 3: C and D… until the chain returns to A. One community of characters, watching relationships ripple.
Living Room
Players hang out 'in the living room' having a real conversation about their lives; when something resonates, they drift into scenes inspired by it, then return to the couch. Warm, personal, disarming.
Monoscene
One single continuous scene in one location in real time — no edits, no cutaways. A dinner party, a waiting room, a band's van. Demands patience, listening, and honoring the reality you build.
Montage
The simplest longform: take a suggestion, then play a series of scenes inspired by it or by each other. Scenes can connect or not. Perfect first longform for a shortform team.
Pattern Game (Opening)
A word-association opening: the group riffs on the suggestion in waves, finding themes, opinions and games to fuel the scenes that follow. Teach it before teaching the Harold.
Slacker
Follow-the-object format: the camera 'follows' whoever leaves each scene, drifting through a neighborhood of characters in real time. Loose, cinematic, forgiving.
Story Spine Play
Build a complete narrative using the story spine: 'Once upon a time… every day… but one day… because of that… until finally… ever since then.' The director can call the next beat aloud.
The Bat
A Harold performed in complete darkness (or with the audience's eyes closed): pure audio improv. Voices, sound effects, silence. Astonishing intimacy.
The Harold
The classic Del Close structure: an opening on the audience suggestion, three unrelated scenes (1A 1B 1C), a group game, second beats of each scene, another group game, and third beats where themes and characters collide and connect.
A to C Thinking
Given a word (A), don't use your first association (B) — voice your association's association (C). 'Beach → not sand → sunburnt tourists.' Trains original, specific offers.
Advance / Expand
A coach calls 'advance' (move the plot forward) or 'expand' (stay in the moment and deepen it) during a scene. Players learn the two gears of storytelling consciously.
Character Walks
Walk the space leading with your nose, then chest, pelvis, knees. Let each walk generate a voice, an age, an opinion. Meet others and small-talk in character.
Emotional Symphony
A conductor assigns each player an emotion-sound; conducting them like an orchestra — louder, softer, solos, all together. Pure permission to be loud and feel things.
Environment Build
One player enters an empty stage and uses one object; each next player adds an object with detail. Then play a short scene in the built space, respecting every placement.
Gibberish Scenes
Full scenes in gibberish: emotion, status and relationship must carry everything. Then replay the same scene in English and see what survives.
Gift Giving
Pairs exchange imaginary gifts. The receiver defines what it is upon opening ('A puppy! You remembered!') and the giver justifies. Endowment plus space-object work in one.
Give and Take Focus
The group moves in space; only one player may move (or speak) at a time. Take focus boldly, give it generously. Then apply to a group scene. Stagecraft fundamentals.
Hot Seat Interview
One player sits in the hot seat in character; the group interviews them. The character discovers opinions, history and voice live. Excellent before longform character work.
If This Is True
Premise expansion drill: given one unusual fact ('the boss naps in a coffin'), players list what else must be true in that world, then play scenes exploring it. Core of premise-based longform.
It's Tuesday
One player delivers a mundane line ('It's Tuesday'); their partner reacts with maximum emotional commitment, justifying why it matters. Trains reacting big to small offers.
Last Word Response
Each line of dialogue must begin with the last word of the partner's previous line. Clunky at first, then it forces true listening to the very end of sentences.
Mirror Exercise
Pairs face each other; one leads slow movement, the other mirrors exactly. Switch leaders, then let leadership dissolve. Builds connection and slows players down.
One Word Story
Tell a story one word per person. Aim for boring — the group's job is coherence, not cleverness. Advanced: one sentence each, or two-word chunks.
Repetition
Meisner drill: pairs repeat the same sentence back and forth ('You're smiling.' 'I'm smiling.'), letting emotion and meaning shift with each repetition. Trains listening beneath words.
Silent Scene
Two players play a complete relationship scene with zero dialogue. Who are they? What changed? Debrief what the audience read. Proves how little words matter.
Sound and Movement Pass
Circle: one player crosses with a repeated sound+movement; the receiver copies it exactly, transforms it gradually into their own, and passes it on. Full-body commitment, zero judgment.
Status Party
Everyone gets a playing card defining their social status (ace low, king high) and mingles at a party playing it. Then: wear it on your forehead so only others see it. Discuss how status physically feels.
Story Spine Drill
Tell quick stories through the spine: 'Once upon a time… every day… but one day… because of that (x3)… until finally… ever since then.' Rotate who fills each beat.
Three-Line Scenes
Rapid-fire: player A initiates, B responds, A responds again — scene over, next pair. Drill dozens of openings: who/what/where established in three lines, no small talk.
Wants and Tactics
Each player secretly picks a want from their scene partner and pursues it through changing tactics (charm, guilt, threat…). Debrief: did the want read? Scene work with acting teeth.
Yes And Circle
In pairs or a circle, build a plan one sentence at a time, each starting with 'Yes, and…'. Then try the same with 'Yes, but…' and feel the difference die. The foundation of everything.