Improv Character Walks
Players walk the space, leading with one body part at a time — the nose, then the chest, the pelvis, the knees. Each lead changes the whole body, and from that changed body a voice, an age, an attitude and an opinion are allowed to emerge. Then they meet others and make small talk fully in character. It teaches that character starts in the body, not the head. Rather than inventing a personality and bolting it on, players discover one from a physical impulse — which produces truer, fuller, more surprising characters than "I'll be a grumpy pirate". It builds a reliable physical toolkit for finding people fast on stage.
🎓 Tips
Body first, character second. Coach players to change the walk and let the voice and attitude follow — not to decide a character and act it out. Exaggerate the lead early. A subtle shift gives little to work with — push the physicality so a distinct person actually emerges. Test it in interaction. Small talk in character reveals whether the person is real — coach staying in the body once they start speaking.
Spotted a mistake, a missing variant, a better way to run it? Change it.