Improv Three-Line Scenes
Rapid-fire two-handers. Player A initiates, B responds, A responds again — and the scene is over. Next pair, go. In three lines you must establish who you are to each other, where you are, and what's going on, then blackout. Drill dozens back to back. It trains the strong initiation and the ability to establish a scene fast — the skill that beats the deadly "vague first ninety seconds". Because there's no time to discover slowly, players learn to make a bold, specific offer immediately and to give their partner something real to play. It's the single best cure for weak, wandering scene openings, and the reps make it instinct.
🎓 Tips
The first line must do work — a relationship, an emotion, a place. Coach against "Hi." "Hi." — a strong initiation is the whole exercise. Three lines then blackout, strictly. The constraint forces boldness — don't let scenes run on, the pressure is the point. Quantity builds instinct. Drill many pairs fast — the goal is that strong, specific openings become automatic, not laboured.
Spotted a mistake, a missing variant, a better way to run it? Change it.