Improv Games
Games from Human Ping Pong Ball and the Improv Encyclopedia
Actor Switch - A scene is started, played by 2 to 4 players. Mid-scene the MC interrupts, and all characters are replaced by new players. The new players should take over the original characters, and stick to the story that was being developed.
Alien, Tiger, Cow - Fun game to warm up and to teach players some Chivalry .
Everyone in a circle. There are 3 things a player can be:
Backwards Interview - To play this improv game, ask for a topic for a TV interview. Then 2 players do the interview backwards. That means that the first sentence uttered is the last one in the interview, perhaps something like: Thanks for that enlightening explanation. (to the guest) To all of you viewers at home, thank you for watching, and see you next week. And then players work their way backwards. Various gimmicks can be played. For example, in your responses, you can pimp players. Examples would be: "Thank you for that very energetic answer to the question", pimping the other player to do something very energetic.
Beasty Rap - Everyone in e circle and get a beat running; use a beatbox, cd or mp3. First player starts rapping a line, any line, on the beat. Without skipping too many beats, next player adds a line that rhymes and so on until a player fails to come up with a line, misses the beat or fails to rhyme, after which everybody goes 'Dang', and the next player starts a next round. When the players not rapping feel the rhyme word of the active player coming, they all join in and yell the word together at the end of every line.
Blind Freeze - This one is just like Freeze Tag , but here the MC calls Freeze, and calls in another player. If you`re not using an MC, any player might call Freeze and call in any other player.
Many groups find this game more exciting than Freeze Tag , as players don`t know when they get pushed in the game, and hence are less prepared, and crazier, more exciting stuff tends to happen.
Borris - 2 players play an improvized interrogation scene. One is the interrogator, the other is a suspect. The interrogator randomly throws unconnected elements to the suspect, who needs to incorporate these and get himself into (even more) trouble. And then we have Boris, who is a nasty, huge, but invisible thug assisting the interrogator. Every time the interrogator does not like the suspect`s answers (and also when the suspect does not incriminate himself enough), the interrogator calls on Boris to torture the suspect, prodding him to confess or incriminate him even further.
Notes
Dating Game - This is played like a Blind Date show. One player leaves the stage, and the audience provides endowments for the 3 others. Examples might be No. 1 is stupid, No. 2 is a serial killer and No. 3 thinks he`s a macho.
4th player gets to ask 3 questions, and each of the others answers it. After the questions player 4 should guess what the endowments were.
Death in a Minute - 2 or 3 players play a 1 minute scene, in which one player must die.
Director's Cut - A normal improvized scene is played. At any moment a player not in the scene (or a player dedicated to this particular role) stops the scene ( see Cut ) and has the actors replay the scene with different emotions, characters, roles. Like a director instructing actors on how to play.
Disaster Movie - This is a Long Form format that can be played with a large number of players.
Audience suggests a type of disaster (flood, earthquake, alien invasion, you name it) and a location where the play will unfold, preferably a location where lots of characters can be found. Examples are a tropical tourist paradise, a big building. The story starts right before the disaster, usually some character foreseeing the disaster, discovering a bad omen or some foretelling sign. Next we see lots of characters in the given location. These should be the archetypical characters one finds in typical disaster movies. Examples are:
Do Ron Ron - 4 players sing a improvised song about a subject, given by the audience, on the tune of Do Ron Ron.
Double Blind Freeze - This is an extension of the Blind Freeze improv game: 2 players in scene, the others line up with their backs to the scene. Whenever the audience yells Freeze! the 2 players at the end of the line replace the 2 players on scene, and start a new scene, from the positions the original players were in.
Dubbed Movie - 2 or more actors play a scene, but they don`t speak, although they can move their mouths as if they are speaking. 2 or more players sit in front of the action, and provide the speech. The effect is (or should be) like watching a dubbed movie.
Ducks and Cows - Great silly physical warm-up. Everyone closes eyes and trainer divides the group in 2 subgroups. Tap on right shoulder makes you a duck, and tap on left shoulder makes you a cow. Then eyes are opened and on the "Go" sign both groups try to find each other, by quacking & mooing.
Duck Duck Goose - Invent a name for a non-existing but simple children`s game. As soon as you call out the name, all players start to play the game. They can use sounds and gibberish, but no real language.
See if the group can come to playing along the same rules. Variations: Just have the group start playing the game, and afterwards have the group come up with the name.
Emotional Family - Usually played with 4 players, but can be done with more or less players.
As a suggestion ask for a family activity, then start a normal scene. As soon as all characters and their relationships have been established, freeze the scene, pick a player, and ask for an emotion for that player. The scene then continues, and the player is overcome with that emotion. Repeat till all players got an emotion. The scene has to keep evolving after each emotion assignment, and of course players shall try Justifying the emotions.
Emotional Quadrants - Divide the scene in 4 quadrants, and allocate 4 different emotions to each quadrant. Players improvise a scene, but need to take on the emotion of the quadrant they are in. Notes: Encourage players to move about, in order to force changes of emotions. Don`t forget to justify emotion changes.
Evil Stick of Gun - This is a variation on Little Voice . In this game one character has a piece of gum in her mouth, and this piece of gum is capable of talking. The point is that other characters in the scene do not know about this piece of gum, and hence mistake the gum`s words for the characters. Since our piece of gum is evil, it tries to get it`s owner in trouble.
Firing Squad - All players, except one, the victim, form a long line. The first player in the line throws any word to the victim, who responds as fast as he/she can with the first word that comes to mind. The next player in the line then throws another word, usually unrelated to the previous word, and again the victim needs to respond as fast as possible. Repeat till everyone has thrown a word. Variations: This can be done as a continuation game: when done, the victim takes last place in the line, and the first player becomes the victim. You can even have multiple victims walking the line at the same time. Make sure there is enough `space` between the victims, otherwise, with the first hesitation, victims will start bumping into one another.
First Lin, Last Line - Get a line (any line) from the audience. Players play a scene that concludes with the given line.
Variations: Ask for a first line as well. Also known as First Line Last Line.
Fortune Teller - One player covers his ears while the others get `predictions` from the audience; one prediction per other player. First player then plays a fortune teller who must be endowed by the others to predict the given predictions.Variations: Off-stage players can "posses" (like as ghosts) the fortune teller and give him or her tips.
Freeze - 2 actors start an improvized scene. At any point in time another player can call Freeze. This player then tags out one of the 2 actors, and takes his place. Both players then start a new scene, justifying their positions.
Front Desk - We improvise a scene, set in the lobby of a hotel. One or more players play the receptionist(s) and the others play guests arriving or checking out, bell boys, repairmen, you name it.
Players construct the environment together - as soon as a door, a plant, a desk or whatever is `placed` by any player, all other players should respect it.
Funeral Service - This improv game handle can be used both as a Long Form format and as an exercise.
The stage is set up as a funeral, or a viewing the night before the funeral. One player is the deceased, bang in the middle and very visible in or on e.g. a table or a couple of chairs representing the casket. Audience suggests an odd or peculiar way to die, and then the death is played. Perhaps characters present during the funeral service were there at the time of death. After death, the dead gets back into her coffin and we return to the service. Then, taking turns, guests at the funeral service step up and present, in a monologue, their experience with the deceased. After each monologue what was described is played, like a flash-back.
Fuzzy Ducky - Silly concentration game and great warm-up. All players in a circle. We will count numbers clockwise, except that:
Group Mirror - Players per 2, facing each other. They can move (arms, legs, eyebrows) slowly, and the other player will mirror them. This is a game of give and take - no-one should be (continuously) leading. Keep movements slow. Variations: Do this with the whole group: everyone in a big circle, and everybody mirrors everybody else.
Guest Game - In this improv game we play a scene in which one player is a guest, somewhere. We do not know who he is, or why he is visiting, or what his relation might be with the characters at the location. All other characters in the scene behave strangely or suspiciously, as if they have a secret. The idea is that by the end of the scene we understand their secret. For example, a player might ring a doorbell at a house, ready to pick up his date. We never get to see the date, and all characters in the scene slowly provide hints as to what might have happened to the date. The game is over when e.g. we (the audience) discover that all occupants of the house have been hauling garbage bags out of the hous, all containing body parts of the date... It need not always be gruesome, though...
Ha Soh Kah - This is a fun warm-up game, and a good one to teach players to deal with failure.
We are going to say Ha-Soh-Kah; all players in a circle. The player that starts with Ha holds her hand, horizontally, near her forehead. The next player is the one her fingers are pointing to (left or right; first player can choose which hand to use and which direction to point to). Next player says Soh, hand horizontally, near the chin, pointing again, either to the left or to the right. The player the Soh points to does Kah, and points with both hands to the next player, who does a Ha again, and so forth. When someone makes a mistake, the whole group says rhythmically: "You are out of this game". Whoever is out steps out of the circle and tries to make the remaining players make a mistake.
Hall of Justice - Fun game for 5+ players, involving superheroes and villains. Get 4 suggestions from he audience, e.g. hammer, coffee, influenza and briefcase. This will give us 2 superheroes: Hammerman and his sidekick coffeewoman. We will also have 2 villains: influenzaman and his aide briefcasegirl. The other players play the villain`s victims. Villains and heroes should try and use as many attributes of their suggestion as they justifiably can.
Harold - Harold is a long format, and consists of a number of sub-formats. It basically consists of 3 components:
He Said She Said - Excellent game to show how Endowment works. 2 players; each player will state the action the other player must perform, followed by his own line.
Example:
Hitch Hiker - Use 4 chairs to build the interior of a car. One player starts driving the car, and another player becomes a hitch hiker, hiking a ride. The hitch hiker character has a particular character tick or particular emotion, which the driver takes over. Other hitch hikers join in, each with their own characteristics or emotions, taken over by the driver and the passengers in the car as the hiker joins. When the car is full, one of the players leaves the car to make room for the new guest. Notes: Don`t forget to justify leaving the car.
Jeepers Peepers - Everybody in a circle, watch the ground. On your sign, everybody lifts their head and either looks straight, left or right. Whenever 2 people look each other in the eyes, they scream as loud as they can, as if they`re startled, and then drop dead. Repeat till only one or 2 players are alive. Also known as Jeepers Peepers.
LCD - This improv game is called Location, Career, Death (LCD). One player on stage, the others off stage. The audience provides a location, an occupation and an object, only known to the player on stage. Second player enters and a scene is played in gibberish. Player one needs to communicate the location to player 2; as soon as player 2 thinks he`s got it, her claps his hands and spins around. Then player 2 needs to guess the occupation; clap and spin when you think you got it. Finally, the object needs to be revealed. As soon as player 2 has the object, he needs to kill player 1 with it. Then the next player comes on stage and the game recommences, until all players have played. Afterwards, line up the players and ask them where they think they were, what their occupation was and what the murder weapon was - usually quite far off the original suggestion, much to the audience`s amusement. Also known as LOW. (Location, Occupation, Weapon). Also known as Chain Murder. See also Hijacker for a similar game without the Gibberish component. Variations: Use a bell, every 10 seconds or so; at the bell players need to clap and spin and proceed to the next step, even if they are not sure about the where, who and what. Kind of LCD on speed.
Little Voice - One player plays an improvized scene. The other player(s) play the voice(s) of objects in the environment in which the first player plays. Anything can have a voice. Examples:
Lost Friend - All players start milling about the room. You then ask them to greet each other, perhaps just by shaking hands. Players just shake hands, move on, and greet the next player they meet. Then ask the players to greet each other in a more specific way. Possibilities are:
Scene Replay - Ask 2 players to play a short scene. One could limit the scene to 8 lines of dialog per player. Then ask the players to replay the scene, based on some audience suggestions for:
This variation is Also known as Countdown. Also known as Half Life. Also known as Emotional Replay. Other variations: Have the scene replayed by 2 other players or Insist that the dialog remains exactly the same.
What Are You Doing - Everyone at one end of the room, form a long line. The first player of the line steps into the room and starts miming an activity. As soon as the activity is clear, player 2 approaches player 1 and asks `What are you doing`.
The first player answers something that has nothing to do with what he`s actually doing. E.g. if player 1 is cutting someone`s hair, when asked what he`s doing he might say "I`m reading the newspaper".
First player moves away, and the second player starts miming the activity stated by the previous player. A third player comes up to player 2, asks what he is doing, and so on.
Play until everyone has mimed something, and has answered the question.
Alien, Tiger, Cow - Fun game to warm up and to teach players some Chivalry .
Everyone in a circle. There are 3 things a player can be:
- An alien: hold you index fingers up next to your head, as little antenna`s and say `Bleeb bleeb`, bending inwards into the circle;
- A cow: bend forward, hold your right hand on your tummy and go `Moooo`
- A tiger: push your right hand forward, imitating a claw and roar.
Backwards Interview - To play this improv game, ask for a topic for a TV interview. Then 2 players do the interview backwards. That means that the first sentence uttered is the last one in the interview, perhaps something like: Thanks for that enlightening explanation. (to the guest) To all of you viewers at home, thank you for watching, and see you next week. And then players work their way backwards. Various gimmicks can be played. For example, in your responses, you can pimp players. Examples would be: "Thank you for that very energetic answer to the question", pimping the other player to do something very energetic.
Beasty Rap - Everyone in e circle and get a beat running; use a beatbox, cd or mp3. First player starts rapping a line, any line, on the beat. Without skipping too many beats, next player adds a line that rhymes and so on until a player fails to come up with a line, misses the beat or fails to rhyme, after which everybody goes 'Dang', and the next player starts a next round. When the players not rapping feel the rhyme word of the active player coming, they all join in and yell the word together at the end of every line.
Blind Freeze - This one is just like Freeze Tag , but here the MC calls Freeze, and calls in another player. If you`re not using an MC, any player might call Freeze and call in any other player.
Many groups find this game more exciting than Freeze Tag , as players don`t know when they get pushed in the game, and hence are less prepared, and crazier, more exciting stuff tends to happen.
Borris - 2 players play an improvized interrogation scene. One is the interrogator, the other is a suspect. The interrogator randomly throws unconnected elements to the suspect, who needs to incorporate these and get himself into (even more) trouble. And then we have Boris, who is a nasty, huge, but invisible thug assisting the interrogator. Every time the interrogator does not like the suspect`s answers (and also when the suspect does not incriminate himself enough), the interrogator calls on Boris to torture the suspect, prodding him to confess or incriminate him even further.
Notes
- we do not establish the crime beforehand
- the suspect mimes being tortured by Boris
- the investigator can tell Boris what to do (break his leg), but it is more fun to leave the choice of torture up to the suspect
- if the torture does not go far enough to the investigator`s taste, he can always call in Boris` evil twin brother, Igor (also invisible)
- as a gag, the suspect can also incriminate Boris (who can turn out to be a witness/accomplice to the crime).
Dating Game - This is played like a Blind Date show. One player leaves the stage, and the audience provides endowments for the 3 others. Examples might be No. 1 is stupid, No. 2 is a serial killer and No. 3 thinks he`s a macho.
4th player gets to ask 3 questions, and each of the others answers it. After the questions player 4 should guess what the endowments were.
Death in a Minute - 2 or 3 players play a 1 minute scene, in which one player must die.
Director's Cut - A normal improvized scene is played. At any moment a player not in the scene (or a player dedicated to this particular role) stops the scene ( see Cut ) and has the actors replay the scene with different emotions, characters, roles. Like a director instructing actors on how to play.
Disaster Movie - This is a Long Form format that can be played with a large number of players.
Audience suggests a type of disaster (flood, earthquake, alien invasion, you name it) and a location where the play will unfold, preferably a location where lots of characters can be found. Examples are a tropical tourist paradise, a big building. The story starts right before the disaster, usually some character foreseeing the disaster, discovering a bad omen or some foretelling sign. Next we see lots of characters in the given location. These should be the archetypical characters one finds in typical disaster movies. Examples are:
- An old couple that have been together for ever (they will die)
- A priest who might lead the survivors (he will die)
- A wacko scientist who will have a miracle solution to escape the disaster (he will die)
- A fallen-down hero, a die-hard ex-cop thrown out of the force, a retired fireman, an ex life-guard with a coke habit, you get the picture. He will rise up to the occasion and survive.
- A kid with loving parents (or a troubled teen not getting along with the parents) (the kid will survive, the parents will die
- Some sort of troubled, dysfunctional character set up to become the lover of the hero.
- Watch some disaster movies and pick your favorite cliche characters.
Do Ron Ron - 4 players sing a improvised song about a subject, given by the audience, on the tune of Do Ron Ron.
- EXAMPLE: For each verse, you can start with a new word from the audience. For example, “Fish.”
- PERSON 1: I went out this morning and I caught a fish.
- ALL: Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron.
- PERSON 2: I said I’m going to marry it, andthat’s my wish.
- ALL: Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron.
- (CHORUS)
- ALL: (Da-doo-ba-doo Yeah)
- PERSON 3: My mother’s mad.
- ALL: (Da-doo-ba-doo Yeah)
- PERSON 4: And so’s my dad.
- ALL: (Da-doo-ba-doo Yeah)
- PERSON 5: Plus they say the fish is bad.
- ALL: Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron.
Double Blind Freeze - This is an extension of the Blind Freeze improv game: 2 players in scene, the others line up with their backs to the scene. Whenever the audience yells Freeze! the 2 players at the end of the line replace the 2 players on scene, and start a new scene, from the positions the original players were in.
Dubbed Movie - 2 or more actors play a scene, but they don`t speak, although they can move their mouths as if they are speaking. 2 or more players sit in front of the action, and provide the speech. The effect is (or should be) like watching a dubbed movie.
Ducks and Cows - Great silly physical warm-up. Everyone closes eyes and trainer divides the group in 2 subgroups. Tap on right shoulder makes you a duck, and tap on left shoulder makes you a cow. Then eyes are opened and on the "Go" sign both groups try to find each other, by quacking & mooing.
Duck Duck Goose - Invent a name for a non-existing but simple children`s game. As soon as you call out the name, all players start to play the game. They can use sounds and gibberish, but no real language.
See if the group can come to playing along the same rules. Variations: Just have the group start playing the game, and afterwards have the group come up with the name.
Emotional Family - Usually played with 4 players, but can be done with more or less players.
As a suggestion ask for a family activity, then start a normal scene. As soon as all characters and their relationships have been established, freeze the scene, pick a player, and ask for an emotion for that player. The scene then continues, and the player is overcome with that emotion. Repeat till all players got an emotion. The scene has to keep evolving after each emotion assignment, and of course players shall try Justifying the emotions.
Emotional Quadrants - Divide the scene in 4 quadrants, and allocate 4 different emotions to each quadrant. Players improvise a scene, but need to take on the emotion of the quadrant they are in. Notes: Encourage players to move about, in order to force changes of emotions. Don`t forget to justify emotion changes.
Evil Stick of Gun - This is a variation on Little Voice . In this game one character has a piece of gum in her mouth, and this piece of gum is capable of talking. The point is that other characters in the scene do not know about this piece of gum, and hence mistake the gum`s words for the characters. Since our piece of gum is evil, it tries to get it`s owner in trouble.
Firing Squad - All players, except one, the victim, form a long line. The first player in the line throws any word to the victim, who responds as fast as he/she can with the first word that comes to mind. The next player in the line then throws another word, usually unrelated to the previous word, and again the victim needs to respond as fast as possible. Repeat till everyone has thrown a word. Variations: This can be done as a continuation game: when done, the victim takes last place in the line, and the first player becomes the victim. You can even have multiple victims walking the line at the same time. Make sure there is enough `space` between the victims, otherwise, with the first hesitation, victims will start bumping into one another.
First Lin, Last Line - Get a line (any line) from the audience. Players play a scene that concludes with the given line.
Variations: Ask for a first line as well. Also known as First Line Last Line.
Fortune Teller - One player covers his ears while the others get `predictions` from the audience; one prediction per other player. First player then plays a fortune teller who must be endowed by the others to predict the given predictions.Variations: Off-stage players can "posses" (like as ghosts) the fortune teller and give him or her tips.
Freeze - 2 actors start an improvized scene. At any point in time another player can call Freeze. This player then tags out one of the 2 actors, and takes his place. Both players then start a new scene, justifying their positions.
Front Desk - We improvise a scene, set in the lobby of a hotel. One or more players play the receptionist(s) and the others play guests arriving or checking out, bell boys, repairmen, you name it.
Players construct the environment together - as soon as a door, a plant, a desk or whatever is `placed` by any player, all other players should respect it.
Funeral Service - This improv game handle can be used both as a Long Form format and as an exercise.
The stage is set up as a funeral, or a viewing the night before the funeral. One player is the deceased, bang in the middle and very visible in or on e.g. a table or a couple of chairs representing the casket. Audience suggests an odd or peculiar way to die, and then the death is played. Perhaps characters present during the funeral service were there at the time of death. After death, the dead gets back into her coffin and we return to the service. Then, taking turns, guests at the funeral service step up and present, in a monologue, their experience with the deceased. After each monologue what was described is played, like a flash-back.
Fuzzy Ducky - Silly concentration game and great warm-up. All players in a circle. We will count numbers clockwise, except that:
- any number that is a multiple of 3, or contains a 3 (like 13) becomes `Fuzzy`
- any number that is a multiple of 7 or contains a 7 (like 17) becomes `Ducky`
- any number that is a multiple of 3 and 7 (like 21) or contains both 3 and 7 (like 73 and 37) becomes `Fuzzy Ducky`)
Group Mirror - Players per 2, facing each other. They can move (arms, legs, eyebrows) slowly, and the other player will mirror them. This is a game of give and take - no-one should be (continuously) leading. Keep movements slow. Variations: Do this with the whole group: everyone in a big circle, and everybody mirrors everybody else.
Guest Game - In this improv game we play a scene in which one player is a guest, somewhere. We do not know who he is, or why he is visiting, or what his relation might be with the characters at the location. All other characters in the scene behave strangely or suspiciously, as if they have a secret. The idea is that by the end of the scene we understand their secret. For example, a player might ring a doorbell at a house, ready to pick up his date. We never get to see the date, and all characters in the scene slowly provide hints as to what might have happened to the date. The game is over when e.g. we (the audience) discover that all occupants of the house have been hauling garbage bags out of the hous, all containing body parts of the date... It need not always be gruesome, though...
Ha Soh Kah - This is a fun warm-up game, and a good one to teach players to deal with failure.
We are going to say Ha-Soh-Kah; all players in a circle. The player that starts with Ha holds her hand, horizontally, near her forehead. The next player is the one her fingers are pointing to (left or right; first player can choose which hand to use and which direction to point to). Next player says Soh, hand horizontally, near the chin, pointing again, either to the left or to the right. The player the Soh points to does Kah, and points with both hands to the next player, who does a Ha again, and so forth. When someone makes a mistake, the whole group says rhythmically: "You are out of this game". Whoever is out steps out of the circle and tries to make the remaining players make a mistake.
Hall of Justice - Fun game for 5+ players, involving superheroes and villains. Get 4 suggestions from he audience, e.g. hammer, coffee, influenza and briefcase. This will give us 2 superheroes: Hammerman and his sidekick coffeewoman. We will also have 2 villains: influenzaman and his aide briefcasegirl. The other players play the villain`s victims. Villains and heroes should try and use as many attributes of their suggestion as they justifiably can.
Harold - Harold is a long format, and consists of a number of sub-formats. It basically consists of 3 components:
- Scenes, with 2 to 4 players
- Games
- Monologues
He Said She Said - Excellent game to show how Endowment works. 2 players; each player will state the action the other player must perform, followed by his own line.
Example:
- 1: "I want a divorce"
- 2: "She said, while grabbing a knife from the kitchen table." At this point player 1 needs to take a knife. Player 2 continues with his own line. "Sure Honey"
- 1: "He said, while turning to the sports page of the paper". Now, it`s quite clear that player 2 should be paying more attention to the paper than to his wife. Player 1 continues with her own line. "You`re not listening to me"
- and so on.
Hitch Hiker - Use 4 chairs to build the interior of a car. One player starts driving the car, and another player becomes a hitch hiker, hiking a ride. The hitch hiker character has a particular character tick or particular emotion, which the driver takes over. Other hitch hikers join in, each with their own characteristics or emotions, taken over by the driver and the passengers in the car as the hiker joins. When the car is full, one of the players leaves the car to make room for the new guest. Notes: Don`t forget to justify leaving the car.
Jeepers Peepers - Everybody in a circle, watch the ground. On your sign, everybody lifts their head and either looks straight, left or right. Whenever 2 people look each other in the eyes, they scream as loud as they can, as if they`re startled, and then drop dead. Repeat till only one or 2 players are alive. Also known as Jeepers Peepers.
LCD - This improv game is called Location, Career, Death (LCD). One player on stage, the others off stage. The audience provides a location, an occupation and an object, only known to the player on stage. Second player enters and a scene is played in gibberish. Player one needs to communicate the location to player 2; as soon as player 2 thinks he`s got it, her claps his hands and spins around. Then player 2 needs to guess the occupation; clap and spin when you think you got it. Finally, the object needs to be revealed. As soon as player 2 has the object, he needs to kill player 1 with it. Then the next player comes on stage and the game recommences, until all players have played. Afterwards, line up the players and ask them where they think they were, what their occupation was and what the murder weapon was - usually quite far off the original suggestion, much to the audience`s amusement. Also known as LOW. (Location, Occupation, Weapon). Also known as Chain Murder. See also Hijacker for a similar game without the Gibberish component. Variations: Use a bell, every 10 seconds or so; at the bell players need to clap and spin and proceed to the next step, even if they are not sure about the where, who and what. Kind of LCD on speed.
Little Voice - One player plays an improvized scene. The other player(s) play the voice(s) of objects in the environment in which the first player plays. Anything can have a voice. Examples:
- a player walks in a forest and an ant starts talking to him
- a player is in the bathroom and his toothbrush starts talking
- Wow, a talking duck with a machine gun!
- Bet you`ve never seen a talking couch, have you?
Lost Friend - All players start milling about the room. You then ask them to greet each other, perhaps just by shaking hands. Players just shake hands, move on, and greet the next player they meet. Then ask the players to greet each other in a more specific way. Possibilities are:
- greet each other like you greet a long lost friend
- greet someone you don`t really trust
- greet an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend
- greet someone you really hate
- someone you have a secret crush on
- someone that sold you a crappy used car
- someone with bad breath
- greet someone like you are a cowboy, a soldier, a nanny, a farmer,...
Scene Replay - Ask 2 players to play a short scene. One could limit the scene to 8 lines of dialog per player. Then ask the players to replay the scene, based on some audience suggestions for:
- a particular emotion. Also known as Emotion Replay.
- an era. Also known as Through the Ages. Also known as Historical Replay.
- a different location
- a film / TV / literature style. Also known as Style Replay.
- in Gibberish
- backwards. Also known as Backwards Scene.
This variation is Also known as Countdown. Also known as Half Life. Also known as Emotional Replay. Other variations: Have the scene replayed by 2 other players or Insist that the dialog remains exactly the same.
What Are You Doing - Everyone at one end of the room, form a long line. The first player of the line steps into the room and starts miming an activity. As soon as the activity is clear, player 2 approaches player 1 and asks `What are you doing`.
The first player answers something that has nothing to do with what he`s actually doing. E.g. if player 1 is cutting someone`s hair, when asked what he`s doing he might say "I`m reading the newspaper".
First player moves away, and the second player starts miming the activity stated by the previous player. A third player comes up to player 2, asks what he is doing, and so on.
Play until everyone has mimed something, and has answered the question.