You often need a way to get people loosened up a couple of alternatives:



Two minutes stream of consciousness, for example with one or two listeners.



Talk about an object, e.g a fire extinguisher, an exit, a piece of wood. Keep talking for a few minutes, find things to say about it, explore its textures etc

In a circle - one person waggle hands + people on left and right do movement. Say "wubblewubble....wubble" Shoot energy to someone else (see longer description).

Continue reading "Wubble wubble"

Untangling a knot of people and hands

Continue reading "Knot untangling"

In a circle - "Have you ever ...."

Continue reading "Have you Ever"

Tell a story based on a theme or question.

Continue reading "Stories on a theme"

Someone starts to tell a short story,
At any point the next person interrupts with ...
* Yes and ..... (expands the story, or a different aspect)
* That reminds me of .... (and tells a related story)
* No .... ( and corrects)

This works either as an improvisation when the stories could be real or made up, or as a collective memory where participants in a group, or a family jump in with real stories.

Simple physical impro exercise -
3 chairs facing the audience each with a person in it.
People play with
* standing or sitting
* looking - e.g. at each other, straight ahead

Clear precise movements,
Sometimes a pattern emerges, or something not in the score which the facilitator can either allow or not as seems appropriate
Ding a bell or a clap or something to signal 30 seconds to find an ending.

Al Wonder was the 2nd impro teacher I studied with, and I highly recommend his workshops "Theatre of the Ordinary"- mostly in Melbourne. He has a book out "The Wonder of Improvisation". He blend improvisation and physical theatre, and encourges each performer to find their own style.

Myfanwy Jones & Spiri Tsintrziras have put together a comprehensive guide to all sorts of games - paper, cards, dice, guessing etc - all kinds of things to keep families or friends entertained without the "box".

Parlour Games for Modern Families

Two very similar impro games, work well with small or large groups.

The groups start off stage (sides) and people come on and play with either:
Facing; Placing; Spacing
or Dots / Lines / Clumps (how they are grouped on stage).

Simply come on stage, move to position, wait, at some point move again etc

Sounds simple, but emergent behaviors are fun to watch.

Make sure some of the group are witnesses, either cycling in and out of the work, or by splitting the group in two.