what is a good game to play with a class of about 10 people participating that are first time improv game play

Question

we are all new to improv and basically shy to the stage. what is a good game to play amongst ourselves in class? any suggestions! your help with this matter would be greatly appreciated! thanks

Answer 1

My nephew does improv with his friends at a coffee house for fun. The game that really gets people involved is called "World's Worst"
as in World's worst date
World's worst pickup line
World's worst occupation
World's worst doctor
World's worst Commercial
Very funny stuff gets the creative juices going. Also another one I like from watching "Whose Line is it Anyway" is the prop. Give them a weird prop and tell them to think of as many ways to use it.
HAVE FUN!

Answer 2

A lot of great games have been suggested, but a few more are breaking into two groups an "audience" and the performers. The five performers stand next to eachother. One game is called emotional symphony. The audience picks five emoitions for the people to have and you conduct by pointing to each person and they start being that emotion. With your hand you control who speaks and how quiet or loud they get. The other is story time which can be played two different ways. One you just have the five people tell a story and they pass it off to the next person and the story comes from an "audience member." You can also do this where the audience gives each person an author they have to tell the story in the style of. So then you direct and point to each person to tell your story the audience that picked the story in those styles. For beginers, I recomend mirror and telephone. If you have out door area and weather, I recomend animal tag. Pick different animals and make everyone run like that animal.

Answer 3

play the party game where you have one person as the host and that person waits out side while the rest of the people decide on a character that they have to be say a farmer. then after everyone has chosen a character the host comes back in and all the people who are characters go outside and each come in and act like their character. The host can ask them questions about them but the can't ask what are they. The host then has to guess what they are. If they guess what they are then they have to sit down and watch. The last person who has not been guessed is the new host. This is a great game. I played it at my drama classes. Hope you have fun

Answer 4

A really enjoyable and educational theatre game is called killer. The way it works is that all the players go on stage. They draw slips of paper from a hat. All are blank except one, and that says 'killer'... the idea is that the killer kills the other players by making eye contact and winking at them. If you've been killed you have to sit down, but if you figure out who the killer is, you can stop the game at any time and make an ID; if you're wrong, then you're out. The subtlety here is that the players can't just 'not look' at the others. They have to circulate freely, and the killer can take their time. All the players become very alert to the movements of the others. This turns out to be a great ensemble developing game.

Answer 5

Here are a great improv games I used to do with the theater company I was in:

Freezeframe: One person starts out doing something, say shaving there face, then someone from the "audience" shouts "Freezeframe" and the actor on stage freezes. The audience member that called out goes onto stage and continues the scene but in a completely different direction and engaging the other actor on stage. Say he decides to start off by putting on make-up in a mirror next to the other actor (since he was originally shaving) and starts a conversation like, "Wow, I'm really excited for the show tonight, I can't wait to get on stage..." WHATEVER... The point is to take cues from the actors already present on stage, look at their actions and create a new way to use different body language. Very fun!!! Keep continuing until the whole group is on stage!

The next exercise we would do would be called "Incredible Machine" I think. It's where one person goes on stage and starts a "machine-like" movement... whether they pretend their arms and legs are levers or pullys whatever... then someone else goes up and makes a machine-movement of their own, but connecting it to the original persons, so it looks like one fluid motion. Eventually, again, everyone goes up and at the end you end up with one big machine!

A more individual exercise is for everyone to write down on a scrap of paper three random things/topics... they can be from homework to belly button lint to drinking beer... again...whatever... everyone puts their paper into a hat and people take turns going on stage and picking a paper out randomly. They get to choose from the three things listed to talk about one thing for two minutes. They then (if you want to) can be critiqued/given suggestions/praise from the audience. Or you can all just clap and the next person goes.

OK, the last one I'll give you was one that a lot improv classes do, called "Mirror Image." Everyone gets a partner and stands toe to toe like they are looking at eachother in a mirror. One person of the duo designates to be leader and starts making VERY slow, methodical movements and gestures while their partner tries to "mirror image" them. The key is to start at slow and maintaining eye contact is KEY.


Good luck and have fun! Hope these help!

Answer 6

Watch "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" - they have great ideas - Try scenes from a hat or set the stage with a scenario (gynecologist and patient in the waiting room) then the two people can only converse in questions - If someone gets stuck or uses a sentence, he's out, and someone else steps in. That one works well by using song titles too.

Answer 7

I haven't read any other answers but you might take clues from "Whos Line is it Anyway.

For 10 people you or a moderator pick a topic, and allow that the rest of the group build a story aboutt that, spontaneously. You can add,,,if you wish, some aspects,,, even and ending suggestion, though that might diminish the total effect.

Steven Wolf

Answer 8

Well when I was doing drama for the first time my drama class played little sally Walker it made us all losen up and so we began to have fun but that is not really by yourselves or in little groups plus then people have to get to know each other!!! I suggest instead of having one sally walker have three or two it makes the game more interesting!

Answer 9

this game is call like a ice breaker u make 10 card as they come in you post it on there back with a small peace of tape make one say ojay or Serra William Dina Ross the tack star just someone famous or important then each one get to ask the other one 3-5 question like im i rich or do i sing etc. then move on until the ice it broken

Answer 10

There is a great book called "THEATRE GAMES FOR YOUNG PERFORMERS" by Maria C. Novelly. In the meantime have each person write on a small piece of paper a scenario with two people. Put the pieces of paper in a hat. Put the actors in teams of two and they draw one scenario from a hat and act it out.