Hi! There are a lot of websites and books devoted to improv games, but if you need a few ideas, here are a few of my students' favorite beginner improv games that would work with a small group. Of course there are many variations of these out in the world and many names for them as well, but this is how we play.
What Are You Doing? - This game can be played in a circle or in a traditional audience/stage formation. One actor begins to act something out (on the "stage" or in the middle). It can be pretty much anything but the focus in on the action, not the character. Someone else jumps up and asks the actor "What Are You Doing?". The first actor then answers the 2nd actor but with a response that's different than what they were actually doing. Then the person who asked begins to do whatever action the first person responded with. For example: Actor 1 begins to act out brushing their teeth. Actor 2 asks "What are you doing?". Actor 1 responds, "I'm baking cookies." Now Actor 2 begins to act out baking cookies. Actor 1 goes back into the circle or the audience. Someone else comes up and the cycle continues. Sometimes we play this as a pantomime game where talking is not allowed (except for the question and answer) but most of the time we play it with sound/talking. The game should be quick moving. This game is very simple but can be really fun if you have some creative students. The focus is on the action, but a good actor can make the simplest action more interesting by making some character choices or perhaps adding a bit of conflict.
Freeze - Two actors begin to improvise a scene. At any point someone from the audience may call out "freeze!" and the actors do so. The person who called freeze gets up and taps one of the actors on the shoulder to take that person's place. They are now responsible for initiating a new improv scene making use of the body positions that the previous scene left them with. The key is that it has to be a new scene; it's not a continuation of the scene before. The new person always starts the scene and the goal of course is to be creative in taking one "stage picture" and figuring out what else it could become that is fun and makes sense.
Taxi Cab- Set up four chairs in a "car" formation: two to make a front seat and two to make a backseat. One person plays the Taxi driver. Another actor hails the cab and gets into the front passenger seat. This person plays a character or has a quirk of some kind- it can be anything. Give them a little bit of time to play the character and interact with the driver, then the next person hails the cab, "Taxi!". The person who was in the front passenger seat moves to the back seat on the passenger side and the new actor in the passenger seat has a new character or quirk. Then it repeats. The next person comes in and sits in the front, the person in the front moves to the back and the very first person moves over a seat to the back driver's side seat. Then when the next person comes in, the person in that last seat is bumped out of the cab. The driver stays the same although typically we switch out the person playing the driver after about 2 full rotations through the car. Sometimes we play the version where everyone in the cab has to take on the characteristics of the person in the front passenger seat and sometimes we play the version where everyone stays in their own character and interacts with each other. It depends on the situation. And don't forget that no matter what happens the driver has to keep pretending to be driving! :) You can do a lot of variations and tweaking of the rules to fit your needs.
Good luck and have fun!
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Emily Olson
Theatre Arts Teacher and Director
Port St. Lucie, FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2017 05:55
From: Dee Norman
Subject: Group Games for MS Class of 5
Hello all,
For the first time I have a tiny class of 5 8th graders. I am looking for some group games that include all of them and me. They love Ninja, to give you an idea.
Thanks.
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Dee Norman
MS Theatre
American School of Dubai
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