Characters move seamlessly (theoretically) from their own language into gibberish and back again at the whim of a caller in this short-form stumper! The Basics A scene is played using the local native tongue. When an offstage bell is rung, the current speaker must immediately continue speaking their dialogue in gibberish. The scene continues until the bell strikes again, and players revert immediately into their own language, whether they were mid-sentence, mid-word, or possibly mid-consonant blend! Several switches occur at increasingly swift and inconvenient intervals. Example Two roommates ..read more

This game involves a small but noteworthy change to its source of inspiration, Commercial, which is worth a quick review if you’re less familiar with its construction. The Basics Players create a slice-of-life commercial for a given (often ridiculous) product. All the dialogue occurs in Gibberish, as if you were watching the ad on a television in a foreign hotel. Example Players are challenged to create a commercial for a pair of scissors that can cut tension. Players A and B begin moodily washing dishes at the family sink. Player A: (slightly irritated) “Paf neely cha canoozi flin takana nee ..read more

Full Deck ranks highly among my favorite status games. You’ll want to invest in an oversized pack of playing cards (like these) if you’re performing in a larger space as a lot of the fun comes from the audience being able to see the shuffled cards along with the players. The Basics Before the scene, a deck of cards is shuffled and distributed equally between the players. (A team of four works well, with each actor getting approximately a quarter of the pack). Players hold their cards so that they can’t see the revealed card but so that other players (and the audience) can. During the scene, ch ..read more

It takes an agile mind (and body) to make it gracefully through this scenic gauntlet, but the audience will likely applaud your efforts regardless of the outcome if you keep your spirits and attack high. The Basics A caller deploys an imaginary remote that has the power to change the direction of the scene from forward to reverse and back again (as well as perhaps any other functions you might apply to your television set). Players must create and then recreate their scenic content accordingly, closely following the caller’s instructions. Example Player A begins the scene by pushing a lawnmowe ..read more

This is a fun language/narrative game that will add a nice departure from scenic work that tends to dominate most short-form playlists. The Basics One player, A, serves as the host of a poetry evening (perhaps with finger clicking and a smoky persona). They introduce a visiting poet, Player B, who will perform their original poem (with an audience inspired title) in its original language (Gibberish). After each line or two of verse, Player A translates the content into the local tongue (in my case, English). The give and take between the poet and host continues until the poem reaches its culmi ..read more

The Game Library includes several Freeze Tag variants – Blind Freeze Tag, Conducted Freeze Tag, Environmental Freeze Tag – but it seemed odd not to include the original version as well, so here it is in all its glory! This is the base model, if you will. Key advice also applies to the variants listed above, so forgive the repetition if you end up reading these back-to-back… The Basics Players (six to eight works well) form a line, usually at the rear of the stage or wherever your particular sightlines make practical. Two improvisers volunteer to begin a scene downstage based on an audience pro ..read more

I know two vastly different games that go by this title. The first, a ComedySportz mainstay, is a high-octane charades-style contest that has performers trying to decipher five ludicrously ornate activities. (Bungee jumping off the Eiffel Tower into a vat of a variable Jello flavor was an oppressively common audience favorite during my tenure in the early 90s.) The second, outlined below, provides an only slightly lower octane brainstorming exercise for exploring archetypes, dialogue, and generating spontaneous content. The Basics There are several ways you can tinker with the game basics ..read more

This short-form language game provides a helpful variation of the mainstay Alphabet Game (which you can find here). The Basics The team acquires a five-letter word from the audience – ideally, with five unique letters. For the duration of the scene, players move through the letters in sequence (repeatedly) to begin each sequential sentence. A traditional ask-for, such as a location or relationship, can also be used to ground the action. Example The word “amber” and the scenario of “loud chewing” are taken. Players A and B sit at a restaurant table…. Player A: “Another great meal awaits us at m ..read more

This game provides a quick hit as players must create a minute-long scene based upon two lines (or texts) obtained from the audience. The Basics Players elicit two disconnected lines, phrases, or texts from the audience and use these as the spoken bookends for a scene. Example The audience provides “You won’t believe who I just ran into” and “Just another endless day of work,” as the inspiration. Two players begin the scene huddled by a work photocopier as the lights rise. A third player, C, runs into the workroom. Player C: “You won’t believe who I just ran into!” Player A: (looks up from the ..read more

Here’s a fun game that I’ve rediscovered while poring through old teaching notes in my ongoing quest to expand the ImprovDr Game Library. Although this particular frame has fallen out of my personal rotation, the premise shares a great deal with On the Right Track (which I hope to cover in a future entry), and this is a regular feature of our weekend shows at Sak Comedy Lab. The Basics An audience member volunteers to provide the raw material of the scene and is interviewed by a company member or the host of the show. Questions should center around the immediate members of the volunteer’s fami ..read more