Improv Exercises
Here you can find a collection of exercises for improv theatre. These exercises are intended to train specific aspects and skills in a targeted manner. The transition from exercises to games is fluid. What is still an exercise for one, the other brings as a game on stage. Please do not take over the individual exercises blindly, but think about the goals and intentions of each exercise.
Categories
Experience
Energy
Competences
Character exercise (character switch)
All go through the room, each with a certain character. Whenever you meet, you speak two sentences together, and the character is slowly ...
Character Walk
Everyone walks through the room embodying a specific character. When two players meet, they exchange a sentence or two in character. Var...
Complement Exercise
Players form two lines on opposite sides of the stage. A player from line A starts a scene by establishing a character (e.g. a burglar). ...
Develop a Person
Players walk through the room. When the facilitator says 'stop', everyone freezes. The facilitator asks individual players: 'Who are you?...
Developing a Character
Players walk through the room and imagine a person — their age, profession, worries, habits. They begin moving as that person would. The...
Emotional Singing
Everyone sings a simple well-known song without musical accompaniment. The facilitator calls out emotions at random — happy, angry, shy, ...
Emotion Circle
One player passes an emotion (preferably positive) to their neighbor. The neighbor mirrors the emotion. Once both share the same feeling,...
Emotion Circle 2
Players stand in a circle. One says a simple sentence to their neighbor in a specific emotion with matching gestures. The neighbor repeat...
Emotion Circle 3
In the circle, players read aloud from a book — the more emotionless the text, the better (e.g. an instruction manual or textbook). The r...
Encounters
The group splits into As and Bs. Both groups walk around the room. The As have high status, the Bs have low status. The As make eye conta...
Fake Crying
A technique exercise: do not blink for as long as possible, then blink once and repeat. The eyes naturally begin to water, producing real...
Fast Food Laban
An exercise for developing characters based on movement types, inspired by Rudolf von Laban's movement studies. Players explore combinat...
Guess the Expression
Player A kneels behind a chair so only their head is visible. The facilitator whispers emotions to A, who expresses them using only facia...
Guess the Status
Players embody a status level from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest) and perform a short scene or solo. The audience guesses the number. This e...
Help!
2-4 players improvise a scene. The rest watches and stays ready. Whenever a player feels overwhelmed or stuck, they call 'Help!' and a wa...
Hologram
Players stand in a circle. Together they build a plausible picture of a fictional person by contributing traits one at a time: name, age,...
King
One player is King, sitting on a throne. The King commands what emotions the other players must display. Players step forward one at a ti...
Leading Body Part
Players walk through the room. The facilitator names a body part — pelvis, left shoulder, forehead, right knee, belly. Players let that b...
Loud-Silent Game
Emotions are often accompanied by sounds. A surprised person says 'Ooh!' A disgusted person says 'Eww!' Players practice these basic voc...
Peculiar neighbor
The players stand in a circle. In turn, each one respectively turns to his neighbor and says anything unusual/absurd /incredible that wil...
Peculiar Neighbor
Players stand in a circle. Each person turns to their neighbor and points out something unusual, absurd, or impossible about them. The ne...
Scene Starters
Players form two rows facing each other. In quick succession, each pair starts a scene. The goal is to establish basic information throug...
Statue Scene Start
A preparatory exercise for freeze tag. Players form pairs. One sculpts the other into a random statue. The statue then starts a scene fro...
Status Chain
A situation is given (e.g. restaurant). One player has absolute high status (the guest). The guest's wishes are passed down a chain of de...
Status Topping
A playing area is defined. The facilitator should monitor solvability. Players enter one at a time, each establishing a higher status tha...
The Holy Grail
All players stand in a wide circle. One person enters the center with a specific character (voice, accent, posture) and approaches someon...
The Inner Animal
The facilitator writes different animal species on slips of paper. Players draw one secretly. Their task is to imagine the essence of thi...
Traffic Light
This exercise trains perception, walking, encounters, status, and physicality. Two groups stand on opposite sides of a wide space — like...
Yes - No
Players form pairs. One can only say 'Yes', the other only 'No'. Despite this limitation, they have a full conversation using tone, volum...