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.
4 Sentence Story
Players stand in a circle or a line to tell short stories. Each player contributes exactly one sentence. The four sentences follow this m...
5 Sentence Story
Simple storytelling in 5 steps, playable in pairs or small groups: Character and place β introduce a person and where they are Second c...
Active Post
A mix of charades and telephone. For 5 players: The facilitator shows Player 1 a compound word (e.g. 'anthill'). Player 1 must act it ou...
Advance and Illustrate
The players begin a scene. From outside, either only by the trainer or also by everyone watching, two commands are called in depending on...
AED (Action Emotion Detail)
One player tells a story. Three others give signals when they want more Action, more Emotion, or more Detail. Each is responsible for one...
After the Catastrophe
Two players sit at an angle, visible to each other and the audience. Their task: without speaking, using only facial expressions and gest...
Assertion Marathon
Two players must pack as many assertions as possible into a scene. Every assertion must drive the scene forward. This trains bold offers...
Association Circle
All players form a circle. One in the circle says a word to their neighbour. The neighbour associates a new word with that term and says ...
Association Circle with Recall
In the first phase, several rounds of free association go around the circle (as in the basic Association Circle). In the second phase, e...
Association Walk
Everyone walks through the room. One player suddenly stops with a loud stomp and points at someone. Everyone freezes. The stomper says a...
Being Positive
A normal scene begins. The players must be relentlessly, persistently positive throughout. The moment any player shows a hint of negativi...
Bell Tower
The group forms a circle, everyone puts their arms around their neighbors. All look down at the center of the circle. Swaying gently in r...
Best Side Story
Two teams face each other. Team 1 begins a story. Each player steps forward and advances the narrative. When the other team notices hesit...
Betty Plum
Also known as Hologram. A group of players collectively build a fictional person by contributing characteristics one at a time. If a sugg...
Big Cat Needle
A simple but excellent exercise for building complicity between players. The center of the room is marked with an object. Two players st...
Boing Wush Zwong
Each player invents three comic words with matching gestures. They walk around introducing themselves with their new name. Once everyone ...
Boom Boom Chicago
This exercise trains quickly establishing scene information. Player 1 starts with a physical activity Player 2 enters and establishes t...
Breathing Exercise
A sustained tone is sung. The throat is opened as wide as possible, as if yawning, without opening the mouth too wide. The lower jaw mov...
Building Images
Players walk around the room. The facilitator calls out objects or locations. Players immediately form the given thing using their bodies...
Category Circle
Players pass words from a category (e.g. vegetables, sports) crisscross through the circle. Each person has one turn per round. The patte...
Character Walk
In this game at least 3 players take part. The first player goes onto the stage as a particular character (figure). This character tells ...
Choreography Exercise
The players line up in the space / on the stage in a diamond-shaped formation (all facing the audience). Depending on the number of playe...
Circle Crawl
6-14 players sit in a circle on the floor. After a quiet moment (perhaps a breathing exercise), anyone who feels the impulse slowly and l...
Clapping in Threes
Three players (A, B, C). A claps to B. The uninvolved player C must then clap to someone. That triggers the next uninvolved player, and s...
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). ...
Counting Circle
Everyone stands in a circle. The group must count to double the number of participants β so each person says two numbers. All close thei...
Country Sayings
A rhyming exercise for the group. Players stand in a circle. Going clockwise, each player contributes one word to build a country saying ...
Cross Examination
Groups of three: one criminal, two police officers conducting an interrogation. The criminal must always say 'yes' or agree to everything...
Dancing with Light Point
A partner exercise. The leader guides the dancer by the outstretched hand. The dancer stays mostly in place but follows the hand's direct...
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 β their age, profession, worries, habits. They begin moving as that person would. The...
Diaphragm Training
A voice preparation exercise. The group stands in a circle. The facilitator sets a beat and everyone joins in. Three consonants are spok...
Different Reaction
An exercise to practice strong reactions and clear characters. A two-person scene is played. Player A initiates with a verbal offer. Pla...
Disrupting
Two players perform a scene. Two others deliberately disrupt it with seemingly inappropriate offers β entering with absurd characters, ma...
Dissociation
Players stand in a circle. Each must respond to the previous word with something that has nothing to do with it. If a logical association...
Distance Fight
Two players face each other at a safe distance. One attacks using fists, feet, head, shoulders β always from a safe distance. The defende...
Emotional Chair
A solo exercise. The player sits on a chair and receives a simple prompt (e.g. 'shoes'). Their task is to continuously switch emotions β ...
Emotional Singing
Everyone sings a simple well-known song without musical accompaniment. The facilitator calls out emotions at random β 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 β the more emotionless the text, the better (e.g. an instruction manual or textbook). The r...
Emotions by Cards
Three players each receive a card with a different emotion. On a signal, all three simultaneously display their emotion using only facial...
Empty Lungs
Players breathe in deeply and then walk through the room while continuously exhaling with a toneless 'shh' sound. They keep walking and e...
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...
Enjoying Food and Drink
This exercise trains how to eat and drink on stage through pantomime. How do you eat an apple hungrily? Cherries elegantly? A banana sed...
Facial Expressions
All walk through the room. The facilitator names a facial feature β nose, ears, forehead, eyes, mouth, cheeks, tongue. Everyone moves tha...
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...
Fantasy Story with Questions
A quiet exercise for two. Player A lies relaxed with closed eyes and tells a story (no prompt needed). Player B sits nearby and periodica...
Fast Food Laban
An exercise for developing characters based on movement types, inspired by Rudolf von Laban's movement studies. Players explore combinat...
Fast Food Stanislavski
Two players play a scene with a given title or location. Each player receives a secret subtext for their character β their hidden motivat...
Finding the Child Within
Players form pairs. One tells a story using only questions: 'Shall we go to the park?' 'Shall we feed the ducks?' The other responds onl...
Following Movement Impulses
Players lie relaxed on the floor with eyes closed. They tune into their body and follow any movement impulse β a twitch, an urge to stret...
Follow the Follower
Several players perform a specific action simultaneously without a designated leader. No one decides when to start or change β the group ...
Fortunately, Unfortunately
This exercise can be played in a circle with several players, or as a pair exercise with two. A story is told sentence by sentence, with...
Gentle Manipulation
A listening exercise for tuning in to your scene partner. Player A leaves the room. The others decide on an action (e.g. washing a car, ...
Gossip Sisters
Two groups (A and B) of equal size. Group A forms a tight circle in the center and whispers as quietly as possible about a topic. Group B...
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...
Held Still Then Walk
A quiet body awareness exercise. Players walk through the room, then form pairs of similar height. In each pair, one stands behind the o...
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...