Improv Games
Here you can find a collection of improv games. This collection consists of games that can be performed in a show in front of an audience. Each of them can be announced in advance, or they can be played unannounced from a normal scene. Too much focus on performing games can negatively affect the ability to improvise freely. Many games also have a strong character in comedy. Many games are created from exercises that should help to train certain aspects of improvisation. Freeze, Hitchhiker or the abc letter game are some well known plays, but you can find many more. Have a nice time.
Categories
Experience
Energy
Competences
Countdown
Actors any number Suggestions variable, often a location, conflict, possibly characters/quirks, or none Premise With or without suggest...
Customer Service
Actors 2 or more Suggestions object, what's wrong with it, and a celebrity who previously owned it Premise One actor serves as a cus...
Emotional Workplace
Three actors are playing at working places given by the audience. Each player gets a related feeling. Example: Player A has sadness as ...
Family Dinner
A game where audience members can be involved. Get an audience member to describe several members of their family. Do a scene about a di...
Help!
2-4 players improvise a scene according to any guideline. The rest of the players look on and hold themselves ready. Whenever a player fe...
Horoscope
The moderator asks for a zodiac sign and then reads the current horoscope prediction from a magazine. The players then play a scene in wh...
Job Center
A player leaves the room. The public is asked to name an extraordinary profession. The player is invited back in, sits behind his desk an...
Living Scenery
Another funny, silly shortform game. The host asks for a suggestion of a situation or a daily routine at a location. Two players then ac...
Marriage Guidance
A game for three players. One player is the therapist, the other players are the couple for treatment. The first couple is sent out and t...
Multiple personalities
Silly, funny little shortform game. Played by 3 players. The host asks the audience to hand over three props. Then the host ask for a su...
Old Job - New Job
Ask for two professions that have nothing to do with one another. Someone in the scene plays a character that is now doing the second job...
Pan Right - Pan Left
Pan Right / Pan Left Players: 4 – 8 (Can be played with any number of players, but should be played with two evenly sized teams in shows)...
Party Quirks
Time: 10 Minutes Number of Participants: Best in groups of 4 or 5 Required Equipment: The only equipment needed are pieces my paper wit...
Pecking Order
An exercise i.e. a game for three players. The players form a hierarchy (A has the highest status, B the middle, C the lowest). It's gove...
People Watching
This is best explained by an example involving players A, B, and C. A waits for B and C to leave before asking for a suggestion. A ask...
Poets with Feeling
Three or four players are involved. The moderator asks the audience to provide a random sentence. Additionally, he lets each of the three...
Prison visitor
A musical game. The host asks for two suggestions: a country (where the one player is in prison) and a crime the player committed. The ...
Quintet
At first five different scenes are played. The audience then decides on one of these scenes to be removed. The remaining four scenes cont...
Revolving Door
A game for 4-5 players. A player stands in the center and will quickly exchange places with where the other players started. The player ...
Stage Directions
Players 3+ Rules Players perform an ordinary scene based on an audience suggestion. A player outside of the scene will occasionally in...
Superscene
Three to five people can take part in this game. Each of the players is responsible for one of the stories, as its director. He introduce...
Swinging Pendulum of Death
Actors 3 Suggestions 3 locations, 3 conflicts, 3 characters Premise This game is complicated but can be extremely entertaining if do...
Talking animals
The players receive a species of animal from the audience. Then they play a scene in which they both play the part of this animal. (F...
The central theme
A real object from the audience is placed on a stage. The object is really the object it is. This object specifies the location of the fi...
The Evil Twin
The moderator provides a relationship between two people or an activity. Two players begin to act out the scene. The scene can be stopped...
The Excuse
One of the Improv-players must leave the room for a short time. In the meantime, the audience decides on a reason why the player wa...
The Voice
Voice is a game (or exercise) for two players. Player A acts on stage while player B plays only with his voice. Player A is on stage, at...
Three Rules
The moderator asks for three personal rules for the players in the scene to observe. For example, that they have only one arm, may not...
Time travel
We will first present a simple neutral scene that is based on a suggestion from the audience. Then we will see a series of scenes that le...
What's on TV?
Quick, change of scene based improv game. Audience have control of 'TV' - two characters to represent the media on TV. Audience can 'chan...
Improv games are often played as part of theatre sports. Here, two teams usually play a series of improvisations against each other. This kind of format has a strong connection to comedy. This does not have to be the case and was not intended by Johnstone, the inventor of theatre sports. According to his idea, this format should include both serious and comic performances. The games are often played by one to four players and take only a short time, maybe up to 10 minutes. It is important to make sure that, despite the comedy character, the story is not forgotten in the game.
Improv games are a good way to relax during the theatre practice or break the ice at a party or at the beginning of a workshop. Improvisational acting teaches you to think quickly and to read other people while you are performing. And best of all, you don't need any special props or equipment, just your imagination and the courage to surpass yourself.
If you know a good game, that is not in our list, please add it here. You just need to register and then you can add new improv stuff. Thank you for your time and for your work.