Warm-ups
Before doing sports, you warm up. Every child knows that. Since theatre is also a form of physical work, one should warm up a bit before starting the actual exercises. On the one hand you can prepare yourself physically and on the other hand you can gain distance to the things that have occupied you all day long. There are many ways to shake everything off, clear your head and prepare your body: Catch playing, ball games, singing, stretching exercises, moving to music. Below are a few concrete examples of how to start an exercise session.
Categories
Experience
Energy
Ball Metamorphosis
The players are standing in a circle. An imaginary ball is thrown by the moderator. Each time a player receives the ball and throws it to...
Category Die
This is useful as a warm-up and it is also useful in performance even. The exercise forces you to be spontaneous and it also helps you ...
Endless snake
The more players, the better: The first player offers his right or left hand. A player comes along and takes this hand and offers his or ...
Four Corners
Here is another good ice-breaker for the start of the school year or as a funny way to better introduce people with each other. Four Corn...
Free Association
Introduction This warm-up will help us get into the moment for improvisation, and help us feel easier about being silly. Description T...
Group formation
The game master determines the criteria according to which the people in the room should form groups. It says for example: Everyone wil...
Hide body
Description An excellent exercise to get to know and learn to trust and touch each other. 5 volunteers, 4 of whom must hide the fifth p...
I am a tree
A very popular exercise, suitable for beginners of improvisation The players stand on the stage/around the room. Player A goes to the mi...
increase
The players are in a circle. One of them makes a discreet gesture or movement to his neighbor, if necessary. accompanied by a word or sou...
Machine
The name of a "crazy" machine, a machine that does not exist, is requested. In quick succession, the players construct the machine by ea...
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...
Quick Death
A (slightly macabre) exercise for in between times to drive away the tiredness of the players by speed: The players are in a circle. One...
Rebrand things
The players walk around the room and name the things in the room. They should touch the corresponding objects. For example, "wall." "Corn...
Seven Things
Seven Things is a warm up in which players ask each other to name seven things that fall into a made up category. Anybody may start by ca...
syllables
Great game to get to know each other and remember the names of the participants. The participants form a circle. The first person says h...
Truth and lie
A game (also a name game) to get to know each other. All players line up in a circle. Then everyone tells their names and two things. One...
What Are You Doing!
Players This exercise is played with two players. Rules Player 1 begins miming some action. Player 2 shouts, "What are you doing?" ...
What is a what?
A warm-up game in which rhyme is played quickly. All players line up in a circle and slowly flip a rhythm with their fingers. Player A ...
Yes, let's
A great warmup for group collaboration and to practice saying yes especially for improv beginners. Everybody walks around the room. One ...