Three Scene Starting Improv Techniques, Never Again Say I GOT NOTHING!

I often say, the hardest thing in improv is to simply start a scene. Too often folks give up on themselves before even giving it a try. Insecurity blocks the simple choices. Or worse, ego proudly drives the most empty set of words ever to vomit from a mouth.

The secret. Stop thinking about words. Stop trying to be great. Stop trying to be funny. Stop worrying about judgement of others. Make simple choices about WHO and WHERE you are and every scene you do will have meaning.

Here are three games i use in classes to teach improvisers how to start a scene.

SORRY I AM LATE

For this game drop all pretense. Don’t try to be funny. Skip the showmanship energy. Just do the work so we can focus on the technique.

Player 1: I am so sorry I am late!

Player 2: Thank goodness you are here, (insert job title or relationship, nothing else).

Player 3: YES AND… (say a line as that character that woukd do that job, or fill that relationship role, but more importantly, SNAP into doing that job, pantomime, etc)

This is a quick game, similar to WHAT ARE YOU DOING?. Less is more.

At the same time, don’t rush. Pantomime is almost always slower than you think. Unless you are the object work player that moves like a sloth when showing us there is a kitchen counter in front of you. Realism is the goal here. Anxiety and insecurity make us rush OR shut down. Ego turns us into “artists”. Just be real people doing real things.

Teachers, stop the monologues here. They are the result of nervous energy, the student thinking they have not done enough. This is a game intended to teach SHOW don’t TELL, listen and respond. Replace thinking with listening. Making simple choices instead of pondering on the perfect words. Rotate through the lines a few times.

Example

Player One: Sorry I’m Late!!!

Player Two: Thank goodness you’re here, plumber!

Player Three: WOW, that toilet is exploding like a volcano (as you reach for the plunger and plunge away.

Teacher: SCENE (That’s it!)

EMOTIONAL CHOICE

For this game, again, we want to remove all urges to THINK. There are only two manin moves. One player initiates a scene. The second player monologues, based on a level ten emotional choice.

PLAYER ONE:

Start your scenes with one of these three types of statements.

I want…

• I want ice cream.
• I want a new bike.
• I want to take you out on a date.

I need…

• I need a new pair a shoes.
• I need this report on my desk now.
• I need to get this looked at.

Let’s go…

• Let’s go to the movies.
• Let’s go fly a kite (but you MUST sing this! 😉)
• Let’s go open a joint bank account.

PLAYER TWO:

Before speaking, breathe in an emotional choice. Happy, Sad, Angry, Surprise, Frustration, Lust, Bored, Scared, etc etc etc

Now just EXPLODE WITH THAT EMOTION AT A LEVEL TEN! Share what ever words come to mind. Don’t stop to think. Just talk. And listen. But most importantly, double down on the emotion .

Don’t fear silence. Sometimes the best played anger is very quiet. As so many actors say in youtube shorts, Instagram reels, etc. Don’t play Angry. Don’t play Sad. Play the person that doesn’t want you to show the world how upset or angry they are. This creates levels.

Teacher, let 2-3 scenes go before adding next this next step of the equation.

Now, when the emotional choice is not enough, NAME THE RELATIONSHIP. WHO are you talking to? (Don’t play random stranger. Make this person someone your character cares about.) Mom, Dad, Husband, Wife, Sister, Brother, Boss, Employee, Coworker, Teacher, Student, Bartender that has been listening to your problems for 10 years, etc

NOW realize, we don’t explode at a level ten out of nowhere. There is a history with this character;

• You do this ALL the time…
• This is the third time this week…
• Everytime you…

You know all the clichés. Now tell us what happened last night, yesterday, last week, etc that makes you SO EMOTIONAL now.

SCENE

Rotate through the lines at least twice giving everyone a chance to do both parts.

NOTE TO PLAYER ONE:

Notice you only have one line. But your job is not over. One, be a great scene partner. Listen. Two, be a great actor. LISTEN. The best acting happens when we are not talking. Have your inner monologue on fire, reacting to what you see and hear.

NOTE TO PLAYER TWO:

Same note while Player one speaks, LISTEN. THEN… keep your subtext on choice of emotion, relationship, listening to your own words for gifts. Never stop to think about the words.

Actors often talk about A HA! moments. Magic is, etc. In improv, these are gifts. You and your partner will make a series of choices. Words will flow. At some point one of you will say something accidentally simple but with possibly profound implications.

If you are worried about the words you will probably miss it. If you are listening, you will trigger each other’s imagination. One choice will lead to another and another and another. Suddenly you both appear to be creative geniuses and you never ONCE stopped to try and be clever or funny. But because you got out of your own way, you were incredibly clever and funny.

THREE LINE EXCHANGE

This is a game we play almost every rehearsal for the professional company.

Player One: Initiate scene with an activity. Pantomime (object work). See where you are. As real as possible, act out that movement of work, play, hobby, etc.

Player Two: LINE ONE

Player One: LINE TWO

Player Two: LINE THREE

SCENE!

Now, what do we say for line one, two.or three? As a teacher I change this all the time. I use this game to teach what ever lesson I am focused on. What does this group of students need to work on.

WHO WHERE WHAT

Generally, I like to use this game to teach the base reality creation for a greater scene.

• Activity
• WHO are you?
• WHERE are you?
• WHAT are you doing?

Of course, answer each question with a choice. In rehearsals, classes and jams, NEVER ask a question. Questions are not evil, but use this time to break the habit of asking too many questions.

Similarly outlaw the word NO. I sometimes take CAN’T, WON’T, DON’T and other negatives off the table. Again, to break the habit. You can say NO as a character and still YES AND… your scene partner BUT break the human instinct to habitually say no. AND is the goal is team building…

WHO CHOICE FOCUS

For some sessions, my focus is WHO choices: relationship, character traits, jobs, etc.

Variations on a theme:

• Make every line include a choice about the relationship ship.
• Make every line include a WHO endowment for YOUR character.
• Make every line include a WHO endowment for your scene partner’s character.

ENDOWMENTS

An endowment is any thing to name about WHO or WHERE you are or WHAT you are doing.

WHO ENDOWMENTS might be a relationship, job, physical characteristic, emotional choice, age, imagined costumes and props (things being worn or held), etc. Sometimes these endowments are created through movement. Pantomime putting on a jacket. Picking up a hat.

WHERE CHOICE FOCUS

Make each line include a WHERE choice. Most students take my note and tell us WHERE they are but they rarely play that choice.

Start with naming the location. Then qualify the space. Is it well lit or dark? Inside or out? Hot or cold? Sparse of Cramped?

The Improv Stage is a 3d Blank Canvas. Play set designer and decorator. Populate your space with furniture props.

In a park, what kind? Central Park in New York City is far different than Stuyvesant and even more different that a simple town square upstate or a massive Arboretum on Long Island. And that’s just one state.

At the beach? Is this the French Riviera with high end resorts and designer bathing suits and wraps. Or is this the Jersey shore, the other Riviera (#iykyk 😉). Is the sand smooth, course or rocky and sharp shell filled. I love the round stone beachs of Capri. While other rocky beaches require water socks and shoes to escape uncut.

In an elevator? Imagine the difference between the open giant tubes of Marriott Marquis shooting up quickly. Contrast that with the old New York lifts barely big enough for 4 that make you say, DO I NEED TO GET OUT AND PUSH?

In space? NASA reality or what kind of scyfy style? Project Hail Mary, Star Wars, Star Trek, Interstellar all have different reality bending rules. WHERE choices allow us to define the rules of our reality.

WHAT CHOICES

To be honest, I never do this. My experience, even the most basic beginner understands something needs to happen. They skip WHO & WHERE only to bore us with STUFF. I hate STUFF, unless layered with major WHO & WHERE subtext implications

Couples don’t argue about crumbs in the butter and toilet seats because they care about clean butter and toilet seat positions (until your wife actually falls in at night). They just don’t feel comfy talking about money, emotions and S E X.

So when you make WHAT choices, have the WHO & WHERE subtext choice flowing.

REMEMBER I SAID TO STOP THINKING…

OK, in truth I am always thinking. I just never do that thing I call STOPPING TO THINK. Instead, when you listen and focus, you never have to think.

I just don’t want you to think the way MOST people think, aka driven by ego and insecurity. Don’t worry about the words. Don’t worry about being good. Don’t worry about being funny. Don’t worry about being smart. Just Do! Apply this simple formula to everything you do (PS this is right out of my stand up comedy book)

• PREPARE
• HAVE FUN EXECUTING THE PLAN
• ANALYZE THE WORK, wo ego or insecurity.

Applied to Improv…

• MAKE A SIMOLE CHOICE (WHO. WHERE, WHAT)
• PLAY THAT CHOICE (aka move, listen, etc think in the 1st person of your character.)
• After the scene, how could that have been better. With out self doubt, or congrats, what are 5-10.things you could have said or done to make that scene better. What are 10 ways to play WORLD’S WORST TEACHER better. What are 5-10 better rhymes for that word in that song we just sang.

With this lofe plan, ONE you will be SO MUCH MORE FILLED WITH JOY and not lost in anxiety or depression. TWO you will get 1% better every day.

You will never be perfect. No one is. Trying to be perfect is a ego/insecure driven goal.

Those that skip the ego and insecurity begin the journey of sel improvement. As long as fear, anger, or LOOK AT ME over compensating for insecurity is your go to thinking style, you are not ready for day one of becoming a better artist.

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