Machine

Participants collaboratively form a “human machine.” One person starts with a repetitive sound and simple gesture. Others join in, adding their own sounds and movements that connect to the existing parts, building a complex, synchronized machine. The machine can be sped up or slowed down.

Madrigal

A simple song format where each player sings a word or phrase.

Magnet

This is a physical warm-up or scene starter. One player is designated the “magnet” and assumes a frozen pose. Other players are “metal” and are drawn to the magnet, slowly moving towards them and forming a tableau around the magnet player. This enhances focus and presence and boosts communication and connection through non-verbal means.

Makes me think of

Players sit in a circle. One player starts by saying a word or phrase. The next player then says something that the previous word or phrase makes them think of, creating a chain of free association. This game enhances focus and presence and helps players make quick connections.

Malapropism

Players walk around the room, pointing to objects and calling out what they are not, using words that have a similar sound (e.g., pointing to a desk and saying “Popsicle!”). This can be done with gibberish words that sound similar.

Man Overboard

Players create a scene on a “ship.” At any point, one player can yell “Man Overboard!” and jump into an imaginary “ocean.” Other players must then justify the event and collaboratively create a rescue attempt or react to the loss, often with humorous results, thereby fostering a lighthearted atmosphere.

Mannish Boy

This is a musical improv game where players improvise a song in the blues or rock ‘n’ roll style, often focusing on themes of masculinity, coming of age, or swagger, similar to the Muddy Waters song. It allows players to explore character through song and boosts communication and connection through shared musical rhythm.

Mantra

One player initiates a simple, repeating phrase or mantra. Other players then join in, either repeating the same mantra or adding their own, which may or may not be related, building a layered, rhythmic soundscape. This game enhances focus and presence through repetition and collective sound.

Mantras

This emphasizes the repetitive, meditative, or ritualistic use of short phrases within an improv context. Players might use mantras to explore character emotions, establish a scene’s atmosphere, or as a recurring thematic element.

Mantra Introduction

Players introduce themselves, but each introduction must be accompanied by a unique, personal mantra or short, repetitive phrase that encapsulates something about their character or current state. This allows for quick character establishment and playful self-expression.

Marriage Counsel Endowment

Two players assume the roles of a couple in marriage counseling, while another player acts as the therapist. The twist is that the audience “endows” the couple with various bizarre or highly specific problems, and the players must justify these issues within the scene, leading to comedic situations and boosting communication and connection between the improvisers.

Massage

This is typically a warm-up or de-stressing exercise. Players form a line, and each player gently massages the shoulders and upper back of the person in front of them. The line then turns around to allow everyone to receive a massage. This simple physical activity helps to foster a lighthearted atmosphere and group connection.

Master Servant Disaster

One player is the “master” and another the “servant.” The master gives increasingly absurd or impossible commands, and the servant attempts to follow them, leading to inevitable “disasters.” The humor comes from the commitment to the roles and the escalating ridiculousness, fostering a lighthearted atmosphere.

Master/Servant Dubbing

Similar to “Dubbing,” but specifically with a master and servant dynamic. One player acts out the scene as the “servant,” while another player (the “master”) stands off to the side and voices all the servant’s lines. The servant must justify whatever comes out of the master’s mouth, no matter how ridiculous, which boosts communication and connection through precise listening and reaction.

Master/Servant Double Header

This game involves two pairs of Master/Servant dynamics playing simultaneously or interweaving in a scene. The complexities of multiple power dynamics and absurd commands lead to a heightened level of comedic chaos, requiring strong focus and presence from all players.

Meet & Greet Walkabout

Participants walk around the room, meeting and greeting each other while adopting various character relationships (e.g., best friends, superheroes, suspicious neighbors, ex-boyfriends). This exercise effectively breaks the ice and allows individuals to experiment with different characters without overthinking.

Mexican Name Wave

Players stand in a circle. One player starts by calling out their own name, accompanied by a small, fluid body wave that passes to the person next to them. The next person immediately picks up the wave and their own name, passing it along. The goal is to create a seamless, continuous “wave” of names and movements around the circle, enhancing focus and presence and rhythm.

Micetro

A competitive short-form improv game where multiple improvisers perform short scenes or games, and an “audience judge” or “Micetro” eliminates players based on their performance, until only one “champion” remains. It aims to showcase individual talent and foster a lighthearted atmosphere through friendly competition.

Midnight Society

Inspired by the TV show “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, players gather as if they are the “Midnight Society” and take turns telling scary or mysterious stories. Other players might act out elements of the story, creating a collaborative, spooky narrative.

Miniscene chain

A format where a single audience suggestion sparks a very short (e.g., 30-second) scene. As soon as that scene ends, another player or group immediately starts a new, equally short “miniscene” that is conceptually or thematically linked to the previous one, forming a rapid-fire chain of connected narratives.

Ministry of Silly Walks

Students form a circle. The leader performs a silly walk into the center of the circle, stops, and returns to their place, still performing the walk. Each student then goes around the circle, performing the leader’s walk, before the next student creates their own silly walk.

Mirror

Players form pairs, facing each other. One makes slow movements, which the other imitates like a mirror. After a time, roles switch. Later, roles can be canceled, with everyone being both mirror and mirrored.

Mirror in Circle

Similar to the paired “Mirror” game, but played with the entire group in a circle. One player initiates a movement or gesture, and everyone else in the circle attempts to mirror that movement simultaneously. The initiator then changes their movement, and the group tries to keep up, requiring intense focus and presence and group synchronization.

Momentos De La Vida

This game, Spanish for “Moments of Life,” involves players improvising a series of short scenes or snapshots that depict significant “moments” in the life of a character or a relationship. The scenes can jump through time, highlighting key emotional beats and character development, thereby boosting communication and connection through shared storytelling.

Monoscene

A long-form format where the entire performance takes place in one scene location, sometimes with improvisers playing different characters and sometimes playing the same characters for the entire piece.

More

During a scene, the audience or players call for “More anger!”, “more hand-waving!” etc., and the performers must heighten or exaggerate that aspect.

More Specific/Less Specific

When “More Specific” is called, players repeat their last line with more detailed information. On “Less Specific,” they repeat it in a vague way.

Most Scenes in a Minute

A rapid-fire game where players aim to perform as many distinct, very short scenes as possible within a one-minute time limit. Each scene should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, even if extremely brief, challenging players to make quick choices and transitions.

Most Uses of an Object

Players try to find as many different uses as possible for an object. This develops imaginative object work and creative association.

Motel

Players improvise a series of interconnected scenes, all taking place in different rooms or areas of a single motel. Characters might briefly interact or their stories might subtly overlap, creating a larger narrative tapestry within a confined setting.

Mother Goose

Players improvise a scene or story in the style of a nursery rhyme or fairy tale, often using heightened language, simple moral lessons, or classic archetypes. The challenge is to maintain the lighthearted, often rhyming, and whimsical tone of Mother Goose, fostering a lighthearted atmosphere.

Movie

An improvised movie that uses disjointed situations which converge by the end.

Movie Critics

Two critics review a movie, showing key scenes played by other improvisers.

Movie Director

A made-up movie director is interviewed about their new movie. At any point, they hand over to 2-3 improvisers who perform scenes inspired by the interview, regularly switching between interview and scenes.

Movie Night

Two film enthusiasts watch a movie at home, skipping ahead to their favorite parts, which are then played by other improvisers.

Movie Stills

Players form a tableau based on a scene title, then play a snippet of that scene, then move on to the next one.

Move and Speak

This exercise emphasizes the connection between physical movement and verbal expression. Players walk around the space, and when they speak, their movement should either match, reflect, or contrast what they are saying. This helps to integrate mind and body in improvisation and enhances focus and presence.

Move Like Me Tag

One player starts a distinctive physical movement or walk. Other players then “tag” into the game, taking on that exact movement, until the entire group is moving in the same way. The original player can then change their movement, and everyone tries to adapt. This game enhances focus and presence through observation and imitation.

Moving Bodies

This is a physical warm-up or exercise where players move freely in the space, focusing on connecting with their own body and its movement. The facilitator might give prompts to encourage different types of movement (e.g., move as if you’re in water, move as if you’re made of rubber), helping players become more physically expressive.

Mr. So and So

A player embodies a character known as “Mr. So and So” (or Ms. So and So), who has a very specific, often eccentric, personality trait or habit. Other players then interact with “Mr. So and So,” reacting to and building upon their unique quirks, leading to humorous interactions.

Mug

Players choose a location or character, step forward, pick up a mug, and give one sentence as that character or signifying that location while holding the mug. This should move quickly.

Musical

A scene combining dialogue and speech in the style of a traditional musical (Broadway, Bollywood, Rogers and Hammerstein…). This improves vocal pitch, tone, volume, and tempo, and develops the ability to create and maintain rhythm.

Musical Eye Contact

Players explore a typical scenic premise without making eye contact. Upon a signal (e.g., a bell), music plays, during which players must unflinchingly hold eye contact until the music stops. Dialogue typically halts during these interludes, replaced by intense stares and rich subtext.

Musical Fairy Tale

Players improvise a well-known fairy tale, but with the added element of breaking into spontaneous songs, similar to a traditional musical. This boosts communication and connection by combining narrative and musical elements, and fosters a lighthearted atmosphere through whimsical storytelling.

Musical Freeze

Similar to traditional “Freeze Tag,” but when a scene is frozen, the next player to tag in must start singing a line of a song that somehow relates to the frozen tableau. The scene then continues in a musical format until the next freeze.

Musical Word

The audience provides a single word. Players then improvise a song or series of songs based on that word, exploring its various meanings, associations, and emotions. This game boosts communication and connection through shared lyrical creation.

Musical Zip Zap Zop

A variation of the classic “Zip Zap Zop” warm-up. Players stand in a circle and pass an imaginary energy impulse by pointing and saying “Zip,” “Zap,” or “Zop.” In this musical version, the words might be sung, or accompanied by musical sounds, adding a rhythmic layer to the quick reactions.

Murder Mystery

Players improvise a classic murder mystery scenario. The audience might provide details like the victim, the weapon, or the location. Players then embody characters (detectives, suspects, witnesses) and collaboratively uncover clues, interrogate suspects, and try to solve the crime, often with comedic results.

My Fault

In a scene, whenever something goes wrong, a player must immediately claim, “It’s my fault!” and then offer a humorous or absurd justification for why it was their fault. This game encourages players to accept offers, find humor in mistakes, and foster a lighthearted atmosphere.

My Movie

One player acts as a “director” and narrates a scene or story that is essentially “their movie.” Other players act out the scenes described by the director, who can pause, rewind, fast-forward, or add voice-overs, creating a collaborative, cinematic improvisation.

---