Samurai

Players stand in a circle. One player, the “samurai,” initiates a specific sound and chopping motion towards another player. The player receiving the chop must react with a defensive sound and motion, while the players on either side of the defender also react with specific protective sounds and motions. If anyone misses their cue, they are eliminated.

Scene Collage

This is a long-form format where multiple short, distinct scenes are performed in rapid succession, often cutting between them before they are fully resolved. The scenes are typically tied together by a common theme, suggestion, or emotional thread, creating a tapestry of interconnected moments.

Scene Ending in a Song

Players improvise a scene, with the explicit goal of having it naturally build to a point where it culminates in one or more characters spontaneously breaking into a song that serves as the scene’s emotional or narrative conclusion.

Scene Ending in I Love You

Players improvise a scene based on a suggestion, with the specific constraint that the scene must logically and emotionally lead to one character saying “I love you” as the final line.

Scene From Music

A scene is improvised entirely based on a piece of music being played. The players do not use dialogue but rather let the mood, tempo, and rhythm of the music inspire their physical actions, emotional states, and the evolving narrative.

Scene in the Audience

A scene is played entirely in the audience area. This breaks traditional stage conventions and increases audience immersion.

Scene in the Dark

The scene is played in pitch darkness. This enhances reliance on verbal communication, listening, and imagination.

Scene Marathon

A long-form format where a continuous series of improvised scenes are performed for an extended period (e.g., hours or even days), often involving multiple rotating teams or players. The challenge is to maintain energy, narrative coherence, and engagement over time.

Scene Played among the Audience

A scene is played entirely in the audience area. This breaks traditional stage conventions and increases audience immersion.

Scene to Music

Music changes lead the mood and action (no dancing!).

Scene Three Ways

A short scene is (loosely) repeated three times with different situations (e.g., in different historical periods, with different emotions).

Scene Without Questions

Players perform a scene where no questions are allowed. This forces players to make strong statements and develop declarative dialogue.

Scene Without Words

A scene where characters could speak but never do, relying on physical action. This develops strong physical storytelling and mime.

Scenes From a Chat

Audience members write scene suggestions in a chat box. An emcee selects one, and players act it out for five minutes. This adapts improv for virtual settings and encourages audience participation.

Scenes from Suggestion

Players perform a series of short, independent scenes, each one inspired by a new suggestion from the audience. This focuses on quick scene initiation and variety.

Scenes that bring joy

Players improvise scenes specifically designed to evoke feelings of happiness, delight, or warmth in the audience. This focuses on positive emotions and creating uplifting narratives.

Scream

A vocal warm-up or stress-release exercise where players are encouraged to let out loud, uninhibited screams or vocalizations, often guided by a facilitator who sets different tones or intensities.

Script Tease

Players perform a scene as if it were a “script tease” for a larger, unknown production. They deliver lines and perform actions with exaggerated drama, mystery, or cliffhanger moments, hinting at a grander narrative without revealing everything.

Sculptor Pairs

In pairs, one player is the “sculptor” and the other is the “clay.” The sculptor physically molds the clay into a specific pose or tableau. Once the clay is in position, the sculptor might give the “sculpture” a title or a one-line internal monologue, and the clay responds with that line, embodying the pose.

Sculptors

One or more “sculptors” physically pose other players to create a living tableau or statue. The sculptors might receive a theme or emotion from the audience, and the “sculptures” must maintain their pose until the scene begins, often leading to unusual starting positions.

Secret Cross Endowments

Players perform a scene where each player is given a secret endowment or trait that they must incorporate into their character. The “cross” element means that their secret might be specifically designed to clash with or subtly influence another player’s secret endowment, creating hidden tensions and dynamics.

Self Contained Emotional Statement

Players perform a scene or monologue where each line of dialogue is a complete, self-contained emotional statement. The lines might not flow logically in terms of narrative, but they are consistently strong in expressing a particular feeling, encouraging bold emotional choices.

Sell It To Me

Each player grabs an object and develops a convincing sales pitch to sell it. This flexes persuasion and sales skills, encouraging quick thinking and creative justification of an object’s value.

Sensory Dinner

Players improvise a dinner scene where one or more of their senses are either heightened or completely absent. For example, they might be unable to see, only able to smell, or extremely sensitive to touch, leading to humorous and challenging interactions as they navigate the meal.

Sentences

This game often involves a facilitator or audience member calling out a number, and the player whose turn it is must speak exactly that many words for their next sentence. This focuses on verbal conciseness and precise word choice.

Seven Up

A physical warm-up or game for a group. Players might form a circle and count “Seven Up,” clapping or performing a specific action on every multiple of seven, or performing a specific sequence of movements that always totals seven distinct actions.

Sevens

(Same as Seven Up, or a variation where players must find ways to integrate the number “seven” into their dialogue or actions in a scene).

Sex with me is like

One player starts a sentence with “Sex with me is like…” and completes it with a metaphorical or humorous comparison. Other players then respond with their own “Sex with me is like…” statements, creating a chain of comedic analogies.

Sharey Tale Format

This is a long-form storytelling format where the narrative is constructed collaboratively by multiple players. Each player contributes to the story for a short period, then “hands off” to another player, creating a flowing, shared narrative without a single designated storyteller.

Silly Walks

Warm-Up Game inspired by Monty Python Sketch

Shared Holiday

In pairs, participants talk about a shared holiday, starting every new sentence with “Yes And.” This gets players on the same page in a fun, inventive, and low-pressure manner, fostering bonding and shared “memories.”

Shoe Shops

Players improvise a scene set in a shoe shop, but with an absurd twist. For example, the shoes might have magical powers, the customers might have unusual feet, or the shop might be a front for something else.

Shootout

Players engage in a rapid-fire scene, often verbal, where they “shoot” or counter each other’s offers and ideas very quickly, almost like a verbal duel. This requires fast thinking and strong acceptance of offers to keep the momentum going.

Shoulda Said

On the call of “Shoulda Said,” players must undo what they just said and make a different choice. This develops flexibility, spontaneity, and the ability to pivot narrative rapidly.

Sideways

This can refer to a scene played as if viewed from the side, or a constraint where players must physically move primarily in a sideways direction. It challenges conventional staging and movement.

Sideways Scene

Players lie on stage, and the scene is played as if from a bird’s-eye view. This encourages creative physicalization and unique comedic perspectives.

Silent Movie

A scene in the style of an old silent movie. This focuses on exaggerated physical comedy, mime, and clear non-verbal storytelling.

Silly Stinky Sexy

A warm-up or quick scene game where players are given a suggestion or category and must express it through a silly, stinky, or sexy lens. This encourages exaggerated character choices and bold interpretations.

Simple Continuation

Players improvise a scene with the only rule being that they must build directly and logically on the very last offer made by their scene partner, avoiding jumps or new ideas that aren’t clearly linked. This focuses on strong “yes, and” principles.

Sing It

During a scene, on the call of “Sing It!”, the speaking player must immediately turn their next line of dialogue into a sung phrase or song, continuing the scene in a musical style until the next interruption.

Sitting-Standing-Lying Down

At any time, exactly one player must be in each position (sitting, standing, or lying down). This develops physical awareness, quick transitions, and group spatial dynamics.

Six Episodes

An exercise designed to teach group storytelling. Participants are given a significant task (e.g., “The launch of a new flavor of coke”). They have one minute to prepare six scenes, all contributing to the completion of the task. After preparation, they immediately perform the scenes without further discussion.

Slacker

One character in a scene is a definitive “slacker” who avoids work, responsibility, or effort at all costs. Other characters must react to and try to motivate or cope with this slacker, leading to comedic frustrations.

Slap Take

A physical comedy technique where a player reacts to a sudden, shocking, or surprising revelation with an exaggerated, often delayed, physical “take” or reaction, typically involving a dramatic head turn and wide eyes, sometimes accompanied by a slap sound.

Slappy Face

This is often a physical warm-up where players gently pat or “slap” their own faces to wake up and energize their facial muscles and expressions. It can also be incorporated into scenes for comedic overreaction.

Slide Show

Players present the next “slide” (tableau), which a host must explain. This develops visual storytelling, justification, and narrative coherence across disconnected images.

SloMo Samurai

A variation of “Samurai” where all actions and reactions are performed in slow motion, requiring intense physical control and commitment to the slow pace.

SloMo Tag

A variation of “Tag” where all movements must be performed in slow motion. When a player is tagged, they might slowly freeze or slowly transition into a new slow-motion character or action.

Small Voice

One player, on a microphone, plays an invisible character. This develops vocal characterization and playing with unseen elements.

Smart Fellas

This is often a scene where characters believe themselves to be incredibly intelligent or insightful, but their actions or statements reveal them to be far less “smart” than they think, creating comedic irony.

Soap Series

Players improvise a scene or series of scenes in the melodramatic, often cliffhanger-driven style of a soap opera. This includes exaggerated emotions, dramatic revelations, and convoluted plotlines.

Solo Doors

One player performs a solo scene where the only set piece is an imaginary door (or multiple doors). The player improvises an entire narrative that revolves around entering, exiting, and interacting with these doors, defining what lies on the other side through their reactions.

Solo Scene

One player performs a story, playing numerous characters. This develops multi-character portrayal, narrative control, and solo performance skills.

Something Old Something New

Players improvise a scene or story that must incorporate “something old” (a past event, a recurring character, a familiar object) and “something new” (a new revelation, a surprising character, a never-before-seen object), blending familiarity with novelty.

Song

A song based on a word or theme.

Sound Circle

Participants form a large circle. One player initiates by performing a gesture and making a sound, directing it to their right neighbor. The neighbor immediately imitates both, then turns to their own right neighbor and creates a completely different gesture and sound.

Sound Effects

Sound effects are added to a scene, and players must make sense of them. This develops justification, active listening, and integrating auditory offers into the scene.

Sounds Good to Me

One player’s dialogue is a script of four positive comments. This focuses on positive reinforcement, agreement, and supportive scene play.

Sounds Like a Song

On the call “Sounds like a song,” players turn their previous line into a song.

Soundscapes

Players collaboratively create a soundscape or atmospheric background using only vocalizations and body percussion. They might mimic environmental sounds, crowd noises, or abstract sonic textures to establish the setting or mood of a scene without dialogue.

Space Jump

Players improvise a scene, and on a signal, they must immediately jump to a completely different space or location without explanation, justifying the new setting through their immediate actions and dialogue.

Speaking in Tongues

Players engage in a scene where they must deliver their dialogue in a rapid, often nonsensical, stream of words or sounds, mimicking someone “speaking in tongues” or a highly abstract form of communication. Other players must react to the emotional content or perceived meaning.

Split Focus

Players perform a scene where the audience’s or director’s focus is deliberately split between two or more concurrent actions or conversations happening simultaneously on stage. This challenges players to maintain their individual storylines while being aware of the broader scene.

Split Screen

A scene played as if the stage is a TV screen that has rolled sideways. Characters walking off on the left enter on the right (played by different players). This promotes quick transitions and multi-scene narrative.

Sportz Center

Players improvise a scene in the style of a sports news show, with commentators discussing, analyzing, and reacting to an ongoing, unseen sporting event (e.g., a bizarre competitive eating contest, a bizarre Olympic sport).

Squeezer

This can refer to a physical warm-up where players gently “squeeze” or massage parts of their body to release tension. It can also be a game where characters are in a physically or emotionally “squeezed” or confined situation, and they must find creative ways to deal with the pressure.

Stage Mirror

Two sets of players perform the same scene. One makes physical choices, while the other provides dialogue. Roles switch back and forth.

Stage Whisper

All dialogue is whispered, justified by a scene suggestion (e.g., defusing a bomb, in the presence of a sleeping baby). This focuses on vocal control and intimacy.

Stage Zones

A player’s position on stage corresponds to an emotion or status. This explores how physical space influences character emotion and status dynamics.

Standing Wave

Players stand in a circle. One player initiates a fluid, continuous movement or gesture that passes like a “wave” to the next person, who immediately picks it up and continues it. The goal is to maintain a seamless, flowing motion around the circle.

State Trooper

Similar to “Workplace Excuse,” but instead of a boss, the interrogator is a State Trooper who has pulled over a car.

Statues

Players are posed as statues, which become the starting position for the scene. This encourages justification of unusual physical starting points and physical storytelling.

Status Battle

Two players perform a scene, trying to have the highest or lowest status. The audience votes on winner.

Status Ladders

Players improvise a scene where their characters’ status (power, confidence, social standing) changes dynamically throughout the scene, often moving up and down an invisible “ladder” in response to offers from other players.

Status Switch

Similar to “Status Transfer,” but it might be a more immediate or explicit switch in status during a scene, where characters trade roles of high and low status in response to a sudden event or command.

Status Transfer

Two players are assigned different statuses (high and low) at the start of a scene. At some point, they must find a narrative mechanism to switch their statuses, so the low-status character becomes high-status and vice versa.

Still Heads

Players engage in a scene where their bodies are allowed to move, but their heads must remain perfectly still and facing forward, as if they are fixed. The humor comes from the contrast between the dynamic body language and the static facial expressions.

Stop, Walk

The group follows a series of instructions to warm up listening and group dynamic.

Stop, Shuffle, Walk, Drop

Everyone walks around the room. The teacher calls out “stop” (they stop), “drop” (they touch the floor), “walk” (they walk), or “shuffle” (they shuffle). Then the teacher stops calling, and the group shouts out the actions. Finally, there are no shout-outs, and the group magically performs the same action, adjusting by sensing what the group wants.

Story Conductor

A team of five improvisers stands in an arc, with one “Story Conductor” in front. The conductor points to an improviser to start telling the story, and then points to another to take over. This trains improvisers to listen, “yes and,” and play as a team.

Story Hot Spot

Players are in a “hot spot” where they must rapidly generate and contribute to a collaborative story. The focus shifts quickly from one player to another, requiring immediate contributions to keep the narrative moving without hesitation.

Story, Story Die

Players form a line on stage. An MC obtains a story title and genre from the audience. The MC points to a player to start telling the story, and can switch to another player at any point. Players must continue the story flawlessly. If a player hesitates, makes a grammatical error, or speaks illogically, the audience yells “Die!” and that player is eliminated. The last player remaining finishes the story.

Story Swap

One person tells an improvised story about a holiday. When the teacher claps and shouts “swap,” the other person takes over the story exactly where it left off, and they continue swapping throughout. This trains improvisers to listen intently, “yes and,” and avoid planning too far ahead.

Story Spine

This is a structural framework for storytelling. Players use specific declarative sentences as a guide (e.g., “Once upon a time there was…”, “Every day…”, “But one day…”, “Because of that…”, “Because of that…”, “Until finally…”) to build a coherent narrative.

Story To A Chair

A player tells a story directly to an imaginary or real chair, imbuing the chair with the role of a listener, a character, or even the protagonist of the story. This helps players focus their narrative and create emotional connection with an inanimate object.

Straight Story

Players perform a scene or tell a story that is intentionally kept straight and logical, avoiding overt comedic choices or absurdities. The challenge is to find truth and narrative coherence within realistic interactions.

Street Interview

A roving reporter describes passers-by, then interviews them. Players immediately play the character described.

Stretching

This typically refers to physical warm-up exercises designed to loosen up the body and prepare players for physical improvisation. It can also refer to “stretching” an idea or theme in a scene to its extreme or logical conclusion.

String of Pearls

This is a long-form improv format where a central theme, object, or character connects a series of otherwise disconnected scenes, like beads on a string of pearls. Each scene explores a different facet of the connecting element, creating a cohesive performance.

Stunt Double

When a player needs to do something difficult or unpleasant, another player jumps in as a “stunt double” to perform the action. When the action is done, the stunt double freezes the scene, and the original player continues.

Subtitles

One or more players perform a scene, while another player (or players) stands to the side and improvises subtitles or translations for their dialogue, often adding comedic interpretations or revealing inner thoughts not explicitly stated.

Substitution

Players are tagged out by others, who take over the same character. This reinforces character consistency and seamless transitions.

Suggested Genres

Commercial, Amateur Theatre, Shakespeare, Film Noir, Game show (Quiz), Reality Show (American Idol), Investigative Documentary, Nature Documentary, Horror, News story, Japanese monster movie, Pre-School puppet show, Movie Trailer, Performance Art, Soap Opera, James Bond, Star Trek, Superhero, Western.

Super Heroes

Players create a scene where they embody superheroes with improvised powers and origin stories. They might face a villain, solve a problem, or simply interact in their superhero personas.

Superhero Name Game

Similar to other name games, but players introduce themselves with a spontaneously created superhero name and an accompanying signature pose or power. Each subsequent player must remember and repeat the previous heroes’ names and poses before adding their own.

Supernova

This refers to a scene or performance that starts small and contained but rapidly expands and escalates in scale, energy, and absurdity, exploding into a grand and chaotic conclusion, much like a supernova.

Superman Jam

Players improvise a scene where one character is in distress, and another character “transforms” into a Superman-like figure to rescue them. The transformation is often physical and includes the classic pose.

Survivor

Inspired by the reality TV show, players improvise a scenario where a group of characters is stranded in a challenging environment and must work together (or against each other) to survive, facing various challenges and forming alliances.

Switch Change

Two players in a scene either switch roles or change with a backup team. This promotes flexibility and dynamic scene evolution.

Switch Gibberish

Players perform a scene in normal language. On a signal, they must switch to speaking gibberish while maintaining the scene’s emotional truth and physical reality. On another signal, they switch back to English, picking up the scene seamlessly.

Switcheroo

A game where characters or elements in a scene are suddenly and inexplicably switched or exchanged. Players must immediately justify the change and adapt to the new reality, often leading to humorous confusion.

Sybil

A Harold performed by a single performer.

Symphony

Players collaboratively create an improvised symphony using only vocalizations and body percussion. One player might act as the “conductor,” guiding the orchestra through different movements, tempos, and dynamics.

Synchro Clap

Players stand in a circle and attempt to perform a single, perfectly synchronized clap together. This seemingly simple exercise requires intense focus, listening, and subtle non-verbal communication to achieve collective timing.

Synchronized Clapping

Everyone stands in a circle. Two adjacent people turn, face each other, and clap simultaneously. One then turns to the next person, and they clap simultaneously, continuing around the circle. Clapping twice changes direction, and people can clap across the circle.

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