Redding Improv

A list of some of our games and how to play them. 

 For more information on terms and how to be an Improv Player check out our Encyclopedia of Terms.

This is the first Improv game many people play in their high school theater class. This is a great workshop game for getting players to think quickly, move a scene in a new direction, and play nicely with others.

How to play:

•  Two actors are given starting positions (i.e. One is posed like a ballerina, the other like a football player)
• The leader calls "Action" and the players start a scene that JUSTIFIES their positions.
• The leader will then call "Freeze" and the actors will...well...freeze.
• A new actor enters the scene, tagging out and assuming the position of one of the two actors on stage.
• The new actor creates a NEW SCENE, and the process continues until all actors have played.
• Hilarity ensues.

This is the game we start out every workshop with. To play the game:

• All the players stand in a circle
• The leader picks a random topic 
• Players say something completely hilarious pertaining to the topic beginning with "the next" letter of the alphabet.

The purpose of this game is to get the player's minds in the Improv mood. Research shows that repeatedly starting a class in the same manner triggers a response that immediately gets players into the right frame of mind.

We've been doing it for 11 years...so I guess it works. 

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This is a game that is harder than it looks, because for some reason while playing this game, all players immediately forget the alphabet.

This is a game for 2 or 3 players.

• In the 2 player version, 2 players a given a topic from the audience and must act out a scene where each sentence begins with the next sequential letter from the alphabet.
• In the 3 person version, one player enters on a given letter (like, maybe ARRRR) and the scene continues. 

This is also a great way to learn Improv Basics. One of the basic concepts of improvising a skit is creating a Beginning, Middle and End to a scene.

 For new players, this is a great way to work on moving around the stage and creating a true scene. The A, B, C "Gimmick" helps create "The Funny" so players can focus on creating characters, movement, and scene progression.

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Almost everyone has had to return something to a store and deal with a difficult return policy. Customer Service is a game for 2 players with a twist.

How to play:

• One actor is returning something and the other actor is the customer service representative.
• The actor who is returning the item goes into the "sound proof booth" (which is him or her plugging his or her ears going "la la la la la la"
• The audience then chooses the item actor one is returning.
• Actor one begins the scene by returning said item, without knowing what it is. 
• The customer service representative must give subtle, yet oh-so-hilarious clues as to what the item is.

Derailment is a game for two players and a host who does his or her best to making  an annoying buzzer sound, or has an actual annoying buzzer. The game is a conversation between two people that is "derailed" by the aforementioned buzzer, taking strange new twists.

How to play:

• Two actors are given a topic to have a conversation about
• The host periodically buzzes the players.
• Whenever the buzz sounds, the player who spoke the last line must change the last line.

This is perhaps one of the most recognizable Improv games, its a twisted version of the famouls Dating Game TV Show.

How to play:

• Three players are the bachelors and/or bachelorettes
• Each player is given a quirk