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Theater Guide \
Improvisational Acting
Sporting Games for Improvisational Theater
The following games are original creations and any similarities to copyrighted material is coincidental.
Please feel free to use in performance this information provided credit to this site is provided.
Identical Twins
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two teams
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4 players
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Clock
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Identical twins requires two people from each team. One player from each team is a “twin”. Team A first does a thirty second scene. Team B must then do another unique thirty second scene. The “twin” must use the same lines of dialogue from Team A's identical twin, but his partner must use different lines.
The game is then repeated, but with Team B going first. Judges or referee determine a winner.
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Arf, Quack, Moo
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one team
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4 or more players
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Clock
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One player begins by leaving the room. The remaining players then get from the audience three animals. The first player is retrieved. The other players then perform a timed scene as their animal, however, they are not allowed to use the commonly associated sound. For example, a dog cannot bark. At the end of the time, the first player must identify the animals based on the scene. |
Politician
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one team
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2 players
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Clock, prepared topics
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We all know politicians are run by the people behind them, or at least they are in this game. Player One is assigned a random topic. He is then to act out his topic, speaking only in gibberish. Player Two must deliver a speech on the random topic without being told what it is, and knowing only what Player One acts out.
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Time Zones
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one team
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4 or more players
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Clock, bell
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Player One, Two, and Three are each assigned a time zone and must
take an appropriate place on stage. Player Four begins in time
zone one. With an audience suggestion, Player One and Four begin a
scene. At the sound of the bell, Player One moves to the next time
zone. Using the last noun or verb from the first scene, Player Two and Player
One begin a new unique scene. At the sound of the bell, Player One moves to the third player, and repeats the process. To end the game, Player One travels in reverse order through the time zones.
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You Only Live Once
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two teams
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4 or more players
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bell, clock
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Each team selects an equal number of players to participate. A single topic is given to the players. All the actors on stage are delivering a single monologue on the topic, one word at a time. Players stand in a line alternating teams. Each player is allowed one word per turn. If an actor speaks more than one word, or offers a word that does not make sense, the bell is wrung and that player steps out of line. The game is finished when the time runs out, or when one player remains. The winning team is the one left standing.
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Lovely Rita
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two teams
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2 or more players
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Audience member, clock
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An audience member is selected at random. Each player—at least one from each team, are about to get parking tickets from “Lovely, Rita”, the audience member. The responsibility of the audience member is simply to give each player a one word topic—such as “Lizard”—and the player must give his best answer as to why he should NOT get a parking ticket. Rita then decides at the end of the game which ONE player gets out of their parking tickets, awarding that team points. |