Helping Hands from Improv games
Description
Scene played by 4 players, playing 2 characters. Each character consists of one player, who does the voice, holding his hands behind his back. Another player stands behind player 1, and provides the `hands`.
The story should be a give and take between voices and hands. Also known as Arm Game. . n
Variations
Have 2 players provide the arms, one each.
Character Walk
DescriptionGreat exercise to develop characters. Players mill about the room as themselves. Ask the players to find some sort of inspiration, and then they should use that to change their walk. Anything can be used as inspiration: use an emotion (happy!), an occupation (farmer!), a stereotype (Irish!), an animal (Snake!) or even an object (grandfather clock!).
Next, turn the way you are walking into a character. Explore how the character walks and - by association- figure out as much as possible about this character.
Peruvian Ball Game
Description
Everyone starts milling about the room, miming a particular kind of ball. It can be light or heavy, have a texture, whatever, as long as it is particular. At the trainer`s sign, everyone passes their ball to someone else. This is done a couple of times, after which everyone tries to find back his or her ball.
Reverse Chair Dance
Description
You will need music for this exercise, and a bunch of chairs.
Start by placing chairs in a circle, one chair less than the number of players. Play music, and have the players dance around the chairs. When the music stops, everyone should find a chair to sit on. The player that doesn`t find a chair needs to find some other way to get his/her feet off the ground.
Remove a chair and repeat. In the end, all players will have to find a way to not to touch the ground, by climbing and clinging on to each other. Make sure you got sturdy chairs; we`ve known chairs to collapse under the weight of 10 players ...
It`s important not to side coach - the group needs to figure out themselves how to solve the problem.
SloMo Samurai
Description
Tell the players they are Samurai, and their right forearm is a poisoned sword. Then have them do a slow motion sword fight.
The only way to fend off a `sword` is by blocking it with your right arm. If another player`s sword touches your body on any other part than your right forearm, you die a gruesome death (also in slow motion).
.Translation for the Deaf
Description
We need 3 players for this game. One will be an expert on a topic provided by the audience; another will be the interviewer. The third will provide simultaneous translation for the hearing impaired, using `sign language`.
Notes
This works best if the interview itself does not go too fast, so the translator has plenty of time to translate. Also helpful are returning keywords that the translator can always translate the same way.
A gimmick is to translate everything literally, even `dummy` words, like `oh`, `great`, `hm hm`.
Yes LetsDescription
Excellent warm-up, and great introduction to Accepting .
Pick a group activity, like throwing a party or organizing a picnic. One player starts, saying "Let`s ..." filling in what she wants to do. Then she starts actually doing what she said she wanted to do. A second player jumps in, saying "Let`s ..." do something else, to advance the group activity. Both players say "Yes, let`s do that" and start doing whatever suggested. Third player jumps in, suggests what to do, and again all players loudly agree to do it, and actually do it. Continue till everyone has suggested something.
Yee-ha! From -We love drama
The group should stand in a circle facing inwards and someone starts passing a “yee-ha!” around the circle – they should turn slightly, raise their inside leg, slap their thigh and shout “yee-ha!” like an overexcited cowboy. The next person does the same and so on until the “yee-ha!” has passed the whole way around the circle.
Once everyone is happy with “yee-ha!”ing, introduce the rest of the elements (either all at once or one at a time, depending on the ability of the group). Passing the “yee-ha!” is main point of the game – the other elements just modify how it is done:
“Hoe-down” – bend your knees and with your thumbs, pull out some imaginary braces/suspenders from your chest. This reverses the direction of the “yee-ha!”.
“Clickey-click” (or “bang bang”) – shoot the “yee-ha!” across the circle with finger guns. The recipient can then send the “yee-ha!” in which ever way they choose. (You can not “hoe-down” or “hay barn” a “clickety click”.)
“Hay barn” – hold your hands above your head to make a sloped roof, which causes the turn to skip a person.
Once everyone is comfortable with the actions, start eliminating people who get it wrong (either doing the wrong action/noise or going when they’re not supposed to) or people who hesitate for too long. Speed up the tempo every so often to make it harder and sillier.
Length: 5-10 minutes – depending on the size of the group and whether or not you play until there is just one person left
Group size: Any size from about six people upwards
Funny you should say that from We love drama
Funny you should say that is a fun verbal warm-up for drama students, which needs quick thinking, confidence and clear projection.
The group sits in a circle so that everyone can see everyone else. One person (possibly the tutor) starts telling an invented story about something that supposed happened to them recently – stress that it should be fictional – it makes it a lot easier! – but it is often easier for other people to latch on if it’s grounded in reality. A second person picks up on a word from the first person’s story and cuts in, saying “Funny you should say that…” and taking the story off on a tangent. Another person then cuts in on them and so on.
For example:
Person 1: I had to take my dog for a walk the other day and I decided that it’d be nice to go for a walk in the park -
Person 2: Funny you should say that, I was parking my car yesterday and crashed into a lamppost. Now the boot won’t open -
Person 3: Funny you should say that, I bought some new boots the other day but they were too small and they got jammed on my feet -
Person 4: Funny you should say that, have you tried the new strawberry and vanilla jam from Countdown. It’s lovely on toast -
etc.
It is supposed to be fast and nonsensical – no one should be left talking for more than a couple of sentences maximum and the game must be allowed to continue rather than being “blocked”. Some people struggle with the idea of changing the story/going off at a tangent on each iteration and they’re likely to be the ones that block it – try to discourage that!
Keep the game going until everyone has had a turn or until ideas begin to run out. Have a few keyword-heavy starting lines ready in case you need to restart the sequence.
Group size: from around four people to around 25 – although keep in mind that shyer people will hide in big groups and not take part and big groups filled with confident people will be highly contested (but that’s another improv skill for them to learn).Length 5 minutes
Ice Cream -In pairs. One person makes an icecream in a cone, while describing it to their partner. They then give it to their partner to eat. Partner describes the taste, feelings etc. Swap roles. (Warm Up)
Present Giving - Pairs. One person wraps a present for the other. Partner opens it. It is exactly what they wanted. (Warm up)
To end a drama activity click fingers to dismiss it
Prepared to Play -Use activities that encourage group to imagine and to work safely together and support each other
Lead on a journey - In pairs. One person with eyes shut. Other leads them on a journey that they narrate on the way and get the blind person safely through obstacles, real and imaginary. Have to trust your partner. On course I was taken on a journey to meet Dr Who. I took my partner through Candyland. some people told a story such as " Going on a Bear Hunt" (Building Trust)
Trading Game - A collaborative activity. Use it to share information, gather information, express ideas/opinions/ introduce a theme. Each person shares with another person their response to teacher's question. Before moving to the next person, decide whether to keep their original statement or take on the other person's idea. Random grouping in pairs in a clear space. (Sharing ideas)
The Doughnut- Use for sharing ideas. Two circles. People in inside circle facing out. Outside circle facing in. Share with person opposite then when told to move the outside circle moves to next person in inner circle on their right. (Sharing)
Melting Candles (a name game) In a circle. Person who starts makes eye contact with another person in the group and says their name. Person being looked at says other person's name. Maintaining eye contact they walk into the circle, go back to back, then melt to the floor, then go into partner's space.Modify - when in middle, slap hands high four times; do-se-do around each other; perform some action suggested by the group or idea person who is called comes up with..
Human knots In a circle, link hands with different people opposite you. Once everyone is linked, try to untangle without letting go of hands.
Park Bench Put four chairs together as a park bench. One person sits on bench, then another person comes along and starts a conversation. Other people come and sit down and first person leaves. Can use accents, funny voices. Person leaving has to give a reason as to why they have to go.
Bibbity Bibbity Bob
1. The entire class stands in a circle and the teacher stands in the middle of the circle.2. LEVEL 1: The teacher points at someone in the circle and says “bippity bippity bop” as fast as she can. The person being pointed at must say “bop” before she gets to the end of her phrase. If the teacher points to a student and only says “bop”, then the student must stay quiet. The goal of the teacher is it get the students to not say “bop” fast enough in the first case scenario, and to say “bop” in the second.
3. LEVEL 2: After this level is well understood by the whole group, it is time to add another dimension. If the teacher points to a student and says “haunted house”, the student must crouch down and in a ghoulish voice say “Come in! Come in!”. The two students to his left and right must use both their arms to make the roof of a house over the crouched student.
4. LEVEL 3: If the teacher points to a student and says “Hawaii”, the student being pointed at would have todo the hula while the students on the left and right would put their arms up like palm trees.
Laser Beams
In pairs, children maintain eye contact, to create laser beams. An object is placed in the middle of the floor. A person, who has been waiting outside the room, comes in and has to work out how to get through the laser beams to get the object. If a beam is crossed the pair says "buzz". Three buzzes and you are out.
Zombies
Children walk around the room with their eyes closed. Arms crossed. Teacher taps one to become a zombie. Zombie makes a noise to warn the others and walks with their arms stretched out in front of them. They try to squeeze another child on the shoulder then that person becomes a zombie and makes a zombie noise. If two zombies squeeze each other they become human and sigh as they change back.
Alphabet conversations
Each sentence starts with a new letter. Set a location
eg 1st person: Allan rode his bike to the beach.
2nd person: Before he got there he stopped at the shop.
3rd person: Carrying his supplies carefully he carried on biking to the beach. etc etc.
Blindfold Crossing a trust activity
In two lines and pairs facing each other. One line blindfolded, with hands up as bumpers. Partner in other line calls their partner to them. Start 3m apart and then make the gap wider and wider. Swap roles.
No comments:
Post a Comment