THIS LIST IS INCOMPLETE AND IS CONSTANTLY GROWING.
ABC GAME (2 Players) Ask For: Open Suggestion and a letter of the alphabet.
The scene begins with the first word of Player 1's dialogue starting with the letter selected by the audience.
Player 2 starts his line with the next letter in the alphabet and so on all the way through all the letters.
The Players must build a scene within 26 starts. More than one sentence can be used during a start.
When this is done it is important that Players really punch the word that starts with the letter.
Activity is important as it allows the scene to progress independent of words. Try to wrap up the game.
It can also be played with 3 players.
Standard rule: No single word lines unless appropriate.
ALL KNOWING SPHINX (3 Players) Ask For: Any questions that need answering.
The Host gets a new question after each answer. The Three Headed Sphinx must answer the question by
sharing the dialogue one word at a time. Knowledge of basic grammar is an asset in this scene.
The three Players must be really capable of sharing the dialogue. Word wars, or driving, by one Player will wreck things quickly.
ANIMAL PEOPLE (All Players) Ask For: An animal for each Player and an Open Suggestion. Start the scene with three or four actors.
The others can enter once the scene starts. Each Player will take on the traits of their animal. The Players do not
pretend to be the given animal, but act like person would if they were that kind of animal. The animal types are used to give
the Players character and activity to embellish the scene with. The Players should be somewhat subtle with their endowment.
For example, if one is endowed with a cat personality it would be obvious to go meow, but more fun to play with your meal like a
cat plays with its prey. Variations: The type of characteristic can be varied: automobiles, kitchen appliances, emotions, movie genres,
political causes. It can become a game by giving the Players the endowments secretly and the audience must guess it, or the other Players
must guess the endowment.
CHAIN MURDER / CLUE (4 Players) Ask For: A person, place, and the weapon. The intro for this game
is really important. If the audience does not know what is going on it will just appear completely bizarre. In this scene, there will be a
series of murders committed. The murders will be committed by a particular person, in a particular place, with a particular weapon.
First, we will send Players B, C, & D out of the theatre for Ask Fors. Player A gets the three Ask Fors. The game begins with Player B
entering the scene. Player A must relay who did the killing, where it took place, and with what weapon using only GIBBERISH. When Player B
thinks he knows the three things, he kills Player A with the weapon. Then Player C enters and the game is played again. Then again with Player D.
When Player D figures it out, he must guess the three things. Tips: The Players must maintain the order of person-place-thing, or they are toast.
It is also good to have some signal that one doesn't understand what is going on. Once the game is over, the audience loves a recap of
what each player thought they had perceived. There is a 90 second time limit per actor.
CHANGING CHANNELS (4 or All Players)
Ask For: A TV style or actual show for each Player and a topic to discuss. An audience conducted game. The Players must incorporate
the topic using their TV style. The audience changes the channel by yelling "Click!". Go through the line twice (or three times if you're
on a roll). At the opportune end or if the game is petering out, begin the sign off: "And this concludes our broadcasting day."
Then sing the National Anthem. Sister game to Radio Dial. Good final game.
CHANGING EMOTIONS (3 Players) Ask For:
10 to 12 various emotions and something that the Players would observe. The three Players begin playing an open scene.
At the opportune moment, the Host rings the bell and the Players freeze. The Host calls out a different emotion which the Players must
incorporate. Treat this game like a roller coaster. Be all over the place with emotions - up and down. Start looking for the wrap up
six emotions into the game.
CONDUCTED STORY / FAIRYTALE / BED TIME STORY / AUTHORS (All Players) Ask For:
The title of a story that's never been written & any appropriate Ask For. All the Players line up on stage. The Conductor gets the
Ask Fors, then has the Players recap what they are doing. Tune them up and begin. When a Player is pointed at, they must be telling the
story in whatever style they have been given. The Conductor can either go down the line or bounce around. The Players should tell a story
that moves seamlessly from one Player to another. The Conductor should make the story flow as well as possible. When the Conductor moves
from one Player to another Player , the speaking must continue on as though there was no pause. No stuttering or repeats. Go through everyone
twice (three times if they're on a roll). Finish with a moral to the story. Tips: The key is listening. The Players that are not speaking
must be listening. They all must be ready to take over and only if they are listening will they make any sense. The Players must also be
accepting of what is happening in the story. Forcing their own agenda will show up quickly. The Conductor should not try to foul up the
Players like in Story Story Die.
CONNECT THE DOLTS (5 Players) Ask For: Open suggestion. Two Players start the scene.
The other three Players, called "Dolts", stand at the back of the stage with their ears plugged up so they can't hear the scene being played.
(Ear plugs and soft humming will do the job.) A few moments into the scene, Dolt One should turn around, say a random line, remove the ear plugs.
and join the scene. The first two Players must incorporate the line and Dolt One into their scene. The other Dolts will enter the scene as well.
After all the Dolts have en tered, they must m
ake justified exits. The game ends when a
ll the Dolts are gone and the Players wrap up. Tips: If you
are one of the Players in the scene, accept, accept, accept and
incorporate, incorporate, incorporate. Play the scene. The
suggestions provided by the Dolts are gifts. Accept them an
d use them. Don't wimp out. Nothing will anger an audience
like two players ignoring or rejecting a good offer
.
DATING GAME (4 Players) Ask For: A wei
rd quirk for the three Bachelors. The Bachelorette lea
ves the room for Ask Fors. Each Bachelor is given some weir
d personality quirk that can either be physical (can't sit
down, lost the use of his arms), emotional (hates everyth
ing, loves animals with a passion), or surreal (slowly inf
lating). The game is played like The Dating Game. The Ho
st plays Jim Lange and exchanges witty banter with the Bache
lorette. The Bachelorette then asks 2 or 3 questions from ea
ch Bachelor. At the end of the game, the Bachelorette weeds ou
t the two losers, guessing their quirks as the reason why sh
e didn't pick them. Then she picks the winning Bachelor, gu
essing his quirk as the reason why she DID pick him.
FILL IN THE BLANKS (2 Players) Ask For: Get phrases wri
tten on slips of paper from the audience before the show or
during intermission and an Open Suggestion. Each Player i
s given two slips of paper with written lines of dialogue on
them. They must not read them. They begin their scene and
as it progresses, they open themselves up to read the slips
out loud, then explain why they said what they said. V
ariations:
FORTUNE COOKIE FILL IN THE BLANKS 2 P
layers) Ask For: Open Suggestion. Fortune cookie fortun
es are used instead of phrases from the audience. Add "In b
ed" at the end of each fortune for additional mirth.
FILM AND THEATRE STYLES (2 Players) Ask For: A list of f
ilm and theatre styles and an Open Suggestion. The Players
begin playing an open scene. At the opportune moment, the H
ost rings the bell and the Players freeze. The Host calls o
ut a different film or theatre style and the Players must pe
rform their scene in that genre. Start looking for the wrap
up six changes into the game.
FILM DUBBING (4 Play
ers) Ask For: The fictional name of a film. In this sc
ene there will be two Players offstage and two Players on-st
age. Player A's (on-stage) voice will be supplied by Player
B (offstage) and Player C's (on-stage) voice will be supplie
d by Player D (offstage). The Players supplying the voice
s must make distinctly different voices. It is also importan
t that the Players that are being dubbed move their mouths l
ike they are speaking when the dubbers are talking. It is im
portant to have an activity and to justify what is being sa
id through activity.
FOREIGN FILM (4 Players) Ask
For: The title of a movie that never existed and the cou
ntry where it came from. In this scene there will be two
Players offstage and two Players on-stage. Player A's (off-st
age) will translate the gibberish supplied by Player B (on-s
tage) and Player C's (off-stage) voice will be supplied by P
layer D (on-stage). Players B & D speak in gibberish while P
layers A & C translated for them. This can also be done as an
opera. *Players B & D must remember to wait for the pre
vious translation before they speak.
FREEZE TAG (Al
l Players) Ask For: Open Suggestion. All the Players st
and off to the sides. Two Players will start a scene. At any
time during the scene an offstage Player can yell freeze! T
he Players must immediately freeze in position. The Player th
at yelled freeze must tag out one of the Players, assume the
exact position of the tagged out Player, and initiate a whole
new scene starting in that position. Great starter game. V
ariations:
BLIND FREEZE TAG (All Players) Ask For
: Open Suggestion or none. All the Players line up at t
he back of the stage with their backs to the audience.
MOVIE FREEZE TAG (All Players) Ask For: O
pen Suggestion or none. All the scenes played must
be from TV shows or movies.
ONE ACT FREEZE TAG
(All Players) Ask For: Open Suggestion or none. Each Player must play a single individual character
throughout the game. Eventually, the scene
takes on a "Soap Opera" quality.
FUNNY, S
EXY, SMELLY (4 Players) Ask For: A kind of
party. The Players play the party, but each Play
er secretly endows the others with one of these qua
lities. One is funny, one is sexy, and the other is
smelly. Know who is what before you start the gam
e and don't change. Play the scene straight and pol
ite. Don't reach for laughs as the action and reactio
ns will take care of that.
GUESS THE GESTURE (2 Players) Ask For: A physical gesture. The Gue
sser leaves the room for Ask Fors. The scene is OPE
N and begins when the Guesser arrives. Player Two m
ust communicate the gesture using verbal hints. All
the movements the Guesser makes MUST be justified.
The game ends when the Guesser does the gesture. Th
e audience is encouraged to say ooooooo when the Guesse
r is close. Tips to Player Two: Don't be too obvious
with your hints. Make the Guesser work for it.
G
UESS THE PHRASE (All Players) Ask For: A popular ph
rase, aphorism, or adage. The Guesser leaves the room
for Ask Fors. The Host remains on stage to help the Gues
ser. The scene itself is OPEN and set up by the Host. T
he Players must communicate the phrase to the Guesser usin
g quick entrances. DO NOT use any of the words in the phr
ase in your hints. The game ends when the Guesser says th
e phrase outloud as the wrap up. The audience is encourag
ed to say ooooooo when the Guesser is close to each word .
Tips to Host: Don't get a popular phrase, aphorism, o
r adage that is 1) too well known, or 2) too hard to guess
. Control the scene well. The game is torture and you're
the lifeline to the Guesser. Tips to Players: Work th
e game one word at a time. Don't be too obvious. Make th
e Guesser work for it.
HELPING HANDS (3 Players)
Ask For: A topic for the Expert. This game has a ta
lk show format. The Expert stands in front of the Player
Hands. The Expert wraps his arms around Player Hands behi
nd him. Player Hands then uses his own arms as the arms o
f the Expert. The Interviewer then asks the Expert questio
ns. The Expert demonstrates his expertise. The Interviewe
r also takes questions from the audience. Be physical.
JESTER / KING (All Players) Ask For: A crisis for
the King. The King is in his court. There is a crisis w
hich he is trying to avert. He is consulting with his cour
tiers (The other Players). He is also being followed AND M
OCKED by his Jester. The Jester does goofy stuff behind th
e Kings back like funny faces and silly walks, but when the
King looks at him he must act normal. If the King sees th
e Jester doing any of his goofy stuff, the King will have h
im executed. If the Jester is executed, the King selects o
ne of his courtiers to be the new Jester and the game conti
nues. The game ends when there are no more Jesters. Tip
s for Jesters: Be gutsy and brave. The object is not to w
in but to perform a great scene. You don't really get exec
uted..
LINE (2 Players) Ask For: The title
of a play which has never been written. The premise of th
e game is that the Players are performing a play. They are
replacement actors and don't know it too well. The audience
is the prompter. Whenever an actor gets stuck, he will cal
l out "Line!" and the audience must supply the actor with t
he next line.
MAGAZINE FORUM (5 or All Players)
Ask For: A special interest magazine for each Player.
The game's format is a political news show. Each Player cr
eates a character that works as the political editor fo
r their magazine. Let each Player introduce their characte
r. The Host asks the panel a question about a current poli
tical event. The Players must answer all the questions in
the style of their magazine. The Host should take question
s from the floor but had better have a few on reserve just
in case. Do three to five questions. If the game is going
good, ask for closing thoughts or predictions from the pan
elists. Then the Host should wrap up.
MOVING PEOPLE
(2 Players) Ask For: Open Suggestion but with confli
ct. The Players in this scene will be unable to move. Th
e Players can speak and will supply dialogue for the scene,
but someone else will supply their motion. Select audienc
e members to move the Players - MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE NOT
INTOXICATED. Demonstrate what they must do to move the Pl
ayers and instruct them what NOT to do to the Players: Don
't force their backs, necks, or joints; and don't allow the
m to get hurt. Assign each audient to a Player and have
them put their Player in a position. The scene begins. Th
e audient must move the Players by pushing on the body par
t they want to move. It is important for the Players to
verbalize themselves an activity to do. This will force th
e people doing the moving to move the Players . If there i
s lack of movement, comment on it, but don't be cruel. Be
careful, this game is such a gimmick that Players often for
get to set up an environment and establish a relationship.
NEW CHOICE (2 OR 3 Players) Ask For: A relati
onship, location, or Open Suggestion. The Players start
an Open Scene. Every so often, the Host will ring the bell
when he doesn't like a choice a Player has made. When thi
s happens, the Player who just said or did something must c
hange it to something different. The Host will keep ringin
g the bell until the Player makes a choice that the Host li
kes. Tips for Host: The key to this game is doing sim
ple changes from yes to no's, but also making the Players d
o long lists, and funny actions. Timing is key. Also, don
't be excessive with the bell during individual choice chan
ges. Follow the Rule of Threes, but do throw in the occasi
onal Single Ding and Multi Ding so the Player has to work f
or it. Tips for Players: Make simple and/or opposite ch
oice changes at first. Get bigger as the scene progresses.
Players should also try to be more physical. This adds to
the overall aspect of the game. Don't be a talking head.
PARTY QUIRKS (4 Players) Ask For: A weird quirk
for the three Guests. The Party Host leaves the room for
Ask Fors. Each Player is given some weird personality qui
rk by the audience that can either be physical (can't sit d
own, lost the use of his arms), emotional (hates everything
, loves animals with a passion), or surreal (slowly inflati
ng). The Party Host starts out by himself preparing for
the party. One by one each Player knocks and then enters
the party. The Players leave the party when the Party Host
guesses the quirk correctly. The scene ends when all quir
ks have been guessed. The audience is encouraged to say oo
ooooo when the Party Host is close to guessing.
PET
PEEVE SYMPHONY (All Players) Ask For: A pet peeve fo
r each Player. A Conducted game. All the Players line u
p on stage. The Conductor gets the Ask Fors, then has the
Players recap what they are doing. Tune them up and begin.
When a Player is pointed at, they must start commenting
(bitching) about their assigned pet peeve. The Conductor s
hould bounce around. The Players should build in intensity
as they go. The Conductor will start to point at two peop
le at the same time and speed up when the intensity reaches
a certain level. Then, at the opportune moment, the Condu
ctor will raise both hands over his head and everyone shoul
d let loose with high intensity bitching. Really go for it
- big crescendo. Then after a few seconds, the Conductor
will point at a single Player. That Player should scream
a tag line like, "and that's what really pisses me off
!" or another worthy line.
PROPS (4 Players) As
k For: None. In two teams of two, players must come u
p with as many creative uses as possible for an unusual ob
ject. Switch back and forth at the ring of the bell.
QUESTIONS ONLY (2 Players) Ask For: None. Two
Players act out a scene speaking only in questions. Other
way is a one-on-one rapid-fire team competition: Divide u
p the group into teams. Two players start the scene. If
a Player makes a mistake, they are buzzed out and replaced
with another Player. The team with a player left wins. Standard rule: No single word lines unless appropriate.
RETURN DESK (3 Players) Ask For: A common ev
eryday object for each Player to return to a major departm
ent store. Two Players leave the room for the Ask For.
The Players then come in carrying their item but they have
no clue what it could be. They must guess what the item
is by complaining about it. The Return Desk Clerk helps th
em out by asking questions. When the first Customer guesse
s what his object is, he is told what the other Customer is
returning and instantly becomes the Clerk's Manager. He h
elps the Clerk with the Second Customer. This game works
best if the Customers make assumptions about their object
rather than trying '20 questions' style guessing. Do a dec
ent wrap-up too. Don't just blurt out your guess. The a
udience is encouraged to say ooooooo when the Customers are
close to guessing.
SIT, STAND, LIE DOWN (3 Playe
rs) Ask For: Something the Players would be planning. At no time can the Players occupy the same position on the
stage simultaneously. One Player must be lying down, anot
her Player must be standing, and the third should be sitti
ng. If two Players are occupying the same position, let t
hem know about it. Complete chaos is the best descripti
on of this game. All three Players should get into the sc
ene rather quickly. This helps work the gimmick, and make
s things the most challenging for the Players . Try to cr
eate a story. Try to justify why you have changed positio
n. Try not to hurt yourself. Change position often, but
justify the change. If you can telegraph the move to the
other Players the whole scene will benefit. Physical but
funnier than hell.
SLIDE SHOW LECTURE (All Playe
rs) Ask For: A geographical location, a strange vacation
spot, or a big event. The Players stand with their bac
ks to the audience. The Host come to center stage. He in
troduces himself to the audience in character. He briefly
and with little detail, describes the subject of the A
sk For. He then offers to show slides of his Ask For. He
moves to the side and rings the bell. At this point the P
layers jump into an odd position and freeze. The Host des
cribes what is happening in the slide. When he is finishe
d, he rings the bell again and the Players go into differen
t positions. Do this several times and maintain a storylin
e. Tips: Slide Show will be stronger if the Host identi
fies a lead character, and resolves each slide around the l
ead character. Don't be afraid to endow Players in the sli
de as inanimate objects like trees or lamps. The Players t
hat make up the slides should keep a few things in mind. E
veryone does not need to be in every slide. If the story i
s going in a certain direction try to continue with the st
ory. Save the crazy positions for later in the scene, or w
hen the scene is petering out. The Players need to suppor
t the Host, and listen to him. Eventually a story will be
told and the slide show will end. Gimmicks: The Play
ers on stage can get into stranger and stranger positions.
All the Players can run off stage leaving a blank stage.
The Players can keep the same position slide after slide. The Host can comment that a slide is in backwards or upside down, or out of focus requiring the Players to accommodate the slide.
SOUND EFFECTS (2 Players) Ask For: An every day task or an occupation. One Player mimes an activity while the other provides sound effects for it.
SOUNDS GOOD TO ME (2 Players) Ask For: An occupation or Open Suggestion. Player One can only use the following lines: "Yes", "Sounds good to me", "I'll go along with that", and "O.K., great". A good format to follow is to have Player Two as the boss and Player One as his apprentice. Player Two should give Player One all sorts of odd tasks and directions which he must do. Be very physical but keep on talking.
SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY (3 players) Ask For: Something that would change a small town forever. The Players stand in a line, facing the audience, with their heads down. One at a time, but in no order, they step out to give monologues about themselves in character. The first is usually just an introduction. These monologues tell three different stories but they should begin to interweave to finally tell a common story at the end. The monologues don't need to be long or even complete, a mid-sentence break allows another character to incorporate their ideas and leave the audience in suspense. The thing to caution is to be careful not to playwright, or lead the entire story, make sure to work together. Be careful not to get to caught up in thinking of you next monologue because this distracts from LISTENING to the others, and if you miss info, like you were shot, you could destroy the narrative (this is major Blocking). Allow others to play, if you say that the mayor has passed a law against milk in town, let the mayor decide why (lactose intolerant or mother was killed by a cow, whatever). These unrelated characters and scenes must be combined and justified into one story at the end of the game. Tips: Concentrate on the skill of monologues and developing a good character. Learn not to ramble on, step back when you are stuck and allow someone else to continue. Make sure that when you start speaking the audience knows where you are and who you are. The biggest skill is listening and working together, these will be very useful later when all scenes must be watched, to be able to use them later. The game can be done in very different time lengths as needed.
STORY STORY DIE (All Players) Ask For: The title of a story that's never been written. Have the Players line up in a semi-circle on stage. The Director stands at the lip of the stage, back to the audience. In this game all the Players on stage will be telling a story. Each Player is responsible for the story while the Director is pointing at them. When the director switches from one Player to another, the other Player must pick up the story without stuttering, repeating words, or making grammatical errors. If any of the Players make such an error, the audience should yell "DIE!!" At this point, all the surviving Players step back as the doomed Player acts out some sort of elaborate death. Also, the Player must stay in his death position until the end of the game. When the death is completed, resume playing the game. The fewer Players left, the faster the conducting should go. The game ends when there is only one Player left alive. This is a good game to finish the show with.
SUPERHEROES (4 Players) Ask For: A "Superhero name" (i.e.: Potato Man) for Player One and a world crisis. Player One must try to avert the world crisis with the help of his "Super Friends". The other three Players enter one at a time to help. Each are assigned a superhero name by the previous Player. They must assume their Superhero identity and help avert the crisis by using their "super power". The Players should exit in reverse order.
