Comedy Improv Games: Gatherings May Be Smaller but That Doesn’t Mean They Have to Be Less Fun!
By Hana St. Gean
The holidays bring people together, and the main events are usually special meals or gift exchanges. What about after the meal when the turkey tryptophan food coma sets in and the phones come out? While backyard football is fun for the ones who are still awake, it may not be something your great-aunt Sandy can do. There is a free way to wake up your guests and bring everyone together: Comedy Improv Games.
Comedy improv games are fun, interactive games for all ages and personalities. Your family comedians will love it, of course, but so will the shy folks too. Think: charades. There are many games out there, and most of the games are simple, but there are some more challenging ones. I will provide a list and some guidelines for a successful family improv game experience in a little bit. Some games you can play with your family and friends are: Three-Headed Monster, Late to School (Work or Dinner), Slide Show, Rewind & Retake, Talk Show, and Translator. These games can be geared toward Christmas themes too.
Trust me; everyone can do this. Years ago, during a meal at our family cabin in Wisconsin, my mom asked, “Hey, who here has faked a book report?” Everyone except my Marine grandfather had apparently not done their homework. We were just sitting around inside the cabin, and decided it would be funny to do fake book report presentations. My grandma had a stack of those old 1974 Encyclopedias, so we picked one, like the letter P, for our material. Google wasn’t around; it was the late 80s. Each presenter waited for someone in the audience to open up an encyclopedia and point to a word. Then the presenter had to do a one to two minute book report on that word or topic. My grandma, my little brother, my mom, everyone presented, and we were laughing hysterically. As the game progressed, we did have to establish some rules, such as please stay within the time limit, avoid anything inappropriate, and be kind to the person “on stage.” We had a blast, and it started something for our family, and for me.
Before I became a mom, I was a high school English teacher. My husband and I were married for eleven years before we had kids, and during those years, I discovered comedy improv. One of my students had completed the training center at The Second City in Chicago, and one day said to me, “Hey, Mrs. St. Gean, you would love The Second City. You gotta do it.” Since then, this student went on to do professional comedy and has had roles in commercials, films, and television shows. The Second City is a training and performance center that teaches comedy improv, and its alumni include John Belushi, Bonnie Hunt, Steve Carrell, and Tina Fey. Now there are training centers in LA and Toronto, but its origins are in Chicago. I just started because I thought it would be fun, but I got a lot more than I expected. It was life-changing. I learned more there than my four years at a pretty prestigious liberal arts college. Our class decided to stick together all the way through, and two and a half years later, we got really close, laughed really hard, and learned more about interacting with other humans than we ever had in most life situations. Following this experience, I was able to start a program for kids and teens at a local theater, and loved it.
If the rules of improv were applied by diplomats and CEOs, the world might be a better place.
The key way to make a scene, situation, or game move forward is to find a point of agreement, to agree with the other player in some way. Denying someone their idea right off the bat stops the momentum in a nano-second. Kids do this all the time on the playground when they are figuring out what to play. If my son, Sam, wants to play with his friend Caleb, he has to do some give and take to make it work. If Sam wants to play football and Caleb want to play hoops, then what?
The same applies in these games. For example, player number one is in a scene and says, “Hey, let’s make some broccoli, chocolate chip pancakes.” And then the other player is thinking I don’t like broccoli in my pancakes and says, “Nope, I don’t like those.” Well, the scene bombs. But what if the second player says, “Yes, and I will decorate them with pop rocks and serve them to Aunt Edna who is not currently wearing her dentures.” Then you have the start to a scene or a game. Aunt Edna gnawing on Pop Rocks without her teeth is good stuff. Improv is like life: if we listen, find a point of agreement, and then say, “Yes...and...” then it moves forward. It has somewhere positive and fun to go.
The concept of “Yes...And…” is absolutely the most important thing you can establish if you are playing these games. Here’s what a denial looks like: Player number one: “Joe, I know your last kidney is barely hanging on, so I could help you out.” If player number two says, “No thanks, Joe.” The game will die, but I guarantee someone in the “audience” is thinking of some fun way to respond. Agreement might look like player number two saying, “Oh Joe, you’re right, I could use a new kidney. Let’s go.” So have someone in the room who is able to say keep the game going and help people not deny each other.
Improv does have a few key guidelines and tips; I will describe them at the end, after I explain the games. The first rule is basically to have fun and not think too hard. All you really need to play these games is a room with some chairs, a few pencils and paper, and people who want to have a little fun.
So, what games do we play? There are literally hundreds of games. Just search “Improv Games” or “Comedy Improv Games” and see what comes up on the internet. Here are a few games that I think would be easy and fun to play with your friends and family. A couple of the games do not require some people to even say anything or very little, so those games would be fun for some more shy people in your group (Late to School, Slideshow, Rewind / Retake). Some games require lots of physical movement or activity (Slideshow, Late to School, Rewind / Retake) and some have very little movement so would be good for someone who may need to sit (Three-Headed Monster, Talk Show, or Translator, or the Talk Show Host in Talk Show).
Fun Improv Games for Family and Friends:
You can give these a Christmas or Holiday theme too. For instance, for the Talk Show game, make it a Christmas theme or a Christmas Cooking Show. Or for Three-Headed Monster, make it a Christmas Character like Gabriel or one of the Shepherds. For Slideshow, make the trip a road trip to Grandma’s for Christmas.
Three-Headed Monster: (four players / performers) You will need four chairs, or four places to sit. Pretend this is an interview situation or a talk show. One player is a talk show host or interviewer and three other players are the Three-Headed Monster (one character with three heads). The audience could choose the character or you could have them write suggestions on paper in a basket and pull one out. In this scene, the interviewer will make conversation and ask questions to this Three-Headed Monster who plays a character, like Elf or Frosty the Snowman. The key is the Three-Headed Monster can only answer one-word-at-a-time. The three need to sit right next to each other. They can take on physical traits or voice inflections that “show” the character. The three people playing this have to listen to each other and try to make it flow. This game can be really funny, and the interviewer can allow the audience to ask questions to the monster too.
Late to School / Late to Work: (four to five players and the audience) You need two to three chairs for this game. Players: One Boss. One Late Person. Two to three Workers or Students who will perform “charades” or act out the late excuse for the late person. The audience has a role in this game, too. First, send the Late Person out of the room and make sure he or she can’t hear your group decide on the reason for lateness. Second, decide as a group on a reason for his or her lateness and make sure it’s not just one reason. The more physical you make it, the better. Like Nancy spilled her coffee on the neighbors chihuahua, the dog ran off with her keys, and dropped them into the manhole where she had to retrieve them. Third, as soon as you have your excuse, set up the room so the two to three Employees or Students are behind the Boss or Teacher. The Boss will have his or her back to the employees who will be charading or acting out the late excuse for the Late Person to guess. The Boss needs to seem mad, but also affirm if the Late Person gets something right. If the Late Person gets something right, the audience can clap, too. The Employees will act out a little at a time, and when the Boss turns around, pretend like they are being responsible and so on. When the Late Person guesses the whole thing, the audience should go wild. This is a really fun game, and feel free to make it work for your group too.
Slide Show: (three to six players) This one depends on the size of your group. You can add more people to the slide show if more people want to jump in. Have two to four slide show players and two narrators. Ask the audience for a suggestion for a vacation or trip. They may say, Colorado. Basically, the slide-show players will freeze in physical positions for about four or five “slides” and the two narrators will need to narrate the picture or slide. Like, “Oh Bob, remember when the black bear attacked little Trudy.” And Bob may reply, “Yes, and all you had was one bandaid on the floor of the car…” When the narrators are done with that slide (keep it short), they say “Click” and the players have to switch to new positions. Then the narrators describe this new trip adventure. “Oh Nancy, this is when we went to the state fair…” etc. A great one for kids and people who may be scared by speaking games.
Rewind / Retake: (three to five players and the audience) Have a Moderator for this game who can say “Retake” when the players finish their scene. First, ask the audience for a location. Then one-at-a-time, the three to four players should each walk out and do one thing and say one quick line in that place. If the location is a grocery store, each person may do one thing and say one thing in the store. KEEP it SIMPLE. For instance, the first person may pretend to push a cart and say, “Oh look, Captain Crunch.” Then the second person may walk by with a broom and say, “Watch out for the broken pickle jar.” And so on. When all the people have gone, the Moderator says, “Rewind” and all the players go off to do it again. Then the Moderator asks the audience for a new genre, such as: a musical, a western, a Disney princess film, a Marvel film, an opera, Shakespeare, etc. When the Moderator says, “RETAKE” the players do the same line and same action but now in that new genre. This is one of my favorite games!
Translator: (three to four players and the audience) Two players could choose to write letters or speak in gibberish to each other and the translator or translators have to put it into English for the audience to create a scene. Keep it short, but use as much physicality too to make this fun.
Talk Show: (four players and the audience) The audience needs to write the names of characters on pieces of paper and put them into a basket, like Santa, Mickey Mouse, Moana, or whatever. The Talk Show Host will invite three players or characters onto the show. The host could have them come all at once or have them join a little at a time. The players need to draw a character out of the basket. The host asks them questions and makes conversation to try to figure out who they are. This allows the players to really act out their character. If the host is on the right track, the audience can clap to help them out.
There are so many more games out there, and feel free to play these games in a way that works for your crew. The beautiful thing about doing this is it is free, and may give you many fun memories, as long as your crazy uncle doesn’t get into too much of the spiked eggnog.
Key Guidelines for a Successful Improv Game Experience:
Have a Moderator or Two Moderators: You need to have someone to just keep things on track and rolling along. The young kids in the room can get squirrely, so it may be helpful to have someone who can keep the guidelines and move from one game to the next. Setting time limits is helpful too.
Listen: Playing these games is a lot more fun when it’s a team atmosphere. If people are listening to each other, they will pick up on all the little gems people will drop. If someone is in his or her head too much, they might miss some verbal gift another player delivers. In the game Three-Headed Monster or Late Night Talk show this will show up. If one person can play off of someone else’s idea, it’s so fun to watch.
Yes...And: Find points of agreement and avoid denying other people’s ideas. If the person in your group or scene comes up with an idea you don’t understand or like, try to find some way to move it along. Let’s say they want to do a scene where you are knitting, and you don’t know anything about knitting or want to be a knitter. It’s okay, be a punk rock knitter or construction worker knitter. Think of the movie Tangled. That scene in the tavern where all the guys are singing “I Have a Dream” and the big guy likes to collect ceramic unicorns. The fun comes from things not going perfectly or being expected.
Mistakes Happen, Turn it into Fun: Kids get nervous and you don’t want tears, so it could be helpful to have older kids or adults help out and show it’s okay to blow it, make mistakes and laugh about it. It’s not a performance; it’s meant to be interactive and fun. Mistakes are where the good stuff happens. Even actors on Saturday Night Live crack their characters and actors have twenty takes before they get it right, so it’s okay to freeze and start over.
Avoid Starting with Questions: Oh man, nothing blows it more than this. It’s the equivalent of “Where would you like to go for dinner?” and everyone is like, “I don’t know, wherever you want to go.” Frustrating. You have to keep this rule intact for these to work. So avoid starting a game with: “Do you want to play tennis?” Instead, start with: “Hey, Yoda, let’s play tennis.” See, you give the other person a gift…what to do, and who they could be in the scene. You can pretend to be Darth Vader, the other person is Yoda and you are playing tennis. That’s funny.
Create a place: Use the space you are in to create an environment using invisible objects. If you are Darth Vader playing tennis with Yoda, where are you? On a ship? What object is the tennis racket? Or the ball? Maybe the ball is a small creature. If you are the host in the game show, sit like Jimmy Fallon and use a pretend mug. If you are an NFL player, stand up, act muscley, and pretend you are wearing airpods.
Keep ‘Er Movin’: If a game or scene is bombing, just yell “Scene!” or use a rainstick or a fog horn. Move on to the next game or start over. Nothing is worse than the players and the audience feeling awkward and waiting for it to end. Set this up ahead of time and it takes the worry and anxiety out of it. Laugh it off, and move on.
Enjoy!
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