3/19/2019 https://www.thoughtco.com/storytelling-improv-games-2713209?

print

Home

3 Storytelling Improv Games to Improve

Actor' Skills
Improv games are a great low-stress way to build acting skills

by Wade Bradford
Updated January 28, 2018

Most theater games are improv-based. They're intended to give actors an opportunity to expand
and stretch their skills in a low-risk, no-stress, collegial situation. At the end of a session,
however, actors will have improved their ability to imagine themselves in new situations and
respond appropriately.

Some improvisational exercises focus on a performer's ability tell stories "off-the-cuff." These
activities are often stationary theater games, meaning the actors are not required to move about
very much. With this in mind, a story-telling improv game might not be as entertaining as other
more physically dynamic games but is still an excellent way to sharpen one's imagination.

Here are a few easy-to-perform story-telling improv games, each one ideal for a class activity or
a warm-up exercise at rehearsal:

Story-story

Known by many other names, "Story-story" is a circle game for all ages. Many grade school
teachers use this as an in-class activity, but it can be just as fun for adult performers.

The group of performers sits or stands in a circle. A moderator stands in the middle and provides
a setting for the story. She then points to a person in the circle and he begins telling a story. After
the first storyteller has described the beginning of the story, the moderator points to another
person. The story continues on; the new person picks up from the last word and tries to continue
the narrative. Every performer should get several turns to add to the story. Usually the moderator
suggests when the story comes to a conclusion; however, more advanced performers will be
able to conclude their story on their own.

Best/Worst

https://www.thoughtco.com/storytelling-improv-games-2713209?print 1/2
3/19/2019 https://www.thoughtco.com/storytelling-improv-games-2713209?print

In this improv activity, one person creates an instant monologue, telling a story about an
experience (either based upon real-life or based upon pure imagination). The person begins the
story in a positive way, focusing on terrific events and circumstances.

Then, someone rings a bell. Once the bell sound, the storyteller continues the story, but now
only negative things occur in the plot. Each time the bell ring, the storyteller shifts the narrative
back and forth, from the best events to the worst events. As the story progresses, the bell should
ring more quickly. (Make that storyteller work for it!)

Nouns From a Hat

There are many improv games which involve slips of papers with random words, phrases or
quotes written on them. Usually, these phrases have been invented by audience members.
"Nouns from a Hat" is one of these types of games.

Audience members (or the moderators) write nouns on a slip of paper. Proper nouns are
acceptable. In fact, the stranger the noun, the more entertaining this improv will be. Once all of
the nouns have been collected into a hat (or some other container), a scene begins between two
improv performers.

About every thirty seconds or so, as they establish their storyline, the performers will reach a
point in their dialogue when they are about to say an important noun. That's when they reach
into the hat and grab a noun. The word is then incorporated into the scene, and the results can
be wonderfully silly. For example:

BILL: I went to the unemployment office today. They offered me a job as a... (reads
noun from the hat) "penguin."

SALLY: Well, that doesn't sound too promising. Does it pay well?

BILL: Two buckets of sardines a week.

SALLY: Maybe you could work for my uncle. He owns a... (reads nouns from the hat)
"footprint."

BILL: How can you run a business with a footprint?

SALLY: It's a Sasquatch footprint. Oh yeah, it's been a tourist attraction for years.

"Nouns from a Hat" can involve more actors, as long as there are enough slips of paper. Or, in
the same manner as "Best/Worst," it can be delivered as an improvisational monologue.

https://www.thoughtco.com/storytelling-improv-games-2713209?print 2/2