It was our way of reminding ourselves right before going on stage what the two most important factors were in having a great show: having fun, and helping each other out.

Having fun should be pretty obvious (if it’s not I’ll write more on it later!), so for now I want to focus on the second part, “making each other look good.”

An improv comedy show can be a nerve wracking affair. You don’t know what the audience is going to be like or say, you don’t know what your fellow performers will do or say, and you don’t even know what you will say! It is very easy to get stressed out or focus overly hard on yourself.

The best improv happens when people put aside those nerves and simply focus on helping each other. If you make an offer, I am going to accept and build on it. If you are taking the scene somewhere, I am going to support and go with you. If you are struggling, I will help you out and pick up the slack.

This doesn’t mean you never get to lead or make jokes or get laughs. With experience, you are able to do all this while supporting the other people on stage. Also, when everyone in the group adopts this mind set, then everyone sets everyone else up. That is a beautiful thing…

Could you imagine what things would be like if you and everyone around you (at work, at home, at your volunteer association, etc) adopted this mentality? If one everyone’s primary goals was to have fun and make each other look good? Would that make things more fun, more productive, and more successful? I would think so!

Give this a try. Go about the world seeing what you can do to have and make others look good. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results you see.

Purpose

To practice communicating, listening, and building off other people’s ideas.

Summary

In this game you will tell a story with partners, each contributing one sentence at a time.

How to Play

In this game you and your partners (anywhere from one to twenty), will tell a story together. You will each contribute one sentence at a time. The first person will say the first sentence in the story—whatever they want. The next person in line will say the next line in the story, and on down the line. Each person may only speak one sentence.

Improv Tips and Things to Remember

In this game you have to listen to the person before you so that you know where the story is at. In this exercise, when you say your sentence, you must build off something the person before you had said. You may find yourself thinking ahead so that when the sentence comes to you, you ignore the person before you and move the story on where you want it to go. The best conversations are when people build the conversation together—this is how this story games works too, when you are building it together with your partners.

This is also an exercise in communication. You need to speak clearly in terms of volume and tone so that the next person hears you, otherwise they won’t be able to build off your idea. You also need to be able to convey whatever you want to happen with the story in one sentence. Sometimes without the ability to speak a full paragraph or babble on, you need to really crystallize your idea in one sentence. This is really another exercise in gathering your thoughts and speaking clearly and concisely.

Improv Lessons

How does this exercise feel to play? Did you find yourself really building off the person before you or did you find yourself thinking ahead to where you wanted the story to go? You could be introducing new elements that have nothing to do with the story so far. Were you communicating your ideas clearly? In this exercise you have to communicate your ideas clearly and quickly. You have to listen to what the person before you says and quickly think of what you want to add to the story and concisely say it in one sentence. Doing this exercise is really a nice way of practicing communication, creativity, and the ability to work with other people.

Once in a rare while, two performers will have a problem that manifests mid-scene. This is bad, because in order to do a successful improv scene, the performers really need to work together and support each other. When they breakdown mid-scene during a live performance, it’s not a pretty thing to see. To an audience member, it might not be immediately obvious what exactly is happening. They just might feel that something is wrong.

What often happens is that in the middle of a scene, one performer does some “bad” improv. This annoys the other performer, so they respond with some bad improv of their own. This solves nothing and only serves to escalate the problem. The scene continues with the two people not working together, not happy, and not doing anything good at all. At this point there is nothing left to do but end the scene as quickly as possible.

Even though this does happen, it’s really kind of a stupid problem. This is improv comedy we’re talking about! There’s nothing really at stake other than a good show.

And yet people often let their egos get in the way of their success. Sure, the first performer did something wrong. But then the second performer, out of annoyance, ego, or a desire to “punish,” responded in a poor way. And it is this second performer I want you to think about…

How many times does someone do something wrong to you, and you feel justified, if not compelled, to respond in kind? This doesn’t work in improv, and it doesn’t work away from improv. All you get when you fight fire with fire is a much bigger fire that hurts everyone.

There is a time, place, and method to dealing with problems. That time is occasionally right now, the place is rarely “right here in front of customers or observers,” and the method is pretty much never to respond with the same problematic behavior. Instead, take the person aside and address the issue calmly and rationally. If they did something “bad,” let them know without emotion or anger. Try to fix the problem, not punish the person.

Do this, and your life will be much easier and more successful.

1) Use Humor You Find Funny

This one seems obvious, but in your quest to add humor you may try to think of lines that your audience will laugh at. While it is important to consider the audience, you must first start with things you think are funny. If you try to tell a joke or tell a story that you don’t think is all that great but you think the audience will like, chances are it will bomb. Find the intersection between what you find funny and what your audience will find funny.

2) Use Humor You Would “Offstage”

This point builds off of point #1. If you are thinking about telling a story (funny or not, quite frankly), think about whether you would ever tell that story in that way to your friends or family when you are just hanging out. If the answer is yes, and you think your audience will like it, then go with it. If not, let it go, no matter how much you think the audience may enjoy it.

3) Watch Funny Movies and TV

It’s very hard to be funny if you don’t feel funny. Exercise your funny bone by watching TV shows and movies that make you laugh. Not only will you be in a more playful and fun state, but you will learn a tremendous amount about comedy structure and timing, even if accidentally.

4) Ask “Humor Questions”

The one thing that separates comedians from the rest of the “normal world” is that comedians process the world by constantly asking themselves, “what’s funny about this?” It may be so ingrained that they don’t realize it, but that’s what they do. Good, bad, happy, sad, whatever; their first response to everything is “what’s funny about this?” Start asking that question a lot. Not only will you start finding more humor you can use, but you will also be training yourself to be a more naturally funny person (and yes, that is possible!)

5) Pause

You can have the best material in the world, but with bad timing it still won’t get a laugh. Comedic timing is an art that can take years to master. To start, just remember to pause at the moments when you expect the audience to laugh. It doesn’t need to be too long a pause, but give enough time for the audience to catch up and laugh. What if the audience doesn’t laugh? Well, that leads us to…

6) Don’t Care If You Get a Laugh

Perhaps the hardest tip of all. Watching a speaker or comedian not get laughs is uncomfortable. Watching a speaker or comedian be flustered or bothered by not getting laughs is deadly. You are not a comedian, so if you don’t get a laugh, that’s ok. Just keep going as if everything is a-ok. Chances are, if you don’t get flustered the audience won’t even notice. The best way to do this is to tell your jokes in the context of stories. That way if you don’t get a laugh you just keep telling your story.

7) Commit 100%

Humor takes commitment. If you are uncertain about a joke and don’t tell it with full belief that the audience will laugh, the joke will fall flat. (this is why points 1 & 2 are so important). Some speakers have the self-delusion, “if I act like I don’t think this is a great joke and people don’t laugh, then I won’t look as bad.” That never works. Tell your stories and jokes with 100% confidence, and you are much more likely to succeed.

Use these seven tips and watch as your speeches and presentations quickly get bigger and bigger laughs!

Purpose

The purpose of this game is to practice reacting to changing circumstances quickly and powerfully.

Summary

In this game you will tell a story but periodically you will have to read a piece of paper that will have a random line on it. You will have to immediately incorporate that line into your story.

How to Play

Have a partner or friend write sentences on a variety of index cards. They can be quotes, random sentences, or anything at all. You want to get about ten. They can do this at any point, so you can get these ahead of time before you are practicing your improvisation. Don’t read the cards ahead of time! You should have no idea what’s on the cards.

Begin telling a story, starting out with, “Once upon a time,” and just start telling the story. Introduce a character; give them something to do, and then introduce some complication. For example, “Once upon a time there was a boy named John who needed to get to the grocery store to buy some milk, on his way there he had a flat tire.” Just start with something very simple.

At the end of the sentence, take one of the cards, read it out loud as if that is the next sentence in the story that you are telling. So, if it is, “John had a flat tire,” and you pull up a card and it says, “The rabid goat attacked the capitol.” This would have to be the next line in the story, so you would have John going to the store to get milk and all of a sudden the goat attacks the capitol. Your job is to then weave that element into your story. Now you have to lead your story to say John has to get milk but also deal with a rabid goat.

After a couple sentences you have to pull up a new card, read another one, and take the story in a new direction. This game continues until all the cards are done or until you reach a natural ending to your story.

Improv Tips and Things to Remember

Remember when you pull up a card read it as the exact next thing. Blurt it out, don’t read it then think about how you are going to do it then say it out loud. The goal is to incorporate these ideas, so if you read something that is totally random, don’t try dismiss it, just get back to your original story. The goal is to let these obstacles and changes move your story into a new direction. Have fun with this because it will be a crazy game and if you take it too seriously you will never make it…

Improv Lessons

This game can be considered a great confidence exercise because it is the manner in which you say or read your statements that is going to make all the difference. When you flip over a card and read it, read it with confidence as if you intended to say that as your next line. Then when you make your justifications, which in many cases will be a stretch or just crazy, say them out loud with confidence. Have an observer watch this exercise and ask them to tell you how they felt with the confidence level of each change you were given.

Building off all the creativity in early games, as soon as you read the card, continue telling your story and see how your creativity ties those elements in because that is where the fun happens. If you pause and try to think about how you will tie it together it will never work.

Try this game a few times, and really develop that ability to be confident and flow with change. Some of your stories will end up being really interesting as a result of using the unexpected instead of running away from it.

Here’s an example along with some more instruction:

(see more videos)

Improv comedy is an art form that is wrought with the potential for failure. Every time you take the stage, you have no idea what to expect. You don’t know what kind of suggestions the audience will give you. You don’t know what your partners are going to do or say next. Heck, if you’re doing it right, you don’t know what you are going to do or say next.

With all that uncertainty, it is easy to get stressed out and get overwhelmed by the fear of failure. Novice improvisers often let this fear get the better of them. Even experienced improvisers sometimes spend too much time being afraid of failure.

In my experience, the best improvisers are those who realize that every time they take the stage they might mess up (maybe even mess up big) but then let that fear go. They’re willing to take risks and do their best, and if they fail they simply get up, brush themselves off, and try again.

When you accept the very real possibility of failure, you release yourself from the chains that fear puts on you. Ironically, once you let go of that fear, you are able to perform much more naturally and relaxed, and your chances of success actually go up.

The same principle applies off-stage. If you are speaking, you need to let go of the fear of failure before you take the stage. If you are about to go on an important sales call, remind yourself that if it doesn’t work out it’s not the end of the world and you’ll move on. Whatever is making you nervous, simply tell yourself, “I’m going to do my best, and if I mess up I’ll figure it out and move on.”

This is not to say that failure is ok. Failure can have real consequences – financial, physical, relationship, etc. However, once you are committed to a course of action, worrying about failure will accomplish nothing other than make you more likely to fail.

There’s an old saying, “what we resist, persists.” Once you accept what you are resisting, it loses its hold over you and washes away. Whether you are about to do an improv performance, give a speech, go on a sales call, or have a difficult conversation, accept the possibility you might mess up, let it go, and then go out and do your best.

This idea of having a clearly defined point to your speech is

• Incredibly simple
• All too often overlooked

It is so simple that you may find it hard to believe that people create presentations that lack a central point. If so, think back to the last time you were listening to a speaker and you thought to yourself, “what the heck is he/she talking about?”

And that is the primary problem with not having a clearly defined point to your speech: you risk losing the audience. If the audience understands what your speech is about and you make it clear how everything you are talking about supports your main point, they will follow you from start to finish. If you just throw a series of ideas at them that are seemingly disconnected, they will get confused, lost, and let their minds wander.

Think back to when you learned to write papers in elementary school. You were probably taught that your introductory paragraph should end with a thesis statement, which was just a statement of your position or argument. Apply the same approach to your presentations. Before you start creating an outline, coming up with examples, and creating PowerPoint slides, be able to clearly articulate what exactly the point of your speech is.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help you clarify what your point is:

• What do I want the audience to do differently when they leave?
• What do I want this audience to learn as a result of my presentation?
• Why was I, specifically, asked to speak?
• If I only had one-tenth the time, what would I say?

Do this, and your presentations will be much stronger and much more well received.

Purpose

The purpose of this exercise is to tap your creative flow while starting to direct it and control it.

Summary

In this exercise you will be an expert on some topic and you will then answer questions on that topic in a way that really taps your creativity.

How to Play

In this game you will be an expert and your partner will ask you questions. The first thing is that you need an area of expertise. Have your partners assign you an area of expertise, and it should be something pretty basic, but nothing you would normally find an expert on, such as Quantum Physics. Suggest anything day-to-day such as bird watching, furniture, or fruit. The game will be easier if the suggestion is less crazy.

Once you establish your topic, your partners should begin asking you questions as if you were the expert. They should push you, asking questions that are open-ended. Questions should start with, “How” or “Why.” “Yes/No” questions should be avoided because it is easy to get off the hook with those. Your partners may ask you to tell them stories about things or make up weird questions that don’t seem to make a lot of sense and you’ll have to make sense of them. For example, once I was asked as a school bus expert, “Why is it that when UFO’s come they always steel school busses?”

The goal of the questions is not to be funny. When the question is asked your job as the expert is to answer the question, but your objective should be to answer fast, immediately, and without hesitation.

Do this for a while, answer five or ten questions and just see where it leads you to.

Improv Tips and Things to Remember

As in all things creative, the key to this exercise is speed. Answer the questions immediately and without hesitating. Novice improvisers will take a second upon hearing the question and pause to think about something to say. The instant they do that, it’s over because they have shut off their creativity and turned things over to the conscious mind. Your goal is to tap your creativity and just flow. Open your mouth and start talking, even if you’re not exactly sure where your answer will lead.

Don’t use stall tactics. Sometimes when a question comes in someone will stall by repeating the question or by saying something such as, “That’s an interesting question, I am glad you asked that. I actually had that question last week.” This is a stall to try to think for a few seconds.

Don’t evaluate your ideas as they come out, because sometimes you will start to say something that you think is stupid, but you have to just go with it.

This is a great exercise in confidence as well. You should project confidence. When you do this exercise, don’t hesitate, even if you are saying something stupid. Act as if your answer is 100% correct.. Stand up straight so it is not just your voice, but your body language that is projecting that confidence as well.

You must remember that your mind gives you these ideas for a reason. If your rapid fire answer starts out with something goofy, don’t be afraid of it. Instead, realize that your mind gave you that answer for a reason. Just keep talking and see where it leads you to. You know you’re doing this game right when you start surprising yourself with answers. This is a great exercise in being quick witted and thinking fast on your feet because you realize that if you trust yourself you can really come up with some creative ideas.

Improv Lessons

By playing this game, you will learn how to quickly and easily tap into your creativity. By simply saying the first thing that comes to your mind and speaking fast, you will be bypassing the critical conscious part of your mind.

Your goal should be to apply this same mindset when you are doing any kind of brainstorming or other creative activity. When brainstorming, keep the ideas flowing out of you. Do not hesitate or pause to think about or evaluate the ideas – that comes later.

Similarly, if you are working on a document, try to write fast and just get the ideas out on the paper (or screen). You can always go back and edit what you have written. If you allow yourself to get into a creative flow, you will really start generating some interesting ideas very quickly.

Here’s an example along with some more instruction:

(see more videos)

Purpose

The purpose of this exercise is to tap your creativity by practicing saying things that are ridiculous. This game also develops teamwork.

Summary

In this exercise, you and your partners will trade off throwing out ideas very fast that don’t make sense but do demonstrate creativity.

How to Play

You and two partners will play the game. Start in the middle with your partners on either side of you. Pick some basic object, such as paper cups, and the person in the middle starts stating reasons why paper cups are great. Each phrase will start with “Paper Cups are great because.” For example:

Paper cups are great because you can drink out of them
Paper cups are great because you can crush them and use them as a hockey puck
Paper cups are great because you can use them as spare tires

Keep going saying as many ideas as possible. These ideas can be true but it is not necessary. This game will work if you are willing to say ideas that don’t make sense or are just funny and goofy.

The ideas can get more and more ridiculous; they need not make sense or be justified. Just say “Paper cups are great because you can power your car with one.” It’s not true, and that’s ok. The point is to flow.

When you start to stumble, stutter, or hesitate, one of your partners will tap you on the shoulder and switch places with you so that they will jump into the middle of the line and you will go on the outside. They’ll pick it up giving their own ideas for why paper cups are great. When they start to hesitate, one of the other two people will tap them. It’s a big trade-off where you just flow as fast as you can and when you have run out of ideas, one of your partners will help you.

This is a really great exercise to generate ideas quickly and really practice tapping into that creativity.

Improv Tips and Things to Remember

If you’re on the outside and your partner in the middle seems to be struggling just a little bit, tap them and jump in. Even if you think you only have one idea, that’s okay because that’s the teamwork aspect— really supporting the other person with your own creativity.

As with any creative activity, go very fast, opening your mouth and beginning the phrase to see what comes out afterwards. Obviously you can change the object from paper cups. It can be turtles, jeans, or anything at all..

Improv Lessons

The goal here is to loosen up the creative flow. What you’ll find is that as you’re on the outside listening to the person in the middle, they may say something that will trigger ideas in your mind. This is how creativity works. If you are brainstorming, even if you are working with another person who does not have the best ideas, they may still trigger ideas for you.

Pay attention to when you surprise yourself and come up with clever ideas or random thoughts that just pop out. This is an excellent sign that you’ve tapped into your creativity. Discuss with your partners afterwards as to whether you felt supported. This is a combination of creativity and teamwork. Sometimes if you are in the middle and you are running out of ideas and nobody is tapping you to replace you, you might feel abandoned..

Once you develop your ability to use this on silly ideas, you can use this as a brainstorming exercise. Take a question and pose it to your group of three and start rattling off answers, switching in and out not worrying about the validity but seeing where the creativity comes from. If you don’t have three people you can do this with two people and just swap back and forth. Just as in, “What’s fun about ___,” you can play this exercise in that format. If you have a tough situation, the person in the middle will start by taking the situation and saying, “What’s fun about this.” It’s a good way of adding some levity and really shedding some light on a dark situation.

Example

Below is an example of a two-person version of this game. Since every time you play this game you will be using a different item (as opposed to repeating “paper cups” over and over again), in this example we use “turtles”)

(see more videos)

Playing improv games with your kids is a great way to keep them occupied while also teaching them some fundamental skills and helping them develop their creativity. Below are the three games I most often here people tell me that their kids enjoy, along with video clips and explanations:

Two Word Story

This is one that pretty much any kid who can speak can play. The combinations are infinite, and it is a quick and easy game to pass some time.

Expert Interview

A little bit more advanced, but this is one of the best games to help your kids develop their creativity.

Ding!

This is the most advanced one and may take a little practice, but it’s also the best exercise to teach children the idea of being flexible and flowing with unexpected events.