How to Play the Improv Lies Game

Improv is shorthand for improvisation, which is a method used by theater groups and actors around the world. The goal of improv is to test your mind by requiring you to react to the unexpected. Actors work without scripts and improvise behavior as they go along. Acting instructors and directors often use different improv games to teach actors spontaneity and how to listen intently. One of the more popular exercises is the improv lies game.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Ask the audience or anyone in the room who isn't playing to write lines of dialog that they want the actors to use on pieces of paper. Place each folded sheet of paper in a box or hat or some other container.

2. Ask each member of the group to take a handful of the papers from the box and put them in a pocket. Make sure that no one reads his lines yet.

3. Set the scene by letting the actors decide where the scene takes place and what parts they’ll play. You may have a family at an amusement park, a couple in a car or two strangers meeting on a bus. The scenario can be simple or far out.

4. Whenever the mood strikes, an actor should remove one piece of paper from his pocket and read whatever lines he finds. The lines, or "lies," may sound outrageous, but that’s the point of the improv game.

5. The actress must react to whatever the other performer says without losing her character. She must incorporate her lines into the action she's improvising.

6. All the members in the group should take turns reading their lines and reacting to the lines. The more people you have playing, the harder the game gets. The teacher or director should decide when the scene has gone as far as it can.