Improv Warm-Ups: Czechoslovakia

Video Transcript

"This is an improv warm-up called Czechoslovakia, and it's one of those improv warm-ups that's kind of taken from a schoolyard game; a little kind of hand clap rhythm game. And this game is somehow strangely addictive, so it's just a really, you get a really strong sense of being in in sync with everybody, and and and kind of getting that pacing building with everybody, and it it's super fun. So basically, you're just doing a hand clap thing, where you're doing a lap, clap, to the side. And so if everybody's in a circle, this time they're kind of like giving each other a high five, they're clapping each other's hands with this move. So, I'm going to just sing and clap the whole thing through, so you can see what it looks like, and then I'll tell you about some of the variations you can play on it. So it goes like this, Czechoslovakia boom shaboom, Yugoslavia boom shaboom, let's get the rhythm of the hands, we got the rhythm of the hands. Let's get the rhythm of the feet; we got the rhythm of the feet. Let's get the rhythm of the eyes, eyes; we got the rhythm of the eyes, eyes. Let's get the rhythm of the hips, ding-dong, we got the rhythm of the hips, ding-dong. And that's pretty much the whole thing, and it looks kind of silly with me doing it by myself, but with a group of people, it's really fun. And what you can do once you guys have it down, you can start picking up the pace, and going a little faster. And another version of it is kind of like that song b-i-n-g-o, where you kind of like do different parts silently. So you start cutting out the different verses, and you just do the rhythm part, and and everybody's kind of hearing it in their head. So by the last time through it's totally silent, except for the end when you go eyes, and ding-dong, and that kind of thing. So, it's a it's a simple game, it's a schoolyard game, but when you get a bunch of adults really into it, playing it fast, it's super fun. It's called Czechoslovakia."