Zoom Improv/Warm-up/Community-Building Games & Exercises

	A	B	C	D
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2	Name of Game	Brief Description	# Part.s	BrkOut Rm?

3	The Big Cheese	Person sent out - group chooses one leader who starts a gesture. Person sent out comes back and tries to figure out who is leading the group as the gesture changes.	Full Group	Yes
4	Radio Call in Show	1-2 people are the radio show hosts, the rest of the students are listeners. As students who are listeners to think about the kind of person they are (age, profession, outlook etc...in otherwords, a little character building). The hosts are given a topic for their show (Ferment that Fruit! or Places to Nap etc...). The hosts start by introducing their show, and then taking calls from listeners. Each caller should state their opinion or share an anecdote about the topic of the show, from the perspective of the character they have created.	1 to 2, small group hh. H hbh by h. Hh,oo;on ;oo;
5	What are you doing?	One person starts an action, 2nd person comes in and mimics their action. Group says "Freeze." 2nd person is asked what they're doing - they come up with an action based on their frozen posture (not what they were originally mimicking). 1st person replaced with new person who is then mimicking the last person (who just stated their action) - group yells "Freeze!" etc.	2 at a time	No
6	Customer Service Rep	Send one customer to the Waiting Room. While gone, choose a customer service rep and decide what customer is attempting to return. Bring customer back in, transfer their call to customer service (you can "stay on the line for quality purposes" to help side coach). Customer notes what's wrong with the item while sales rep tries to help them figure out what the item is	2 at a time but can leave everyone up to watch	no
7	3 Sentences	Player 1 says a sentence. Player 2 responds. Player 1 says last sentence (the turn into interesting mini scenes or moments and gets kids thinking about purpose and relationship)	2 at a time but can leave everyone up to watch	no
8	4 lines scene	This is the entry level training for scenes. They only last 4 lines, but drill the need for establishing the base of scenes. ACTOR 1 does some sort of physical work in the space (an offer). ACTOR 2 enters and labels what they are doing and gives Actor 1 a name. ACTOR 1 then gives the other actor a name and defines a relationship between them. ACTOR 2 then gives a location. DRILL THIS to have sucessful scenes. Let them fail!	2 performers
9	Bus Stop	All but two turn off their cameras. Actor One is given direction to be waiting on "bench," while Actor Two, who is the "stranger" is directed to make an entrance from either stage right or left, with momentum, and purpose, and through dialogue, and physicality, incite Actor One on the bench, to "get up." Even online, this can still work. Students who are observing,should take note if both actors are believable, saying "Yes" and any other facets/rules which are a focus of improv lesson. At conclusion, audience members can use chat for feedback. How feedback is provided, should be prefaced prior to exercise. Idea: Rose, Bud Thorn - Great, developing, needs work.	2 Performers
10	Alphabet Scene	2-6 people. An offer is made with the letter "A" beginning an Improv scene based on a suggestion. The next person who speaks must follow it with a subsequent letter starting the sentence. "Ahhh! There you are Renfro", "But I come to you during the day when you may not walk the earth", "Clearly you have heard about my updates", "Don't tell me you are now a Daywalker!", "Even as we speak I grow stronger", "For God's sake you will be all powerful"	2 to small group
11	Alphabet Story	Every sentence of the story or scene must begin with the last letter of the previous sentence.	3 or 4	No
12	Translator	Two person scene. Both "Actors" make up gibberish. Each actor gets a "translator". Each actor engages in a scene with using gibberish and pauses after their line for the translator to tell the story. The actors must both listen to the translation and continue the scene informed by the translation. "Translators can go anywhere with their ideas, but not 'Try" to be funny."	4 person
13	Voiceover of a Silent Scene	Choose two characters to be the silent film actors, and two students to be the voiceovers. Mute the silent film actors and send them a private message with a topic they should improvise a scene about. As they are silent, they will really need to go big with gestures and facial expressions. Not knowing the topic, the "voiceovers" should say the dialogue they think the silent actors are acting out. At the end, reveal the topic the actors were really playing.	4 players, small group
14	Statues	Younger Acting students really enjoy this, despite the silly nature. Model - Teacher plays the shopkeeper, while 3 Actors are selected to be statues, which can do any action, service, or talent imaginable. One Actor is a customer. All other cameras off. Teacher counts down, and Statues must FREEZE in their Statue Pose. Shopkeeper talk to self to set scene, "Oh, what a wonderful day to sell some statues!" Enter Customer! Shopkeeper greets Customer and engages in brief conversation. Moving to Statues, Shopkeeper controls the Action - pushes "button" and one by one statues display their special quality, talents - until Shopkeeper pushes button, and they freeze. Each statue is appraised for a ridiculous amount of money. At conclusion, Customer chooses which Statues they will purchase. Object: Make character choices, and stick to them. Follow directions - remain frozen, as directed. Student Actors can be Shopkeeper moving forward. Online modifications require All cameras off, with exception of those performing; use of first names, as moving from Statue to Statue.	5 Performers
15	"Cocktail party", but on zoom!	Choose one student to be the "meeting moderator" who says things like "did you get the quarterly figures?" "what about an update from our new client?" Choose 4 other students to be meeting participants with something weird about them - they think they're a cat / they have inhaled helium / they are Alexa or Siri / they believe aliens are listening in on their conversation, etc, etc. Tell them their persona secretly in a personal chat. The meeting begins, and other observing students guess what is up with each of them by using the whole group chat	Class
16	Monosyllable	Quick warm-up game (saw this somewhere else): Choose two students and give them a scenario and characters. They must hold a conversation but every words they use must be monosyllabic. The moment one includes a word with more than one syllable, they are out and another student takes over their character.	Class
17	Ask an Expert	"Animal Expert". One person is the expert, I ask them "what animals will you tell us about today?" They get to make up whatever they want. "Today it's Tigers". Then everyone else in the class pretends to be a tiger. I go to each tiger on zoom and ask the expert "What is this tiger doing?" "Tell us about this species of tiger" "What is this tiger's name". We take turns, changing animals each time.	Class
18	Memories	Someone begins with "Hey, do you remember the time that..." and finishes the sentence (the time that we all fell in a volcano/the time Grandma ate a bug/the time the sprinklers went on in the middle of Susan's wedding). Everyone after that adds something in to shape the memory, as though everyone had been there.	Class	No
19	Zoom	One person at a time states another person's name and says "Zoom" and points to their picture. That person then states another person's name and says "Zoom" and points to their picture, etc. Variation: Add "Pop!" and the Zoom is sent back to the person who sent it (bounced back).	Full Group	No
20	Group Count to 20	VIDEO OFF - one at a time, the group tries to count to 20 - if two people overlap, the group starts over. Challenge with lag, of course.	Full Group	No
21	Big Booty	Full Group counts off, starting with Big Booty, then #1, #2, #3, etc. "<All Sing/Chant> Big booty, big booty, big booty - uh, huh, oh yeah, big booty.<Then Big Booty continues...> Big Booty -> #8; #8 -> #2; #2 -> Big Booty; Big Booty -> #3; #3...awwwww!" When too long of a pause or wrong numbers, all shift up a number from there, and loser goes to last number.	Full Group	No
22	Alibi	Choose one student to be the detective. Send her to breakout room to make up a silly, non-violent "crime." While she's gone, choose a "criminal." When the detective comes back, she asks each student "Where were you when --insert crime here---?" Each student responds with something like "I was painting a portrait of my dog" or literally ANYTHING they want. Question each student. They HAVE TO remember exactly what they said for a second round of questioning. ONLY the one who was chosen as the "criminal" makes a small change in his alibi. The detective tries to notice it. I usually give the detective the chance to re-question 3 suspects AFTER the second round is complete. They would go back to the FIRST way they said their alibi. (That way, the criminal would change again, but the innocent suspects would say the same thing again.) It sounds confusing, but it's really simple and fun!	Full Group	Yes
23	Scavenger Hunt-Sales Pitch	I made a scavenger hunt and posted it on the screen share and all the kids ran around getting the items. Once they got the items, we went through the list together. Then I made them all pick one item and improv a 30 second commercial trying to sell us their item! So much fun and took up a lot of time! (Scavenger hunt list in following rows) *I borrowed this one from the list and we call it the ZSN - Zoom Shopping Network. I play the main host. Each person gets to pitch their sale and I can cut back to them at any time to see how sales are going!	Full Group	No
24	Sorry I'm late	Anyone can jump in and say "I'm sorry I'm late...I was...(insert plot to a movie/play/book etc.) everyone guesses	Full Group	no
25	Kingdom of Zoom	One player is selected as king or queen. They make a pronouncement to the group of what they most desire (I enjoy sweet treats, I am seeking power etc.). Everyone else is a peasant that has 30 seconds to find an "offering" or gift in their room. One at a time the Herald (me), calls on the peasant to ask what they have brought to present to the K/Q. Peasant makes their pitch about how amazing their item is. K/W either accepts or denies the gift. If denied, the peasant dies an instant shocking death (but then comes back as a ghost to watch the rest of the proceedings). Once all present, the Herald provides the list of the accepted items and peasants to the Q/K who then chooses their predecessor (all others die, obviously).	Full group	no
26	World Zoom Network	I asked everyone to grab a hat (not knowing what the game would be). I served as the main anchor (but you could absolutely have a student or 2 do this instead) and then I called on each live on the scene reporter. Each reporter must give us their news update (using the hat to help them form a character or locale). I tried to get the kids to connect to each other (if someone noted a poor weather report in a particular area perhaps another was also expericening it, etc.). Proceed like an evening newscast	Full group	no
27	"Scategories"	Placing the class in random breakout rooms - of 5 or 6? - announce the category (random category generator: https://scattergoriesonline.net/) and set your breakout room time to 30sec-60sec - send them to breakout rooms; after everyone's gone to their room, wait a few seconds and close the rooms (which will then give them the 30-60 seconds that you have set for your breakout time to be). One group at a time, they call out something from their list - and a group only scores points if unique: if another group has it on their list, it's discounted. Within the breakout rooms, they can write their words in the chat, then one of them saves the chat before time is up.	Full Group	Yes, random generated for 5 in a room
28	Commercial	Tell the students to “Find Something” I’ve been using a color. -ALL the students have 10 seconds to find that object, and bring it in view of their camera. Give students an order in the chat! First student then presents a short “commercial” to the class. -30 second time limit -Name of object, its function (should NOT be what the object they found does usually.) (Ex. This isn’t a pencil, it’s the DOORSTOPPER300 and it keeps the door open!), price, where to buy it. (So far, the kids spend the whole 30 seconds just describing the function, which is still fun.) When the 30 seconds is up, the next student (without insulting the human presenting) essentially says, “That product isn’t cool/necessary/helpful. Instead try this:” and then THEY have 30 seconds to do their commercial. Play continues until everyone has gone	Full Group	nope
29	Job Interview	Send one person to the breakout room. The rest of the group decides on a job position that the person is applying for. The more unique the better. When the person returns the group will interview them for the mystery job. They will ask questions without directly stating what the position is. After several questions are asked the group will decide if the person is right for the position. The person will then try to guess what position they interviewed for and whether they accept it if it was offered to them.	Full Group -	Yes
30	Wink Assassin	If you allow participants to private chat (through zoom.us website settings, must be selected before session opened), this is a fun game, and can be broken up into quick versions in breakout rooms. The Host/teacher picks an "assassin," through private chat. As the group interacts generally, all cameras on, the assassin sends a private chat to someone else, "<wink>." That person gives a brilliant death performance, then turns off their camera. The group then assembles and discusses, interrogates, and votes on who the assassin may be. Play continues until the assassin is guessed.	Full Group - needs "Private Chat"	no
31	Taxi Driver (variation on Hitch-hiker)	One person has their video turned on - all others off. Initial person is the taxi driver and has a character/phsical/vocal trait. 2nd person turns on their video and "gets in" the taxi - with their own character/phsysical/vocal trait which the taxi driver also adopts. Third person adds with their own, and everyone in the taxi takes on the trait. 4th, 5th, 6th people enter, each time, everyone else in the "vehicle" adopts the traits introduced by the new person coming in. Then, one by one, the 6th person leaves, and everyone returns to the character/physical/vocal traits of the 5th person - then the 5th person leaves and everyone returns to the traits of the 4th person, etc, until it's only the taxi driver with their own, original traits played out. Scene.	Full Group - Video Off, except for participants - use chat to establish order of participants	No
32	Electric Company	Based off the old electric company show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW_rq6HizSk The whole group starts snapping in time. One person offers the first word and the next person adds the second word. Then the whole group repeats, followed by Na-Nah-Na-Nah as an agreement. Actor 1 "Book", Actor 2 "Head", ALL: "Bookhead, na-nah-na-nah"	group
33	Three Things	*ZOOM version- you tell a couple of people to either go to a breakout room or black out their screens and change three things in their space and see if people notice what they are.	Group
34	I Spy	One by one. Use Gallery view and see if people can guess. Good for observation.	Group
35		Audience or teacher ask a question: What would a good doctor say? What would a bad doctor say? What would the Worst doctor say? Teaching rules of 3's and heightening.	Group
36	Pass the Box	Teacher "passes" (calling out the recipient) an imaginary box to the a zoom window. Person on the other end mimics the pantomime value and size of the box (i.e. big and heavy box) and then opens the present and takes out an imaginary item, labels it, says "thanks". Then they take out another present box and give it to someone else. etc., etc. teaches specific pantomime work, saying "Yes", and being specific about an embued item.	Group
37	DRAMAGLOM	The most basic form of DRAMAGLOM involves drawing one of each kind of card and acting them out simultaneously. For example, you might draw the Cue card that reads "I love you," the Expression card "Happy" and the Intensity card "Level 5 Extreme." You would read "I love you" acting out extreme happiness. Your teammate would then guess what expression and intensity you were going for to win those cards.	Group	No
38	HotSpot or SongSoup	Teacher gets a suggestions and starts a song (any song) based off the suggestion. Then another student jumps in with another song inspired by the previous song. It does not need to be the same show, genre, or even words. Its just the first suggestion that pops in someone's head. The main lesson is to jump in and support the person in the HOTSPOT. You don't want to leave that person in their forever struggling. You want to support them. So "Summer" is the suggestions. TEACHER: "Summer loving had me a blast, Summer Loving happend so fast"... Now does that remind anyone of any other song? Great. Tina, what is it? TINA "Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime." TEACHER: Okay does that inspire a song in anyone else? Great. Jack! what is it? "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high..." So its a natural evolution of ideas.	Group activity
39	Circle of Doom	Gallery view on zoom. Student says their name, but creates a gesture to go with their name. Everyone repeats it after they do it. Then you add the next student name and gesture. Each time you add the name and the gesture, the next person must repeat all the gestures of the person proceeding them before they add their gesture.	Group on Zoom / Teams
40	Short Form Improv	Give everyone some kind of prompt and they need to create 2-3 minute short form scenes in their individual groups. Prompts can include anything - "Something is going to happen in 3 minutes" "It's someone's first day on the job" or a line of dialogue, or an image/photo etc.	groups of 2-4	yes
41	Magical Object	Great for Shy Kids. They find an inanimate object in their room. Then they sit out of frame and use the object for the discussion instead of themselves. The teacher can lead them through prompts of an interview and ask questions/make observations. *Rhoda finds and uses a water bottle as her character. TEACHER: "Hello! thanks for joining us today! RHODA: Good to be here. TEACHER: So let's start with your name? What shall we call you? RHODA: Stewey. TEACHER: Stewey... what? RHODA: Stewey Finklepop. TEACHER: Ahhh... Nice to meet you Stewey Finkelpop! Where are you from? RHODA: The gym bag. But originally I'm from Taiwan. TEACHER: So like to travel? RHODA: yes. etc., etc.	Individual
42	Doctor know it all	A single actor (or team of actors) are/ is an expert in something determined by the teacher. The audience asks them questions that they answer from a place of absolute, committed knowledge. The more ridiculous, the better. Teaches commitment and saying Yes.	Single Performer
43	Improvised Character	Actor gets a suggestion from the audience and immediately makes a bold physical choice. They then get questions from the audience that further fleshes out who this character is? First questions about physical appearance - height, hair color, how they dress, etc. Then POV and emotional questions: Their first memory, there favorite class in school, etc. Then the character tells a story about something interesting that happened to them yesterday.	Single Performer
44	Silly Questions	Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?	single Performer
45	Make us Smile	Turn off your camera; when you turn it back on show me your silliest, most royal, saddest, etc.	single Performer
46	Experts	One student plays an expert and the class comes up with their expert topic (the more random or bizarre the better). Everyone else decides what newspaper/magazine they report for (e.g. Vogue, NYT, CNN, Fox, Teen Beat, National Geographic, etc) and they take on the persona of that journalist to ask questions at a press conference. As the teacher/moderator, I open up the press conference by introducing the expert and either establishing a reason for the conference or allowing the expert to introduce him/herself and his/her background in the topic (maybe I say, "Dr. Smith, would you start by explaining how you first became interested in telepathic gymnastics?"). Then we open up to the journalists who ask questions their readers would expect from their source (Hi, I'm Taylor from Teen Beat and my readers would love to know if you've ever worked with Timothee Chalamet in your line of business? Hi, I'm Don from Fox News. My listeners want to know why you're pushing this liberal fake news activity onto the innocent public? Hi, I'm Thalia from Vogue. Could you describe what telepathic gymnasts wear at competitions?). The expert has to answer the questions as though he's/she's really an expert so not getting tripped up by the questions is key.	Small Group	No
47	Questions Only	Have an entire conversation only with questions	Small Group	No
48	Perspectives	Set up an event or celebration. Actors then tell the story from various perspectives of non-humans. It is like a shared monologue...where the actors tell the story but do not talk to each other. They could tell the perspective of a chair, a wedding cake, a pet, a pen... The idea is they establish an exposition, each actor starts with a brief statement of who they are, why they are present - they do not have to reveal who they are, sometimes it is more fun to wait. I start them revealing who they are the first couple of time we play the game, mainly so that their partners know and if they have selected the same item/character they can adjust. Once the exposition is set the begin the set up to the "incident" but from the unique perspective of their character, they begin to move toward a problem that occurred...they create the situation/problem/obstacle/incident in the moment (improv standard). They then share their perspective of the problem from their perspective and then they work toward a resolution to end the story. They can go in order (may work best the first couple of times this game is played) or they can jump in as it works for the story. Sorry I don't have clip to share!	Small Group	No
49	3 Changes	Send one person to the Breakout Room. Others playing (those not turn off cameras) make 3 changes (appearance only, like someone took off their headphones, someone unzipped their jacket etc), and then allowed the person back in to guess.	Small Group	Yes
50	Slideshow	Choose 4 students to be the "photographs" in the slideshow, and one person who is describing them (Narrator). Premise is that Narrator has gone on vacation and is narrating a slideshow of photographs from that vacation. Narrator says "Click," then counts from 10 down to 1, and Photographs have until 1 to freeze in a pose. Narrator then needs to describe what is happening in the Photograph. Repeat for desired number of photos.	Small Group	No
51	Ad Agency	A small group of 5-6 are an AD team who are pitching their latest selling approach for a product determined by an audience suggestion. "Banana" They act as if this is the biggest client ever. So one person leads the pitch (usually a teacher until they get really good). The lead can prompt people and questions-giving each actor a name and job. "Hey Bob, what don't you break down the data using your charts?" or "Leon, I understand you have a celebrity endorsement. Tell the client who and why they are the person for the job", "Sandy, you've won awards for your jingles in the past, why don't you tell our client what you've come up with?" "Lori, I understand you have some tie in's with some fast food companies for the product, why don't you share with us?" You can come up with any number of questions. It's up to the actor to say "YES" and then explain. They group can back them up or also get them into some trouble when they get good.	Small group
52	Two headed Monster	This is usually paired with "Doctor Know it All" A team of two (or more) act as if they are of the same body and mind. They finish each others sentences or alternate words in a story.	Small group
53	Mad Libs	Google up Mad Libs. Then ask the kids for the necessary information. "Sally, can you give me a verb?" "kicking!" great. Then once you are done, pick the necessary amount of actors and have them act out the story as its read by the teacher.	small group
54	Emoji Mime	Stole this from another post - Each student needs to choose an emoji and act it out to the group and they need to guess. Variation: If played if initial round is in breakout rooms, the best one from each group show the group in the main session for a emoji-off	Small Group / Class	Either
55	Create a Scene	Divide students into Breakout Rooms - then go into each one and give them a scene suggestion. I used DramaNotebook's Crazy Scene Cards as prompts. I also typed the prompt out so they could see it when I left the room. I gave them 5-10 minutes to work on a scene together - there were no rules except for the scene suggestions. I brought them back and we presented the scenes -- when one group was performing all others would mute and turn off their cameras so we'd see only the performers. It was a lot of fun! I'll write a few scene suggestions below:	Small Groups of 3-5	Yes
56		1. Something Purple
57		2. Something Smelly
58		3. Something Shiny
59		4. Something sticky
60		5. Something noisy
61		6. Something you love
62		7. Something you hate (Can’t be a sibling!!!)
63		8. Something you wear on your head
64		9. Something you wear on your feet
65		10. Something Silly
66		11. Something serious
67		12. Something that grows
68		13. Something you can see through
69		14. Something that comes in a pair
70		15. Something round
71		16. A Stuffed Animal
72		17. A tool
73		18. A photograph
74		19. A candle
75		20. A Key
76	Conducted Story	Call on a person to begin the story. Call on the next to continue.
77	2 Truths 1 lie	Everyone gets 1 piece of paper and writes down two truths and one lie. They are read out loud to the group and you guess which is the lie.
78	Shake Your Butt	We lost the instructions to this game...
79		1. A pond, Cereal, the line "He said to turn right"
80		2. A crystal ball, a grizzly bear, the line "it's so soft"
81		3. Cough medicine, a ballerina, the line "are you the manager'
82		4. A vending machine, a magic trick, the line "they're fyling away"
83		5. a painter, a turtle, the line "what's wrong with it"
84		6. an office, ducks, the line "it's making me hungry"
85		7. a basement, headphones, the line "my feet are killing me"
86		8. chocolate, a museum, the line "that's very inappropriate"
87	Pictionary	Random word generators are easy to find online (like http://wordrawapp.com/online_generator.html). Share your screen, choose Whiteboard. Any participant can draw on the whiteboard and clear their own marks. Or the host can clear all marks. Play in multiple teams.
88	Props- 3 line scene	Have the class (Zoom) go find 3 items from their house. They must then use the item in another fashion than it is intended and start a scene. Actor A has a banana, but holds it like a gun. "Davis, you found me out, but you'll never live to tell another soul!" Actor B "Please don't start monologuing to me Dr. Macca... please" Actor A "But I have you in my private hideout in this Volcano! Where else would I do it!"
89	Improv App for Phone	Sokkyo - GREAT! Check it out! It includes a timer, and several categories for prompts. There are a few suggestions which are more mature, but they are "PG-13," not terrible, and not visible to the students. I found this app, from a series of improv video tutorials - MUT - Made Up Theatre - I recomment them. There are many of them, and they are numbered. #'s 1-4, are great for beginnners, and the rest are for intermediate to advanced students. #'s 75, 76 are specifically for online improv. I am going to use them in conjunction with EdPuzzle, etc.
90	1 Word at a time Story	One by one, each player tells a story, one word at a time. No tricks, no punishment, just go around the circle one word at a time. Try to keep it grammatically accurate. Works best with three,
91	Mr. Know it All	Three headed oracle . Class asks future questions, and Mr. know it all answers, each one word at a time
92	He Said, She Said (4 people)	Two players, gender doesn’t matter. Player One says a line of dialogue; Player Two narrates how Player One said the line (following the format ‘He said…’ or ‘She said…’), then responds.
93	One narrates speaker
94		1: “I want a divorce.”
95		2: He said, slamming the door.
96		2: “You can have it!”
97		1: She said, slamming the refrigerator.
98		1: “You’ve been sleeping with Bob!
99		2: He said, slamming Bob into the table.
100	Ask Question (sausages)	Give one word to person who is "it" Then everyone asks him questions, has to use that word in reply