The Improv Encyclopedia

Improv Encyclopedia

Version 2.0.6 - 18Jun2007 -

Introduction

Hello, reader! This is the paper version of The Improv Encyclopedia. This is a text version of the site found on . The site gets updated more often than the paper version, so check the Internet for the latest version.

In this booklet you will find tons of improv games and handles, show formats, warm-ups, references and improv keywords. The Internet version is more fun to wander around in because of the hyperlinks in there, but we've done our best to organize this paper version as comfortably as possible.

Organization

This booklet is organized in 4 chapters: Categories: every game, exercise or handle is classified in one or more categories. The categories are listed alphabetically, and you will find an index of all games in each category following the category. A game, handle or exercise can be in more that one category. Games: this is the main chapter, listing all games alphabetically. For every game you will find the category/categories the game belongs in printed next to the game description. Keywords: a chapter that lists some important improv terms, each with a short explanation. References: a list of interesting people, books or websites.

At the end of the booklet you will find an index of all contents.

Referencing

The original text on is heavily cross-linked. Wherever useful, we use superscript to refer to games, categories, keywords or references. This works as follows:

Warm-upC would refer to the Warm-up category AerobicsG would refer to the game Aerobics ChivalryK would refer to the keyword Chivalry Keith JohnstoneR would refer to a reference to someone named Keith Johnstone

Copyrights

Feel free to print this, copy it, give it to your friends and foes, use it (by all means, use it) , put it on your website, change it, add to it. Just don't claim that you're the original author, and leave the references to in the text. If you want to make money off this text you would need to contact us first: mail to pingpongball@.

Be advised that this text is machine generated off a database, so page breaks and layout may be a bit quirky; let us know if you find any page rendering mistakes.

Feedback

Let us know what you think of Improv Encyclopedia; any feedback, positive or negative, is welcome by email to pingpongball@ Enjoy!

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Categories

Accepting

Category

These are exercises to teach AcceptingK .

Category

Total 10 games. - Accepting Circle - Goalie - Open Offer - Pass Catch (see Sound Circle) - Rumors - Six Episodes - Sound Circle - Tug-O-War - Yes Lets - Yes Lets - or Rather Not

Association

These are exercises that train fast-thinking. You will find that a lot of the exercises in this category are variations on the traditional Free AssociationG game. Others train fast thinking in other ways, and a few even focus on dissociation - you can use the latter to make the point that association is easy and natural (see Introducing AssociationG for more ).

Total 37 games. - 3 some - Alliterations - Animalistics - Association Jump - Become - Blind Association Circle - Blind Freeze - Clap Snap Association - CopyCat - Dissociation - FLIP (see CopyCat) - Family Portraits - Firing Squad - Free Association Circle - Free Association - Free Association Lines - Freeze Tag - Gibberish Dictionary (see Translate Gibberish) - Introducing Association - Jump - Just Gibberish - Last Letter - Malapropism - Name 6 Circle

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Category

- Open Offer - Patterns - Props - Rumors - Slappy Face - Space Jump - Surprise Movement - Totems (see Animalistics) - Translate Gibberish - Walk-over Association - What are you doing - What would she be if - Word Ball

Audience Participation

These are games in which the audience participates to some extent. Evidently, in just about any improv show there we use audience suggestions, so to some extent each game should be in this category. Instead, we've listed only games in which during the game, the audience is involved. See also Ask-forK for examples of what you can ask the audience.

Category

Total 18 games. - Alphabet Game - Bucket - Conducted Story (see Story Story Die) - Day in the Life - Ding Dong - ID - Last Letter Scene - Nightmare (see Day in the Life) - No P - Only Questions - Pockets - Puppets - Rhymes - Story Story Die - Sung Story Die - Survivor - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Advice - Zulu(2)

Audience Warm-up

Many improv shows start with an audience warm-ups. Use these games to get the audience in a good mood, and to get them used to actually participating by giving suggestions.

Total 3 games. - Audience Warm-ups - Finger Applause - Superman Jam

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Category

Characters

The focus of these games and exercises is on building characters.

Category

Total 29 games. - Aerobics - Animalistics - Animals - Coming Home - Death Con (see Voices From Heaven) - Ding Characters - Emotions Characters - Fast Food Laban - Fast Food Stanislawski - Front Desk - Goalie - Hitch Hiker - Imitate - Jump - Mr. So and So - Nuclear Bomb Chicken - Object Narrative - Old Job New Job - Opposite Characters - Opposites - Solo Doors - Split Screen - Story To A Chair - Supermen - The Bag - Three Line Solo - Totems (see Animalistics) - Voices From Heaven - You're Fired

Concentration

These exercises train basic concentration skills. Also take a look at the category Look and ListenC : the games in that category are particularly for training players to be attentive to what other players do: listening and awareness skills.

Total 58 games. - 3 Series - Accepting Circle - Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves - Alliteration Introduction - Alliterations - Alphabet Circle - Bappety Boo (see Bippety Bop(1)) - Barney - Bear of Poitiers (see Catch'em)

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