Here’s a list of my favorites… I’m thinking we put them in a rotation like say (25 games) and we just run through the list getting through part of it during each meeting, and then starting again. If we have new games we want to try we’ll reserve the final 5-10 minutes to try a new game each meeting.
Three performers enact a scene in which each sentence must begin with the letter following the first letter of the last sentence. The performers start with a letter chosen by the audience and must go through the entire alphabet in 90 seconds. There were times when the players were unable to complete the game in time.
One performer acts out a scene in a play, while one performer and an audience member or two other performers pretend they are dead. Another performer joins the scene in due course but promptly dies. However, "the show must go on," so the living performer acts out the scene as if the others were still alive. For a similar game, see Scene with an Audience Member.
Three performers improvise a scene provided by the host. The fourth performer, the "director", interrupts periodically to provide new styles to be used in the scene, such as "Do it like a 1950s musical." Other common suggestions include, "Do the entire scene backwards", and "Do it like you have uncontrollable lust for each other."
One performer acts as if he were a voiceover artist for a movie trailer, the nonsensical title of which is suggested by the audience. The other three performers act out scenes from the movie, prompted by the narrator.
Two performers enact a scene, but they cannot move on their own. Instead, two audience members or special guests must move them into different positions as they act out the scene.
Two performers enact a scene in a foreign language chosen by the audience, while the other two performers "translate". Because the performers usually do not know the language chosen, the language spoken is usually only accented gibberish.
Two performers enact a scene in film noir; i.e., they must break the fourth wall, approach the camera, and tell the audience what is going on, typically providing prompts for and information about the other character while taped music befitting a film noir scene is played.
One performer is the lead anchor of a news show, with the others acting as co-host, sports anchor, and weather anchor. The host gives each performer, except the lead anchor, a quirky personality to be used in the scene.
Three performers are waiting in a place suggested by the audience (eg a railway platform) for their friend Charlie, while doing so they discuss Charlie's bizarre habits and peculiarities. Approximately 30 seconds into the game, Charlie joins his friends and has to exhibit all the foibles attributed to him before he arrived.
Three performers enact a scene, but one must be standing, one must be sitting, and one must be bent over. Whenever one performer changes positions, the others have to accommodate. A variant is Stand, Sit, Lie, where a performer must be lying down instead of bending over.
Several performers improvise a scene in which they make up as many ambiguous euphemisms as they can, ending them with the phrase "If you know what I mean." The phrases used did not always make sense to the other performers(for instance "I'll help you fluff your garfield, if you know what I mean).
One performer is a silly superhero whose name is given by the audience, and is confronted with a bizarre world crisis. The other performers enter one at a time, each identifying the next entrant. Superhero names from this game include the Disco Kid, Captain Hair, Tom Arnold, and Chocolate Bunny Man, though usually in the course of the game, performers come up with bizarrely specific names such as Malfunctioning-Robot-With-An-Attitude-Problem Boy or The Guy Who Channels the Spirits of Farm Animals.
Two performers enact a scene, speaking only using song titles; artists, song lyrics, and album names cannot be used. Failure to do so results in the performer being buzzed out and replaced by another performer. (See also Questions Only.)
Two performers enact a scene while only speaking in questions. Failure to speak in the form of a question results in the performer being buzzed out and replaced by another performer. Saying "What?" isn't allowed.
Four performers enact a scene in which each is assigned a number. They must use exactly that many words every time they speak.
One performer is the contestant on a dating-type show. The other three performers are bachelors who have quirky personalities or characters that are revealed through their answers to the contestant's questions. The contestant tries to guess the specific personalities after one or two rounds of questioning. Sometimes the characters are related to each other. (For a similar game, see Party Quirks.)
Three performers are given a specific prop or occasionally two props; whoever holds the prop must express certain kind of emotion (et. anger, lust). By the end, each performer will have held the prop(s) and acted out each different feeling. (For a similar game, see also Multiple Personalities.)
Three performers are given a scene to enact with three handheld props (e.g. a canteen, a pair of binoculars, and a knife). Each prop is assigned a famous personality. For example, the flyswatter is Richard Simmons, the machete Elvis Presley, and the binoculars Scooby Doo. The person holding the prop must reflect that personality during the scene. The performers trade props as the scene continues, giving everyone the chance to do different impressions. If a performer is holding more than one prop at once, the performer must combine the impressions. Change of Emotion is played exactly the same way, but using emotions instead of personalities, and often using only 2 props instead of 3, so one performer is always normal.
Two performers enact a scene provided by the host while including random lines that they were given in an envelope. The lines are provided by audience members, and are not seen by the performers until used.
Two performers enact a scene provided by the host, But one of the actors can only read lines from a random book, on a random page number, decided by the audience, the other performer must play off the lines of the person reading. (Essentially the concept is, only one of the actors has a script and the other has to improvise)
Performers watch a clip from an old (and usually unknown) movie or television show that has been muted and provide a dubbed dialogue, following the suggestion of a scene provided by the host.
Two performers enact a scene in which one cannot use his hands. A third performer stands behind the handless performer and provides his hands instead. The performers usually wear smocks and costumes for this skit, as it tends to become very messy, particularly for the performer who cannot use his hands. This game was originally called Hands Through.
The four performers improvise one-line scenes in response to suggestions from the audience. The suggestions are written on slips of paper and the good ones are placed in a hat beforehand, and drawn randomly by the host during the game. Multiple scenes per suggestion may be acted out. This game is a favorite among the audience. ((Note from Adam – This is exactly like the game “Worlds Worst” where every situation is the worlds ‘worst’ example of a situation, so you would pull out scenes like “Worlds worst person to have operating on you, but you can also have ‘worst’ situations in scenes from a hat, so its effectively a hybrid))
Three performers (party guests) are given a random quirk, and the fourth performer is the party's host, who must identify the others' quirks as the guests arrive and interact at the party. If they correctly guess a person's quirk, that person leaves the party. (For a similar game, see Let's Make a Date.)
One performer acts as a public figure of some sort (examples include "Santa announcing his retirement" or "First man to have sex on the moon") answering questions from three reporters (played by the other performers) at a press conference. Only the reporters know who the public figure is; the first performer must figure out who he is based on the questions asked by the reporters. (For a similar game, see News Flash.)
Three performers sing a mock Broadway hit song one word at a time(e.g trashmen). The name of the mock musical and hit love song from said musical are provided by the audience; the song would occasionally be sung to an audience member seated in front of the performers. Sometimes, one of the players would say more than one word at once, or the performers would incorrectly separate longer words into multiple words by syllable. A US-exclusive game.
Three performers enact a scene. At random times, the host uses a buzzer, and the last performer to speak before the buzzer must sing a show-stopping tune using, or based on, their last line.
A performer approaches the bartender and sings about a prescribed topic, while the bartender (another performer) replies in song. The performers approaching the bar are typically either mad at something, sad about something, in love with something, celebrating something, or drinking to forget something. (For similar games, see Prison Visitor and Psychiatrist.)
http://fuzzyco.com/improv/games.html
http://www.humanpingpongball.com/gm.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_from_Whose_Line_Is_It_Anyway
We're always trying new games, feel free to SUGGEST one.
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MLStockton