SUPER (STRONG) CHARACTERS
Practice Set for Improvisers Working on Characters
This is a character workshop/practice set I wrote based off a word of suggestion: superhero. I like how the practice turned out, so I decided to share it. I hope you enjoy the exercises. There is a mix of original, modified, and classic exercises featured.
EARTHQUAKE!
Someone begins the activity by yelling “Earthquake!” Everybody shakes their body out. Give each activity a few beats of action. Then somebody will yell another natural disaster. Collectively the group must find an action that suits the declaration.
Example: Somebody yells “Hurricane!” and everyone starts spinning.
A to C off each suggestion and feel free to move far away from disasters. It should be real loose and real goofy. You can’t do this wrong!
CAPTAIN PLANET
Stand in a circle. One player puts their fist in the middle and says any word they would like. The next two people who put their hands in the middle must build a pattern off the first word. Continue until everyone has put their hands in the middle and then say the catchphrase: “By our powers combine we are Captain… (Name the pattern).
Example: (Player 1) “Lettuce!” (P2) “Onion!” (P3) “Tomato!” (P4) “Buns!” (P5) “Patty!” (ALL) “By our powers combined we are Captain Hamburger!”
SUPERHERO SIGHTING
Stand in a circle and intone the following chant, “It’s a bird,” (clap, clap) “It’s a plane,” (clap, clap), “It’s…” one player points to another and says the name of a made up super hero. They must immediately strike that hero’s signature pose and then use their super power, naming the power out loud as they act it out. Then repeat the chant and that player will point at another player.
HEIGHTENING CIRCLE
Stand in a circle. Have one player turn to the person beside them and say one or two words in the persona of a simple character. That person must adopt that persona and heighten it somehow, turn around and pass the heightened character. Take the character as high as you can and then allow them to morph into a new character altogether.
TABLEAU
Stand in a circle, one player enters the middle and strikes a pose. Another player enters and compliments that pose. Then the original person exits. A new player must enter and compliment the remaining player’s pose.
THREE LINE VAPAPO
Players line up for two person three line scenes, but before beginning each scene the instructor (or back wall, or last person in line), will call out the next element of Jill Bernard’s VAPAPO acronym (Voice, Attitude, Posture, Animal, Prop, Obsession). Alternatively you can call out the character elements I outlined in my previous Substack post (Voice, Body, Face, Attitude, Quirk). Both players must let that element inspire the character they initiate with. For example the first round of characters will be inspired by focusing on “voice” and the second round will be inspired by focusing on “attitude,” etc.
OPTIONAL RULE: Players may not use their real voice in any scenes moving forward.
CRAZY FOUR SQUARE
Setup a standard four square format. This form rotates between four independent two person scenes. Players will stand in a square and pair up with each of the players next to them. Each pair will receive their own word of suggestion. An instructor will call “forward” or “reverse” to rotate between pairs (and scenes). The twist is that the instructor can also shout “bigger!” The player will have to repeat their choice in a more grandiose manner. This forces characters to get expressive.
MONOSCENE SWAP
Players will perform a 20 minute monoscene: same characters, same location. The twist is that they may tag another player in order to swap characters with them. All characters must have distinct attributes (quriks) so that other players can effectively embody them.