My Perspective on Game (Part 2)

This is the second of a two-part post. If you haven't read My Perspective on Game (Part 1), please do!

One Scene, Two Parts

In Part One, I divided scenes into two parts: base reality and game. Everything that happens before the first unusual thing can be thought of as "base reality." Every theater teaches base reality as the who, what, and where of a scene. The series of steps I am about to describe are what happens after that. But remember, it's not a strict set of rules. Just a different way to approach game. As the title suggests, I'm just offering my perspective.

Remember, everything in improv has exceptions. My step-by-step guide will look slightly different if you're playing a peas in a pod scene, for example (think of "peas in a pod" as two improvisors playing the same character). My point is that I'm only describing a basic scene with one person who does weird stuff, and one who doesn't. Also, none of this applies to narrative or short-form. I'm keeping it simple to start.

Here is the chart from Part One, and below is a step-by-step guide for what to do between the "first unusual thing" and "second game move." I developed this outline to help students who were struggling. Of course, no scene will ever look exactly like this, but many have found it useful.

Step-by-Step Game

Starting with the "first unusual thing" in the diagram above, these are the steps:

1. First Unusual Thing: Player A does a weird thing

2. Label: Player B expresses curiosity about the weird thing

3. Philosophy: A says why they did the weird thing

4. Concern: B warns A of what will happen to them if they keep doing the weird thing

5. Rest the Game:

   1. A says some version of, "You're right, I'm sorry, I won't do it again."

   2. B changes the subject and suggests something else to do

6. Second Game Move: Player A does a new weird thing

If that looks like a lot, don't stress. In real time it goes by incredibly fast. You can practice this structure as a line-by-line exercise with your team. However, expect these steps to take a few lines to complete.

One Weird Thing

Remember, even though there are six steps, there's only one unusual thing. The unusual person may do their weird thing a few times. That's fine, as long as you don't change it too much. If you do, it's not the end of the world. But your scene can become more difficult because you now have two patterns instead of one. For example, let's say it's a job interview scene where instead of answering the interviewer's questions professionally, the applicant tells them secrets. Fun! But, if the applicant answers the next question by singing, we now have two weird things. Alternatively, the interviewer could ask their next question while doing a magic trick. Now we've got three weird things.

Having more than one unusual thing in the same scene is not bad, it's just more difficult. Keeping two patterns going is harder than managing one. So if you accidentally have two games in one scene, don't worry! Plenty of scenes that have more than one pattern are still great. They're just a little more difficult to pull off successfully.

More to Come!

If your head is spinning, don't worry! Most of my students have a million questions after they see this written out. I'll fully explain the nuances of each step in future posts. I'll also explain why I (mostly) insist that game moves be physical instead of verbal. I'll also include exercises for teachers or teams who want to try it on their own. For now, try not to stress and just have fun! Huzzah!

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