One person mimes an action — brushing their teeth, say. The next person asks, “What are you doing?” and the first person answers with anything except the truth: “I’m flying a kite.” The asker must immediately start flying a kite, the next person asks them the question, and around the circle it goes. The game trains the improviser’s core reflex: accepting an absurd offer and committing instantly, without the half-second of but that doesn’t make sense that kills scenes.
How to run it
- Stand in a circle. One volunteer starts a clear, committed Mime of an everyday action.
- The person to their left asks, “What are you doing?”
- The mimer keeps miming their original action while naming a completely different one. The further the answer is from what their body is doing, the better.
- The asker instantly begins miming the named action — full commitment, no editing — and play passes down the circle.
- Keep the pace brisk — hesitating, repeating an action already used, or accidentally telling the truth passes the spotlight along.
One variation
Alphabet round: each named action must start with the next letter of the alphabet — arranging flowers, baking bread, catching pigeons. The constraint quiets the panicked search for a good answer, because any answer that fits the letter is a win.
Commit before you understand
The game punishes thinking. If you wait until you can picture “wrestling an octopus” before you start, you have already stalled. Start moving on the first word and let your body figure it out mid-action — that is exactly the reflex Improvisation Showcase will ask of you.
Curriculum connection
A1.3
use role play to explore, develop, and represent themes, ideas, characters, feelings, and beliefs in producing drama works (e.g., use improvisation exercises to explore how they might think, feel, and act in specific real-life situations; write in role as a character who is reflecting on the people, events, and relationships affected by a personal, social, or environmental issue)
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