Name The Game: Seven Ways
seven ways to break down the comedy
“Game of the scene” is an improv term championed by the UCB Theatre. It means that if a scene is funny it can be said to have a “game” which the improvisers are playing.
It’s meant to make improv more purposeful. Rather than simply following the scene wherever it may go, you’re looking for a game to play.
The term “game” is purposefully broad. It can encompass anything you find funny.
A game could be as nuanced as a spouse trying to very subtly hint to their partner that they are sick of watching Marvel movies.
Or as broad as a character who continually gets their limbs caught in a series of bear traps.
It can even be a funny voice. The game of a scene might be “that character’s voice was funny.”
Doing Comedy Versus Explaining It
It gives you a vocabulary for analyzing the scene after the fact. Did we have a game? More than one? Any? Once we found a game, did we play it, or just run past it? What did one player think the game was?
But this leads us to an interesting problem. There’s doing comedy and there’s talking about it. They are two different skill sets. Someone can be a brilliant comedic performer, but not really be able to say what was funny. Someone else might be adept at labelling the comedy, but not really be able to execute it.
Playing game is not the same as naming the game.
In the UCB Theatre, there is a lot of currency placed on being able to describe games of the scene. As someone who has taught a lot at UCB and at UCB-adjacent communities, I’ve had a lot of practice at helping people name the games.
People will say “I don’t like playing game.” But if you like comedic scenes you like playing games. I think very often when they don’t like is talking about the game.
Seven Ways To Name The Game
I have a drill I put people through. I make them name the game of a scene in seven different ways. Eight, really, but the first one is just warming up.
You get two people up and have them do a scene. After a few minutes you call it. Then you ask the class to say what the game of the scene was in each of the following ways.
Just tell me - Literally tell me any way you can what was funny about the scene
with specifics - A short description of what was funny, using specifics from the scene
without specifics - A short description that’s generalized, using as few specifics from the scene as possible
line of dialogue - a line of dialogue that captures what was funny
short title - a six word title for the scene
action / reaction - an action/reaction that happened in the scene that was part of the game
emotional reaction - an emotional reaction that was part of the game
base reality, unusual thing, justification - say the who/what/where, what’s different today, and how the funny behavior is still human/relatable.
Example
Let’s say we’ve got a scene where a mom is offended to find out her daughter goes to therapy. The daughter is trying to work on not being co-dependent in her relationships and says she doesn’t really talk about the mom that much. The mom gets upset and says it reflects badly on her parenting. She’s defensive about having been a single parent.
So here’s how students might answer each of the 7 (8) steps.
Just tell me - “The mom gets so upset about the therapy, even though it really has nothing to do with her, and the daughter is just trying to get out of the conversation.”
with specifics - “A mom is offended her daughter is in therapy ”
without specifics - “Taking it personally when a loved one works on themself.”
line of dialogue - “Your therapist probably hates me!”
short title - “Making someone’s therapy about you.”
action / reaction - Every time the daughter mentions something she talks about, the mom explains how that’s a poor reflection on her.
emotional reaction - The mom’s shock and defensiveness.
base reality, unusual thing, justification - Daughter telling mom about therapy, mom is deeply offended, justification is that she says it makes her look bad.
What You Gain
I try not to spend a lot of time on any one of these. For any given scene, some of the above versions will fit nicely and others will not.
But it shows the class many ways to describe the comedy of a scene. After three or four scenes, each person will be gravitating toward a few of the definitions.
For me personally, I like using “lines of dialogue.” I can’t always summarize what was funny, but certain lines will stand out to me as keystones of the scene. Today in class there was a scene about a tattoo artist who refused to do a a drawing a customer requested. “That’s so basic,” she said. “I’m an ARTIST.”
Saying “I’m an ARTIST” is the key to the game of that scene.
General Qualification About Game
Many people, especially those who study outside of the UCB Theater, will say paying attention to the game of the scene is destructive and a waste of time! I think it’s a valuable tool and worth getting comfortable with! But often, the real trick is not playing game but learning how you feel comfortable talking about it.
Plugs, Ongoing
High Functioning - Ian Roberts and I do an hour of improv EVERY SATURDAY 7pm at the UCB Annex. See this video for Ian and I showing you where the UCB Annex is.
Clubhouse Fridays - WGIS’ weekly improv show. Fridays 7pm at The Clubhouse. Free!
The World’s Greatest Improv School: The improv school I run with Jim Woods and Sarah Claspell. We’ve got classes online, in LA and even a few in NYC!
How to Be The Greatest Improviser On Earth - My improv book, available at Amazon. Kindle or print. It’s a hodge-podge of advice I wrote in 2016 about doing improv. If you’re broke and want a free PDF version just email me and I’ll send it over.
Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About Comics - Comic book podcast, hosted by my brother Kevin and I. We are about to start coverage of the little-known 1985 comic Watchmen (yes, THAT Watchmen). Subscribe for bonus episodes!
Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About The Beatles - monthly deep dive on a little known indie band from Liverpool called The Beatles. Subscribe for access to back episodes!
Wow, this is extremely helpful! One of the reasons I feel confused about the game is that I haven't heard people clearly explain and break down how to define it (beyond "just name what's funny about the scene" and "it's a pattern of unusual behavior"). I've encountered some of the approaches you've listed, and was confused because they feel so different from each other. It's good to know that there isn't one "right" approach, that you can look at the game in many different ways.