You Know What I Feel Like Doing?
reality first, unusual second
If you’re practicing “game of the scene” improv, then you’re very aware of the “first unusual thing.” A common problem is making your first unusual thing TOO unusual. Here is an exercise on introducing a good unusual thing that keeps the scene grounded.
Start by establishing a base reality (a who/what/where) that is not comedic. Something simple.
Agree and live in it for 3 or 4 lines.
Then, one of the characters should say “Hey, you know what I feel like doing?” and then propose something, you guessed it, unusual.
This exercise does a few things really nicely.
First, you practice agreeing on reality before you get the unusual part. People who learn about game will try to make the funny happen too early, too broadly. This usually leads to a false fight or an uncommitted denial that’s just going for the joke.
Like someone will initiate “Hey, I’d love to get this ring appraised” and the person will quickly respond “What? Why? Oh, I guess.”
They want it to be a game already, and so they just play dumb, or contrarian, or detached.
This CAN feel funny in the short term. But usually it’s a sign that the person is not really committed to the reality, and they will quickly find themselves lost. Because they’re not really IN the scene.
Agree On The World
So pausing to spend a few lines simply agreeing with the base reality makes sure that everyone is locked into the world.
Player 1: Hi, I’d like this ring appraised.
Player 2: Sure, love to help.
Player 1: It was my grandmother’s and she’s passed on.
Player 2:I’m so sorry.
Player 1: It’s all right, she was ill for quite a while. I’m hoping this ring is quite old. Maybe medieval.
Player 2: Well, let’s look at this ring. Hmmm, it might BE medieval.
Okay, so that’s nicely agreed upon and committed.
Avoid False Fights
But now we have a second problem: no unusual thing. And it’s also very common that if people play it real, they forget to shift into a comedy mode. They are stuck in drama mode. They can only start fights, cause problems. Something like.
Player 2: Wait a minute, this ring is fake!
Player 1: What? No it’s not! I got it from my grandmother’s house.
Player 2: Are you trying to scam me?
Player 1: No! Er, wait, I mean yes! I mean, no!
If the players can quickly adjust and commit, this could work. But my experience is that these fights are forced and the players are not truly saying yes because they’re too genuinely surprised. Everything falls apart. The energy drops. No one knows what to say.
You Know What I Feel Like Doing?
A better strategy — at least for practice — is for one person to take a moment and decide that their characters wants something unusual, relative to the scene.
Player 1: You know what I feel like doing? Let’s act medieval.
Player 2: You want us to… pretend to be medieval?
Player 1: Yeah. The ring is inspiring me.
Player 2: Uh, okay. (bowing) Good knight, I see you have a ring here!
Player 1: (bowing back) Indeed I do, your wizarddom. May I get you some mead?
These are all lines from a group I coached yesterday, by the way.
So now this particular example reads as silly. But the good part of it is that the players are fully invested in each change as it happens. They are committed.
The unusual thing is inspired by an improviser thinking from within their character, not forcing an unusual thing from the outside.
That’s what really good about this exercise. You commit, and then find an unusual thing from within the world.
What do the characters feel like doing? What UNUSUAL things could this character feel like doing?
Pitch Unusual Desires
A shorter way to do this exercise is for the coach to present a simple mundane base reality, and ask the group “What unusual things could someone feel like doing?”
I asked a group to pitch on unusual desires for someone ordering a coffee in a Starbucks.
Ideas were:
The customer could want to go behind the counter and make their own drink.
The barista might want to brag about a raise they just got.
The customer might want to gossip about other people in the shop.
The barista wants to point out how expensive the coffee is, and that there’s way cheaper options nearby.
These are grounded, possible but still unusual. They give us something to unpack.
Even if the ideas are much bigger — as long as they are coming from the character’s desire, it can work. Like, they don’t even have to relate to the base reality as long as it’s something that someone in that situation could possibly be thinking.
The customer could confess that they had always hoped Narnia was real.
The barista could share that they loved their dog more than their husband.
The point is: agree on the reality first. Then explore unusual things that the people might have.
I find that groups who do this exercise start showing more patience at the top of scenes. And also they start gravitating towards unusual things that do not break the world.
Contrasting Energy
A related version of this exercise is for two people to set up a normal world, and then to have a third person walk on with a “contrasting energy.”
So two people are calmly ordering a coffee, and a big loud person steps up and asks for a phone charger.
Two friends are happily chatting at the bus stop and a third person walks up, terrified, and says that the dogs are listening.
A couple is having a serious talk at a restaurant and the server approaches, way too happy.
This has a similar effect of “you know what I feel like doing?” You start real, and then someone who could reasonably exist in this reality approaches and introduces unusual energy.
The unusual thing — the person —- is inspired by the base reality.
Reality first, unusual second.
Let me know if you try it, and if it’s helpful! Or even if it’s not!
I've been working on game with a group I've been coaching. I tried this out with them today and they liked it a lot. they get in their heads a lot about finding the unusual thing, but this was helpful because it took the pressure off to feel like they needed to be thinking about what to do to make the game "appear". they had better base realities because, at the top of the scene, that was the only thing they were worrying about.
This is extremely helpful! Do you know more exercises like that, more ways to practice introducing an unusual thing? More common types of unusual things that work well?