400 improv prompts, with a random scene generator

The 4 rules of improv, in plain words

Read these out before the first scene. Each comes with what it sounds like when two players get it right.

1. 1. Yes, and

   Accept what your partner just made true, then add one new detail to it.

   A: “Captain, the ship is sinking!”

   B: “Then grab the cake. It's all we saved.”

2. 2. Listen first

   Your next line comes from the last thing said, not the joke you planned while they were talking.

   A: “I brought the map, but it's a map of Ohio.”

   B: “Perfect, we'll just pretend this desert is Ohio.”

3. 3. Make your partner look good

   Give them strong things to play with, and treat their idea as the best one in the room.

   A: “I've never flown a plane before.”

   B: “That's why the airline picked you. Fresh eyes.”

4. 4. Don't block

   Saying no, correcting the facts or answering with a question stops the scene. The fix is always to accept and build.

   A: “Welcome to your first day at the zoo.”

   B: “This is a bank.”

   B: “Great. Do I feed the lions before or after lunch?”

How to run 20 minutes of improv at work

A ready-to-run plan for the start of a team meeting. You need this page, a room or a call, and one person willing to host.

1. 0:00 to 0:03

   Set the frame. Say three things out loud: nobody needs acting skills, everyone can choose to watch instead, and scenes never feature real coworkers.

2. 0:03 to 0:07

   Warm up with Count to 20. The whole group counts from 1 to 20, one number per person, in no set order. If two people speak at once, start again at 1. It teaches the exact skill improv needs: listening for a gap.

3. 0:07 to 0:16

   Run three or four scenes. Two volunteers at a time. Tap Full scene, read it out, start the 2-minute timer. Call "scene" when the timer beeps or when a big laugh lands, whichever comes first, and lead the applause.

4. 0:16 to 0:20

   Debrief in four questions. Ask the room the questions below. Take two or three answers each, then go straight into the meeting while people are still warm.

Debrief questions

• What did your scene partner do that made it easier for you?
• When did you stop planning your line and just listen?
• Where would a "yes, and" help in our real work this month?
• What is one idea we said no to too fast lately?

Short on time? A single scene works as a five-minute opener. If your group would rather talk than act, try the Table Topics questions with a speaking timer, which train the same thinking on your feet.

10 short improv scene games to use with these prompts

A prompt says what the scene is about. A game adds the twist. Each one below names the chip to tap.

1. 1. Scenes from a hat

   Draw an Office scene and read it out. Players step forward one at a time with a single line or a five-second moment that fits it, then step back. Draw a new prompt when the ideas slow down.

   Office scene chip · any number of players

2. 2. New choice

   Two players start a scene. Whenever the host says "new choice," the last player to speak must replace their last line with a different one, and the scene carries on from the new line.

   Full scene chip · 2 players and a host

3. 3. Bus stop

   One player waits at a bus stop as a character from the generator. A second player arrives as a different character, and the first slowly picks up their habits. When a third player arrives with a new character, the first one catches the bus and leaves.

   Character chip · 3 to 5 players

4. 4. Sound effects

   Two players act out a scene, speaking their lines but making no other noise. Two players at the side make every other sound: doors, footsteps, the weather, the dog. The actors must react to whatever they hear.

   Location chip · 4 players

5. 5. Rewind

   A host holds an imaginary remote and calls out pause, rewind, fast-forward or slow motion during the scene. Rewind means the players act the last few seconds backwards, lines and all.

   Full scene chip · 2 players and a host

6. 6. Genre replay

   Play a 60-second scene. Then the audience calls a genre and the players replay the same scene as a western, a cooking show, a musical or a sports broadcast. Three replays is plenty.

   Office scene chip · 2 or 3 players

7. 7. Pan left, pan right

   Four players stand in a square, and the two at the front play a scene. Give each of the four possible front pairs its own prompt. The host calls "pan left" or "pan right" to rotate the square, and the new front pair picks up its scene exactly where it stopped.

   Location or Object chip · 4 players

8. 8. Lines from a pocket

   Before the scene, copy six opening lines from the generator onto slips of paper and give each player three. During the scene they pull out a slip, read it as their next line and make it make sense.

   Opening line chip · 2 players

9. 9. Narrator

   One player narrates the story out loud like a storybook. The other two must do exactly what the narrator describes, including any lines the narrator gives them, and add their own between narrations.

   Character chip · 3 players

10. 10. Sit, stand, lean

    Three players. At every moment one sits, one stands and one leans on something. When anyone changes position, the other two must change too, and each move needs a reason inside the scene.

    Full scene chip · 3 players

Want warmups and longer formats? Our list of 35 improv games for adults at work has none of the ten above, so the two pages stack. For a silent version, the charades word generator keeps the acting and drops the lines.

How to use improv prompts on a video call

Improv works on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet with a few changes. The biggest one: slow down.

1. 1Paste the prompt in the chat. The host keeps this page open, taps Copy on each prompt and pastes it into the meeting chat. Sharing a screen makes everyone's faces small, so skip it.
2. 2Put the players on the big screen. Spotlight the two players (Zoom and Microsoft Teams both have it) or ask everyone to pin them. Players unmute, everyone else stays muted.
3. 3Leave a beat before you answer. Video calls have a small delay, so talking over each other kills scenes. Agree on a one-second pause before each reply.
4. 4Pick games that need no touching. Sound effects, Narrator, Rewind and New choice all work through a screen. Bus stop works if each player simply turns their camera on to arrive.
5. 5Let the audience react. Ask the audience to use emoji reactions and to clap on camera when the host calls "scene." It replaces the laughter players miss on mute.
6. 6Split groups over 12 into breakout rooms. Rooms of four or five, each with one person running this page. Bring everyone back after ten minutes and have each room replay its best scene.