Is There Any More?
Is There Any More? is a scene extension technique and game in which the host or audience prompts performers to continue exploring a scene or relationship after it appears to have reached its natural conclusion. The prompt forces performers to find new layers, new complications, or new dimensions beneath what seemed complete -- discovering that a scene's apparent end was not its real end. The technique trains the ability to mine depth from a premise that could easily be treated as finished.
Structure
Setup
A scene plays to what feels like a natural ending point: a decision made, a revelation landed, a relationship moment completed. The host pauses and asks: "Is there any more?"
Continuation
Performers re-enter the world of the scene and find what exists underneath the apparent conclusion: a feeling that was not expressed, an action that follows from the ending, a dimension of the relationship that was present but not yet surfaced.
The new material does not restart the scene but deepens it: what has just ended is now the foundation for another layer of exploration.
Multiple Extensions
The host may ask "Is there any more?" repeatedly, requiring performers to find multiple layers of extension from a single premise. Each extension should reveal something genuinely new rather than recycling what was already expressed.
Ending
The technique ends when the performers have reached a genuine new ending -- one that feels more complete than the one they arrived at first -- or when the host determines the scene has been fully explored.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Is There Any More? trains the ability to go beyond a scene's surface completion into its deeper available material, combats the improv habit of ending at the first satisfying moment, and develops the patience to look for what is not yet said or felt before declaring a scene complete.
How to Explain It
"When you think you're done -- you're probably not done yet. There's usually more. I'm going to ask you to go back in. Find what you didn't say. Find what happened next. It's there."
Scaffolding
Use the technique on scenes that clearly had more material than was explored in the first pass. Scenes with established relationships, specific stakes, and genuine emotion are the richest candidates for extension. Thin scenes that ended appropriately because they had nothing to develop often do not benefit from extension.
Common Pitfalls
Performers sometimes treat the extension as a repetition of what was already expressed rather than a genuine deepening. The coaching note is that each extension must reveal something that was not in the original scene -- a new feeling, a new action, a new understanding -- not a rephrasing of the same emotional note.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"That scene appeared to be over. It may not be. Let's find out if there's anything left."
Cast Size
Same as the extended scene.
Staging
Performers return to the scene space they were in. The host signals re-entry clearly.
Wrap-Up Logic
End when the extension produces a genuinely new and satisfying conclusion that could not have been predicted from the scene's first ending.
Worth Reading
See all books →
Improvising Now
A Practical Guide to Modern Improv
Rob Norman
Improvising Cinema
Gilles Mouëllic
The Triangle of the Scene
A Simple, Practical, Powerful Method for Approaching Improvisation
Paul Vaillancourt
Creating Improvised Theatre
Tools, Techniques, and Theories
Mark Jane
Spontaneous Performance
Acting Through Improv
Marsh Cassady
The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual
Matt Besser; Ian Roberts; Matt Walsh
Related Exercises
Move On
Move On is a scene exercise in which a facilitator calls out the directive to prompt performers to abandon their current scene beat and transition immediately to a new choice. The call forces performers to leave comfortable territory and advance the scene rather than circling the same material. The exercise builds editorial instincts about when a moment has been fully explored and trains the habit of moving forward rather than sideways. It develops the internal sense of pacing that distinguishes dynamic scene work from repetitive scene work.
Montage Ending
Montage Ending is a rehearsal technique and scene-work exercise in which performers practice bringing a montage structure to a deliberate, coordinated conclusion -- finding the final image, moment, or group beat that closes the set of scenes as a unified whole rather than allowing the montage to simply stop when no one has anything left to offer. The exercise trains the ensemble's capacity to sense when a montage is complete and to create the shared ending actively rather than passively.
Final Freeze
Final Freeze is an exercise in which players improvise a scene that must end in a specific physical tableau or frozen image called by the facilitator or agreed upon in advance. The scene must arrive at the designated freeze organically through the scene's own logic rather than forcing its way there artificially. The exercise develops narrative construction skills and the ability to engineer a predetermined ending from a completely open beginning.
Advancing and Expanding
Advancing and Expanding is a scene technique exercise in which players practice the dual skills of moving a narrative forward and deepening the current moment. A caller instructs performers to either advance the plot or expand on the present beat with more detail and emotion. The exercise builds the storytelling instinct for when to push forward and when to linger.
Open Offer
Open Offer is a scene-starting exercise in which one performer enters the space and makes a clear, specific opening offer -- a line of dialogue, a physical action, or an emotional state -- that establishes a strong starting point for their scene partner to build on. The exercise trains the ability to begin scenes with purpose and generosity rather than caution or ambiguity.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Is There Any More?. Retrieved March 19, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/is-there-any-more
The Improv Archive. "Is There Any More?." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/is-there-any-more.
The Improv Archive. "Is There Any More?." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/is-there-any-more. Accessed March 19, 2026.
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