Jeepers Peepers
Jeepers Peepers is a sustained eye contact exercise in which participants practice maintaining direct, unbroken eye contact with one partner for an extended period. The exercise works with the discomfort most people feel when held in a steady gaze and trains performers to remain present and available in the most intimate and demanding form of on-stage connection.
Structure
Setup
Participants stand in pairs facing each other at a comfortable distance -- close enough for easy eye contact, far enough to avoid tunnel-vision focus. The facilitator sets a duration for the sustained contact, beginning with shorter intervals and extending them as comfort builds.
Progression
Participants make and hold eye contact with their partner without breaking gaze. The facilitator instructs them to simply look -- to see the person rather than to perform looking. Blinking is allowed; avoidance is not.
After each timed interval, the facilitator briefly debriefs what participants noticed before asking them to hold the gaze again for a longer duration.
Conclusion
The exercise ends after a series of progressively longer intervals, or when the group has reached a sustained period in which the discomfort of the exercise has given way to genuine presence and connection.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Jeepers Peepers targets presence and vulnerability. Eye contact is one of the primary channels for genuine human connection on stage, and it is also one of the most avoided. The exercise trains performers to stay with another person's gaze without deflecting, performing, or retreating.
How to Explain It
"Just look at them. Not at their nose, not past their shoulder -- at their eyes. See them. You don't have to do anything else. You don't have to make it funny or meaningful. Just stay there and look."
Scaffolding
Begin with ten-second intervals. Acknowledge that the exercise is uncomfortable and that discomfort is part of the point. Rotate pairs between intervals to reduce over-familiarity and maintain the edge of genuine contact. For very avoidant groups, begin with face-to-face proximity with eyes closed before opening them.
Common Pitfalls
Participants often break eye contact with a laugh, a glance away, or an expressive face that functions as a deflection from the contact itself. Coach the group to notice the deflection impulse without acting on it. The exercise is most useful precisely at the moment participants most want to look away.
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Cross Circle is a spatial awareness exercise in which players walk across the circle to swap places with another player, using only eye contact to coordinate. Multiple pairs cross simultaneously without colliding. The exercise trains nonverbal communication, spatial awareness, and trust in shared physical negotiation.
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Pass Yes is a warm-up exercise in which players make eye contact with someone across a circle and say "yes" to receive permission before crossing to take that person's place. The exercise practices the fundamental improv principle of seeking and granting agreement. It builds the habit of establishing connection before initiating action.
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Jeepers Peepers. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/jeepers-peepers
The Improv Archive. "Jeepers Peepers." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/jeepers-peepers.
The Improv Archive. "Jeepers Peepers." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/jeepers-peepers. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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