Make More Interesting
Make More Interesting is a hybrid game and directing exercise in which a director or facilitator watches a scene and, at any point, stops the performers and asks them to replay the most recent moment -- the same beat, the same content -- but made more interesting. The request does not define what "more interesting" means; performers must find a more specific, more committed, more unexpected, or more resonant version of what they just did, discovering through the iteration what raised the scene's quality.
Structure
Setup
Two performers play a scene while a director or facilitator observes. The exercise is run as a directed rehearsal tool rather than a standalone performance game.
Progression
The scene plays. At any moment, the director calls "Stop -- make that more interesting." Performers replay the specific moment they were in -- the same interaction, the same emotional beat -- but with a different choice: a more specific physical action, a more honest emotional response, a more unexpected word or behavior.
The director may call the exercise multiple times on the same moment, requiring performers to find progressively more interesting versions before moving forward in the scene.
Ending
As a game, the exercise ends when performers have demonstrated a meaningful range of more-interesting choices across a scene. As a rehearsal tool, it ends when the director is satisfied with the quality of the moment being workshopped.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Make More Interesting trains performers to recognize the difference between a serviceable choice and the best available choice, and to develop the range and speed of iteration required to find the more interesting version quickly. It builds the muscle of genuine theatrical discernment rather than acceptance of the first available option.
How to Explain It
"What you just did was fine. Now do it more interestingly. Richer, more specific, more honest, more surprising -- I don't know which direction is more interesting for you, but I know that direction exists. Find it."
Scaffolding
Use the exercise on moments that are clearly underplayed rather than moments that were genuinely complete. The exercise is most effective when the more-interesting version is discoverable within a few iterations. Apply it selectively and specifically rather than as a general critique of an entire scene.
Common Pitfalls
Performers sometimes interpret "more interesting" as "bigger," producing louder, faster, or more physical versions of the same choice rather than genuinely more specific or truthful ones. Coach the distinction between amplification and genuine interest: a more interesting moment is usually more specific and more honest, not necessarily more energetic.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"We're going to play a scene -- and any time I think we can do better, I'm going to ask us to try it again. You'll see the same moment, made more interesting. Or at least, that's the goal."
Cast Size
Ideal: 2 performers plus 1 director. Can be adapted for larger ensembles with a rotating director role.
Staging
Standard scene staging. The director stands or sits at a clearly distinct position -- off-stage or at the edge of the playing space -- to mark the separation between the scene and the directing commentary.
Wrap-Up Logic
End after performers have found a version of the key moment that feels genuinely elevated. Avoid stopping on a version that is merely different rather than actually more interesting.
Worth Reading
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Related Exercises
Make a Game
Make a Game is an applied improv exercise in which participants practice identifying the repeatable element in an emerging scene or group interaction and deliberately heightening and playing that element as the scene's game. Drawn from short-form improv theory and applied to collaborative contexts, the exercise trains the ability to recognize what is unusual, specific, or interesting in a moment and consciously develop it into a playable pattern that gives the interaction structure and shared direction.
Boring Scenes Circle
Boring Scenes Circle is a training exercise in which players deliberately perform the most mundane, uneventful scenes they can. By stripping away the instinct to be clever or dramatic, the exercise reveals that strong characters, honest relationships, and genuine listening create compelling stage work regardless of plot. It builds trust in simplicity.
Lets Not
Let's Not is a scene-work exercise in which performers practice recognizing and resisting the impulsive move -- the immediate next step that seems obvious after an offer is made -- and instead exploring what already exists in the scene before building further. The exercise counters the improv tendency to pile offer onto offer and trains performers to dwell productively in established scene reality.
Performing Curiosity
Performing Curiosity is an applied improvisation exercise in which participants practice embodying genuine curiosity through three specific conversational directions: listening for what is new, asking open questions, and focusing attention outward. The core insight is that performing curiosity, even when it feels like pretending, generates genuine curiosity. The exercise develops listening, empathy, and the ability to shift attention away from internal judgment and toward a conversation partner.
Observe
Observe is an applied improvisation exercise in which participants practice deliberate, sustained observation of their environment, other people, or a group dynamic without intervening, interpreting, or acting. The exercise trains the foundational skill of seeing clearly before responding -- a capacity that underpins effective leadership, facilitation, and collaborative work.
Play With
Play With is a scene exercise in which performers are directed to explore and heighten whatever elements have already emerged in a scene rather than driving toward a predetermined outcome. The coaching directive -- "play with it" -- asks players to treat each established detail, character behavior, or game pattern as material to revisit, expand, and discover rather than move past. The exercise trains the improv muscle of finding satisfaction in the present moment of a scene.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Make More Interesting. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/make-more-interesting
The Improv Archive. "Make More Interesting." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/make-more-interesting.
The Improv Archive. "Make More Interesting." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/make-more-interesting. Accessed September 28, 2026.
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