Workshop Buddies
Workshop Buddies is an exercise in which players pair up for the duration of a workshop and check in with each other between activities, providing support and feedback. The buddy system creates accountability and ensures that every participant has a dedicated ally. The exercise builds ensemble trust and models the supportive culture essential to improv.
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Related Exercises
Positive Chair Exercise
Positive Chair Exercise is a supportive exercise in which each player sits in a designated chair while the rest of the group offers genuine compliments, affirmations, and positive observations about them. The exercise builds ensemble trust, reinforces a culture of support, and gives performers practice receiving praise without deflection.
The Machine
The Machine is a group exercise in which players build a collective apparatus by adding interlocking physical movements and sounds one at a time. Each new contributor must connect their action to the existing mechanism. The exercise develops ensemble coordination, physical commitment, and the ability to contribute to a shared creation.
Machines
Machines is a group exercise in which players collectively build an imaginary apparatus by adding interlocking physical movements and sounds one performer at a time. A facilitator may call out a theme or type of machine, prompting the group to adapt their contributions accordingly. The exercise trains ensemble listening, physical expressiveness, and creative collaboration.
Synchronised Dance
Synchronised Dance is an exercise in which players attempt to move and dance together without choreography or a designated leader. The group must develop collective movement awareness, finding shared rhythm and motion through mutual observation and response.
Growing and Shrinking Machine
Growing and Shrinking Machine is a group exercise in which players build a human machine of interconnected sounds and movements, then the machine grows as players join one at a time and shrinks as they leave. The facilitator may control the speed, intensity, or emotion of the machine. The exercise trains ensemble coordination and the ability to contribute a complementary part to a group creation.
Party Planning
Party Planning is a group exercise in which participants collaboratively plan a fictional event using the Yes And principle. Each suggestion must be accepted and built upon, regardless of how unexpected it may be. The exercise demonstrates in concrete terms how much further a group progresses when members support each other's ideas rather than filtering or rejecting them, making it one of the most accessible introductions to collaborative improvisation.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Workshop Buddies. Retrieved March 19, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/workshop-buddies
The Improv Archive. "Workshop Buddies." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/workshop-buddies.
The Improv Archive. "Workshop Buddies." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/workshop-buddies. Accessed March 19, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.