You Are My Best Friend
You Are My Best Friend is a warm-up exercise in which players greet each other with the enthusiasm of reuniting with a long-lost best friend. The exercise practices heightened emotional connection and teaches performers to bring genuine warmth and excitement to their interactions. It sets a supportive, high-energy tone for the session.
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Related Exercises
Friendly Hands
Friendly Hands is a trust and connection exercise in which players reach out to shake hands or make physical contact with as many people as possible in a short time. The exercise breaks the physical barrier between participants and establishes a baseline of comfortable touch. It warms up the group's willingness to engage physically.
Lost Friend
Lost Friend is a scene game or warm-up in which a player searches for a lost friend by describing them to strangers in increasingly specific or absurd detail. The exercise trains detailed character description and the ability to paint a vivid picture of someone who is not present. It builds the verbal specificity that makes scene work compelling.
Greetings
Greetings is a warm-up exercise in which players walk through the space greeting each other in various styles, emotions, or character types. The facilitator calls out different modes of greeting (formally, shyly, aggressively, lovingly, as royalty, as old friends) and the group adjusts their interactions accordingly. The exercise loosens social inhibitions, generates quick character choices, and establishes a playful, physically engaged atmosphere at the start of a session. Greetings gets every participant moving, making eye contact, and interacting within the first minutes of a workshop.
Activity Starter
Activity Starter is a group exercise in which one player begins a physical activity and other players gradually enter to mirror or extend it. The exercise builds ensemble attunement and physical awareness by requiring players to read and respond to a shared movement rather than a verbal cue.
Hello I Am Hello I Am Hello I Am
Hello I Am is a rapid introduction exercise in which participants introduce themselves to multiple people in quick succession, using an escalating or repeated format that builds energy and comfort with self-presentation. Each round typically adds a layer: name, then name and role, then name, role, and something unexpected, then all three with increasing speed. The exercise reduces the anxiety of formal introductions, builds presence, and creates early positive connection between group members.
Good Morning!
Good Morning is a greeting warm-up in which players walk freely through the space and greet each other with increasing enthusiasm, variety of character, or specific emotional quality. The exercise breaks down social distance, establishes a culture of openness, and creates physical and vocal warm-up at the start of a rehearsal or workshop. Variations may specify a greeting style, an emotional tone, or a relationship context that the group explores through successive rounds.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). You Are My Best Friend. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/you-are-my-best-friend
The Improv Archive. "You Are My Best Friend." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/you-are-my-best-friend.
The Improv Archive. "You Are My Best Friend." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/you-are-my-best-friend. Accessed October 14, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.