Agony Aunt
Agony Aunt is a short-form game in which one performer plays an advice columnist or talk show host while others present absurd personal problems. The advice-giver must respond with confident, specific guidance no matter how bizarre the situation. The game creates comedy through the contrast between earnest expertise and outlandish subject matter.
Structure
Setup
- One performer plays the agony aunt (or uncle): an advice columnist, talk show host, or expert advisor who must respond to any personal problem with confident, specific guidance.
- Other performers play audience members, letter-writers, or callers presenting personal problems.
- The problems can be suggested by the audience or invented by the performers.
How the Game Works
- Each person with a problem presents it clearly and specifically to the agony aunt.
- The agony aunt listens, then responds with authoritative advice, regardless of how absurd or insoluble the problem is.
- The comedy comes from the contrast between the earnest expert register and the bizarre nature of the situation.
- The advice should be specific and practical, not vague platitudes.
The Expert Register
- The agony aunt never expresses confusion or uncertainty. Every problem has an answer and they know it.
- The advice can be absurd, but it should be delivered as though it is the obvious, professionally endorsed solution.
- Follow-up questions can be used to gather specific details that make the advice even more precise and confident.
Variations
- Multiple advice columnists with different specialties respond to the same problem, each offering advice from their specific domain.
- The agony aunt provides advice entirely in the form of questions, forcing the person with the problem to arrive at their own solution.
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"You are the authority. Whatever problem someone brings you, you have the answer. You have seen this before. You know exactly what to do. The confidence is total. The specificity is total. There is no problem for which you do not have a solution."
Common Notes
- The key quality is unwavering confidence. The moment the agony aunt hedges or expresses doubt, the game's premise collapses.
- Specificity is what makes the advice funny when the problem is absurd. "I'd recommend following steps three through seven of the standard protocol for that kind of situation" is funnier than "You should probably talk to someone."
- The people presenting problems should commit to the seriousness of their situation. Playing the problem as a joke undercuts the contrast the game needs.
Common Pitfalls
- The agony aunt expresses surprise at an absurd problem. Surprise is not part of the expert register. They have seen it all.
- The advice is too vague or too generic to be interesting. The game needs specific, actionable guidance even for impossible problems.
- The people with problems do not give enough detail, leaving the agony aunt with nothing specific to respond to.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"[Name] is our agony aunt. Whatever problem you bring to them, they have the answer. Completely. We need audience members with problems : real ones, ridiculous ones, impossible ones. [Name] will solve them all. Who has a problem?"
Cast Size
- Ideal: One agony aunt plus a host to manage the problem-bringers.
- Additional performers can play recurring problem-bringers rather than using audience members.
Staging
- The agony aunt sits at a desk or chair center stage, establishing their authority.
- Problem-bringers approach from the audience or from the wings.
Wrap Logic
- The host ends the game after three to five problems, or when a particularly satisfying advice moment provides a natural close.
Worth Reading
See all books →
Drama Games and Improvs
Games for the Classroom and Beyond
Justine Jones; Mary Ann Kelley
The Comedy Improv Handbook
A Comprehensive Guide to University Improvisational Comedy
Matt Fotis; Siobhan O'Hara
The Improv Handbook
The Ultimate Guide to Improvising in Comedy, Theatre, and Beyond
Tom Salinsky; Deborah Frances-White
Improvisation for Actors and Writers
A Guidebook for Improv Lessons in Comedy
Bill Lynn
Funny on Purpose
The Definitive Guide to an Unpredictable Career in Comedy
Joe Randazzo
The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual
Matt Besser; Ian Roberts; Matt Walsh
Related Games
Expert
Expert is a short-form game in which a performer plays a world-renowned authority on a topic suggested by the audience, fielding questions with total confidence regardless of actual knowledge. The comedy emerges from the contrast between the character's unwavering certainty and the absurdity of the claims. Scene partners or audience members ask questions, and the expert responds with authoritative detail, treating every answer as established fact. The game rewards commitment, verbal fluency, and the willingness to build elaborate fictions without hesitation.
Good, Bad, Worst Advice
Good, Bad, Worst Advice is a short-form game in which performers offer three tiers of advice on an audience-suggested problem: sensible, questionable, and catastrophically terrible. The escalating absurdity creates a reliable comic structure, and the contrast between tiers generates the game's comedy. The game rewards calibrated comedic intensity -- each tier must be clearly distinct from the last -- and the ability to commit fully to advice that is increasingly outrageous.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Advice
The Good the Bad and the Ugly Advice is a short-form game in which three performers play advisors who give progressively worse counsel on a problem brought by a fourth performer playing a person seeking help. The game generates comedy through the contrast between the sincerity of the advice seeker and the escalating uselessness or toxicity of the advice received.
Complaints Department
Complaints Department is a scene game in which one performer staffs a customer service desk while others present increasingly unusual, impossible, or escalating grievances. The desk representative must take each complaint seriously, respond with bureaucratic procedure, and attempt to resolve or acknowledge each case, while the complaints become progressively more surreal.
One Eighty Five
185 (One Eighty Five) is a short-form joke game in which performers deliver a series of one-liner jokes that follow a fixed structure: "185 [blank] walk into a bar. The bartender says, 'We don't serve [blank] here.' The [blank] say..." followed by a punchline that puns on or plays off the subject's identity. The audience provides the subject, and multiple performers compete to deliver the best punchline.
Helping Hands
Helping Hands is a short-form game in which one performer stands in front of another and extends their arms through the front performer's sleeves or from behind, so that the back performer's hands serve as the front performer's arms. The front performer speaks and reacts while the back performer's hands gesture, handle props, and physically enact whatever the scene requires. The dissonance between speech and gesture -- and the unpredictable behavior of the "helping hands" -- generates the game's comedy.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Agony Aunt. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/agony-aunt
The Improv Archive. "Agony Aunt." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/agony-aunt.
The Improv Archive. "Agony Aunt." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/agony-aunt. Accessed October 14, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.