Arm Game
Arm Game is a short-form performance game in which one player stands behind another, supplying the arms while the front player provides the voice and head movements. The disconnection between speech and gesture creates physical comedy as the front player must justify whatever the arms do. The game is a staple of short-form shows worldwide.
Structure
Setup
- One player stands behind a second player and extends their arms around the front player's sides to serve as their hands and arms.
- The front player's own arms are held behind their back, inside their shirt, or otherwise removed from view.
- The front player speaks, reacts, and provides facial expression. The back player controls all physical action through their arms.
The Fundamental Mismatch
- The front player cannot control or predict what their apparent hands will do next.
- The back player cannot see the front player's face and cannot hear the scene clearly from their position.
- The mismatch between the front player's words and the arms' behavior is the engine of the game.
Scene Construction
- An audience suggestion establishes a situation that naturally requires hand use: a demonstration, an interview, a meal, a presentation.
- The scene plays as normal dialogue while the arm player pursues their own physical agenda.
- The front player must react honestly to whatever their hands do.
Physical Logistics
- The pair should rehearse the basic physical arrangement before any performance context.
- Eye line is important: the front player must maintain face-forward engagement with the scene partner or audience.
- Object work is the richest territory: anything that involves picking up, handling, or manipulating an object gives the arm player the most opportunity.
Wrap-Up
- The scene ends on a button moment, typically when the hands do something completely unexpected at a dramatically perfect moment.
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"You are a body with no arms of your own. The arms that appear to be yours belong to someone else entirely, and they have their own agenda. React honestly to whatever they do. If they embarrass you, you're embarrassed. If they help you, you're grateful. You cannot control them."
Common Notes
- The front player must not try to manage the arms: no subtle movements that guide the arm player's choices. The mismatch is the game.
- The arm player should watch for the moments when the hands can be most inconvenient. Arms that are merely awkward are less interesting than arms that actively undermine the front player's dignity.
- Commit fully to object work. Vague, gestural arm movement produces less comedy than precise physical business.
Common Pitfalls
- The front player looks at their own hands, which destroys the illusion. Eye contact forward at all times.
- The arm player is passive, waiting for cues. The arms should have their own momentum.
- The scene lacks any physical situation for the arms to engage with. Without object work, the game runs out of engine quickly.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"In this game, [name] will be speaking, but their arms don't belong to them. [Partner]'s arms are reaching around and doing everything physical. [Name]'s own arms are completely out of action. Give us a situation where arms will definitely be needed."
Cast Size
- Ideal: The paired performers plus a scene partner for the front player to react to.
- A two-person version also works with the arm player functioning as a scene partner.
Staging
- Face the pair toward the audience. The arm mismatch must be fully visible.
Wrap Logic
- The host ends the scene when a satisfying arm-behavior button lands.
Worth Reading
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Acting Through Improv
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Lynda Belt; Rebecca Stockley
112 Acting Games
Gavin Levy
Improvisation for the Theater
A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques
Viola Spolin
The Improvisation Game
Discovering the Secrets of Spontaneous Performance
Chris Johnston
Drama Games and Improvs
Games for the Classroom and Beyond
Justine Jones; Mary Ann Kelley
The Playbook
Improv Games for Performers
William Hall
Related Games
Arms
Arms is a short-form game in which one player stands behind another, extending their arms through the front player's sleeves to serve as their hands. The front player speaks and reacts while the hidden player's arms create unpredictable physical business. It is one of the most recognized and widely performed short-form games.
Hands
Hands is a short-form game in which one player stands behind another and provides their arms, creating the physical mismatch between one performer's body and another's hands. The front performer speaks while the hidden performer's hands create unpredictable gestures and activities. The game is one of the most recognizable and widely performed short-form games.
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.
Poison Arms
Poison Arms is a game in which a performer stands with their arms behind their back while another player reaches through from behind and provides the arms. The front performer speaks and acts while the person behind provides all the gestures, creating physical comedy from the disconnect between intention and execution.
Arnie
Arnie is a short-form performance game in which players perform scenes, tasks, or physical challenges in the exaggerated style of a well-known action hero or larger-than-life public figure. The game rewards over-the-top commitment to vocal and physical characterisation while still engaging with the scene's given circumstances.
The Lineage
Explore the schools and structures that influenced or evolved from Arm Game.
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Arm Game. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/arm-game
The Improv Archive. "Arm Game." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/arm-game.
The Improv Archive. "Arm Game." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/arm-game. Accessed September 28, 2026.
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