Attenborough
Attenborough is a scene game in which one performer narrates the action in the style of a wildlife documentary while other players perform a mundane scene as though they were animals being observed in their natural habitat. The naturalist narration reframes ordinary human behavior as exotic and fascinating. The game rewards a strong David Attenborough vocal impression and the ability to find comedy in the mundane.
Structure
Setup
- One performer serves as the narrator, channeling the measured, reverent delivery of a wildlife documentary host.
- Two or more performers play the subjects of the documentary: people going about mundane activities treated as though they are exotic animals in their natural habitat.
- The scene takes place in an everyday setting: an office break room, a supermarket, a bus stop.
How the Scene Works
- The narrator observes the scene from outside it, speaking to the audience in the formal, awed register of a nature documentary: slowly building tension, marveling at ordinary behavior, attributing primal motivations to routine actions.
- The scene performers play their characters sincerely, oblivious to the narration. They are simply people going about their day.
- The comedy comes from the mismatch: the narrator's grandiosity applied to someone making instant coffee or waiting for a meeting to start.
- The narrator may control the pacing of the scene by describing what is about to happen, which the performers then do.
Escalation
- The game usually builds from mild observation to increasingly dramatic framing as the scene continues.
- The narrator can heighten by naming a rival, introducing a rare event, or announcing a pivotal behavioral moment just as one performer does something completely banal.
Wrap-Up
- A satisfying ending occurs when the narrator closes the documentary with a solemn final observation, or when the scene performers do something that makes the documentary framing impossible to maintain.
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"One of you is going to narrate everything the others do as though it's a nature documentary. You are watching a rare species in their natural habitat. Everything they do is extraordinary. Everything they do is worthy of hushed reverence. The others just play ordinary people in an ordinary place. They don't know they're being filmed."
Common Notes
- The narrator must resist the urge to be funny. The humor comes from the sincerity of the documentary frame applied to the mundane. A narrator who winks at the audience undercuts the game.
- The scene performers should not play to the narration. If they start acting like they're in a nature documentary, the game loses its main tension.
- The narrator controls the pace. Slowing down to describe an ordinary gesture as significant makes it more significant.
Common Pitfalls
- The narrator describes exactly what is happening rather than interpreting it. "She is now picking up her coffee mug" is description. "She approaches the source of warmth, cautiously. The mug contains everything she needs to survive the morning" is narration.
- The scene performers break into laughter or acknowledge the narration. They must stay inside the scene.
- The game runs too long. The core joke compounds beautifully for the first two minutes but needs to escalate or conclude rather than repeat itself.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"We need a very ordinary location : somewhere everyday people do everyday things. In this game, [name] is going to narrate everything that happens in the style of a wildlife documentary. The rest of us are just living our lives, completely unaware that we're being observed."
Cast Size
- Ideal: One narrator plus two scene performers.
- The narrator role is demanding: one strong narrator plus two committed scene performers is more effective than a larger ensemble.
Staging
- The narrator stands at the edge of the playing area, slightly removed from the scene, as though observing from a safe distance.
- The scene performers occupy the playing space as though the narrator is not there.
Wrap Logic
- The host allows the game to build through three or four major narrated moments before signaling a close.
- The best button comes when the narrator delivers a solemn documentary conclusion about something completely absurd.
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Attenborough. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/attenborough
The Improv Archive. "Attenborough." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/attenborough.
The Improv Archive. "Attenborough." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/attenborough. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.