Double Endowment
Double Endowment is a short-form guessing game in which two performers are each secretly endowed with a character trait by the audience, and both must simultaneously figure out their own trait from the clues the other performer is giving. Each performer knows the other's secret trait but not their own, and must embed clues for the other player while interpreting the clues being embedded for them. The result is a mutual guessing dynamic that rewards listening and responsive improvisation.
Structure
Setup
The audience (or host) whispers a character trait to each performer without the other hearing: Performer A is told Performer B's trait, and Performer B is told Performer A's trait. Neither performer knows their own trait.
The Scene
Both performers play a scene. Each simultaneously attempts to: (1) naturally reveal the other performer's trait through their own behavior and dialogue in a way that helps the other guess, and (2) interpret what the other performer is doing to deduce their own trait.
Guessing
At any point either performer may call out a guess for their own trait. Correct guesses are confirmed; incorrect guesses are not acknowledged and the scene continues. The game concludes when both traits are correctly identified.
Conclusion
The host reveals any unguessed traits and opens a brief discussion of how the clues were embedded.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Double Endowment trains simultaneous listening and endowment: performers must be actively receiving information while actively sending it, a skill that directly parallels the demands of scene work where listening and offering happen at the same time.
How to Explain It
"You know what your partner is. You don't know what you are. Play a scene. Help your partner figure out what they are. Pay attention to what your partner is doing -- that's how you'll find out what you are."
Common Pitfalls
Performers become so focused on giving clues that they stop receiving them, or so focused on decoding clues that they stop providing them. The game requires sustained parallel attention. A second pitfall is clues that are too obvious: naming the trait directly or describing it through broad stereotype rather than specific behavior.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"We're going to give each of our performers a secret about the other one. They have to figure out their own secret from the clues their partner gives them, while giving clues back. Neither of them knows what they are -- only what the other one is."
Cast Size
Exactly two performers. One host managing the endowments and guesses from outside.
Wrap Logic
The game ends when both traits are identified or after a time limit when the host reveals the remaining unguessed trait.
Worth Reading
See all books →
The Improvisation Game
Discovering the Secrets of Spontaneous Performance
Chris Johnston
112 Acting Games
Gavin Levy
Theater Games for the Lone Actor
Viola Spolin
Theatrical Improvisation, Consciousness, and Cognition
Clayton D. Drinko
Theater Games for Rehearsal
Viola Spolin
Improvisation for the Theater
A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques
Viola Spolin
Related Games
Secrets Endowment
Secrets Endowment is a short-form game in which performers are given secret information about their characters that the other performers do not know, creating dramatic irony as each player navigates a scene while hiding or gradually revealing their secret.
Famous Person Endowment
Famous Person Endowment is a guessing game in which one performer is secretly assigned a celebrity identity and must deduce who they are through interactions with scene partners who know the answer. The endowed performer does not know their identity and must read their scene partners' reactions, offers, and endowments to figure out who they are playing. The game rewards lateral thinking, careful observation, and the ability to accept endowments and build on them without the security of knowing the full picture.
Superhero Endowment
Superhero Endowment is a guessing game in which one performer must figure out their secretly assigned superhero power through the behavior of their scene partners. The other performers know the power and play scenes that make it relevant without naming it directly.
Occupation Endowment
Occupation Endowment is a short-form guessing game in which one performer is endowed with a specific occupation by the audience, and a second performer must discover what the occupation is through scene interaction. The endowing performer communicates the occupation through behavior, physicality, and contextual clues without ever naming it directly.
Marriage Counsel Endowment
Marriage Counsel Endowment is a short-form game in which two performers play a couple seeking marriage counseling, while a third performer plays their therapist -- but with a twist: the couple has been endowed by the audience with specific secret traits, relationship problems, or behavioral patterns that the therapist must identify through the counseling session. The game combines the endowment mechanic with relationship scene work and the guessing-game structure of therapeutic inquiry.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Double Endowment. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/double-endowment
The Improv Archive. "Double Endowment." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/double-endowment.
The Improv Archive. "Double Endowment." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/double-endowment. Accessed September 28, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.