Dvd Special Edition
DVD Special Edition is a short-form game in which a brief scene is performed once and then "replayed" with commentary, deleted scenes, director's notes, or alternative endings framed as bonus content on a DVD release. The meta-theatrical conceit allows performers to revisit and reinterpret original material through a self-aware lens. The game rewards narrative self-awareness, comedic editing instincts, and the ability to treat a previous scene as source material.
Structure
Setup
The host solicits a suggestion from the audience and establishes the scene's premise. Three to five performers play the initial scene, which runs two to three minutes and establishes clear characters and a basic situation.
The DVD Menu
The host announces that the audience is now watching the DVD Special Edition and introduces one or more bonus features, which performers then enact:
- Director's Commentary: Performers continue the scene while providing running meta-commentary on their choices, as though speaking over a DVD track.
- Deleted Scenes: Moments that were "cut" from the original, often revealing backstory or scenes that did not fit the final version.
- Alternative Ending: The scene reaches a different conclusion, reframing the entire arc.
- Behind the Scenes: A mock documentary showing what the characters were doing off-camera.
Conclusion
The host narrates the game back to a close after one or two bonus features. The game typically runs six to ten minutes total across all sections.
How to Teach It
Objectives
DVD Special Edition develops narrative intelligence -- the ability to look back at a scene and identify what drove it, what was left unsaid, and how it could have gone differently. It trains perspective-shifting and the comedic use of meta-awareness.
How to Explain It
"Think of the scene you just played as if it were a movie you're watching on DVD. Now add the extras. What was on the cutting room floor? What would the director say?"
Scaffolding
Introduce the game by limiting bonus features to one category (deleted scenes only, or director's commentary only) before combining them. Groups new to the format often need explicit permission to contradict or subvert the original scene in the alternate ending.
Common Pitfalls
Performers sometimes treat bonus features as an opportunity to explain the original scene rather than expand it. The coaching note is that good DVD extras reveal something new -- they do not summarize what the audience already saw.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"You've just seen the scene. Now we're watching the special edition -- director's commentary, deleted scenes, alternate endings. All the extras."
Cast Size
Minimum 3. Ideal 4 to 5. A larger group allows for more distinct voices in commentary and more robust alternate scenes.
Staging
The original scene plays center stage. Bonus features may use the same staging or position performers differently to signal the frame shift. Director's commentary works well with performers slightly downstage, turned toward the audience as though speaking to a camera.
Wrap-Up Logic
The host controls pacing by selecting which bonus features to invoke. One strong bonus feature is more effective than multiple weak ones. The game ends cleanly when the best supplemental material has been played.
Worth Reading
See all books →
Theater Games for Rehearsal
Viola Spolin
The Improv Handbook
The Ultimate Guide to Improvising in Comedy, Theatre, and Beyond
Tom Salinsky; Deborah Frances-White
Improvisation for the Theater
A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques
Viola Spolin
The Ultimate Improv Book
A Complete Guide to Comedy Improvisation
Edward J. Nevraumont; Kurt Smeaton; Nicholas P. Hanson
112 Acting Games
Gavin Levy
Something from Nothing
The Technique of Improvisation
Richard Goteri
Related Games
Countdown
Countdown is a short-form game and exercise in which performers replay a scene in progressively shorter time limits, compressing the action from several minutes down to seconds. Each repetition demands sharper editing, bolder physical choices, and more efficient storytelling as the available time shrinks. The game reveals the essential beats of a scene by forcing performers to strip away everything nonessential, leaving only the core moments that drive the narrative. Countdown demonstrates that the emotional truth of a scene can survive extreme compression, and that clarity improves when performers are forced to prioritize.
Subtitles
Subtitles is a short-form game in which two performers play a scene in gibberish or a mock foreign language while two other performers provide simultaneous English translations. Also known as Foreign Film, the game requires translators to derive spoken content from the speakers' physical behavior, emotional tone, and the sounds of the gibberish, producing translations that can interpret, contradict, or editorially comment on what the speakers appear to be saying.
Mega Replay
Mega Replay is a short-form game in which a scene or series of scenes is replayed multiple times, each time in a dramatically different style, genre, or emotional register. The game demonstrates the ensemble's range and versatility by showing the same material transformed across radically different theatrical and comedic conventions -- from opera to thriller, from silent film to children's television -- rewarding specificity of style and the audience's recognition of each new frame.
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.
Scene Replay
Scene Replay is a short-form game in which a scene is performed once, then replayed with a significant modification such as a new genre, emotional shift, or physical constraint. The replay preserves the original scene's structure and relationship while the imposed change reveals how a single variable transforms meaning, comedy, and dynamics.
Disc
Disc (1) is a short-form game involving a frisbee, disc, or similar object that serves as a scene-shifting device. The disc may be passed between performers to transfer narrative control, or its arrival may trigger a new scene or character entrance. The physical prop adds a kinetic element to scene transitions.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Dvd Special Edition. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/dvd-special-edition
The Improv Archive. "Dvd Special Edition." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/dvd-special-edition.
The Improv Archive. "Dvd Special Edition." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/dvd-special-edition. Accessed October 15, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.