Narrator
Narrator is a short-form game in which one performer serves as an omniscient narrator who describes and directs the action while other players act out whatever is narrated. The performers must physicalize the narrator's words instantly, even when the descriptions become absurd, contradictory, or physically challenging. The game generates comedy from the tension between what is narrated and what the performers can actually do, and from the narrator's power to control the scene's reality with a single sentence. The game rewards quick physical commitment from the actors and creative, descriptive language from the narrator.
Structure
One performer stands to the side of the stage as the narrator. Two or more performers take the playing space as actors. The audience suggests a story genre, a setting, or a character.
The narrator begins telling a story in the third person, describing the scene, the characters, and the action. The actors physicalize everything the narrator describes in real time. If the narrator says the character crosses a vast desert, the actor walks in place, shielding their eyes from the sun. If the narrator says the character suddenly transforms into a bird, the actor commits to the transformation immediately.
The narrator controls the scene's reality. Characters can be given thoughts, feelings, physical attributes, and abilities through narration alone. The actors must accept and embody every narrative choice without hesitation or negotiation.
The game's comedy often comes from the narrator testing the actors: describing increasingly difficult physical situations, contradicting what was just established, or narrating internal thoughts that the actors must somehow physicalize.
The actors can also speak as their characters, adding dialogue that the narrator incorporates into the ongoing story. The best Narrator scenes develop a dynamic interplay between narration and dialogue, with both channels contributing to the story.
Variations include rotating narrator (the narrator role passes between performers), dueling narrators (two narrators compete to control the story), and audience narrator (audience members take turns providing narration).
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"One of you is the narrator. You describe what is happening as if telling a story. Everyone else performs exactly what you describe. Narrator, you control the story. Performers, you make it real."
Narrator is an effective game for teaching physical commitment and the skill of instant embodiment. Students who play the actor role discover that they can physicalize anything when the narrative framework removes the burden of invention. The narrator provides the what; the actors provide the how.
Coach the narrator to use vivid, sensory language. Narration that engages multiple senses (sight, sound, touch, temperature) gives actors richer material than narration that stays purely visual. "The character entered a room that smelled of burnt toast and old perfume" produces more interesting acting choices than "the character entered a room."
The game teaches the relationship between text and physicalization, a skill that transfers directly to scripted performance. Actors who can instantly embody a description develop the same responsiveness they need when working from a script or taking direction.
Use the game to practice the narrator voice. The narrator's style (deadpan, dramatic, noir, fairy-tale) shapes the entire scene. Experimenting with different narrative styles in rehearsal builds versatility and teaches performers how tone affects content.
How to Perform It
The narrator's language drives the game. Descriptive, specific narration gives the actors material to work with. Vague narration ("something happened") produces vague physicalization. A narrator who says "the detective reached into the cold, murky water and pulled out a shoe that was far too small" gives the actor a rich set of physical tasks.
The actors' commitment to the narration is the game's engine. An actor who hesitates, argues, or comments on the absurdity of the narration breaks the game's spell. The audience wants to see immediate, full-bodied physicalization of whatever the narrator describes, no matter how impossible.
The narrator should listen to the actors. A narrator who steamrolls over the actors' contributions creates a one-sided performance. A narrator who incorporates the actors' additions, builds on their physical choices, and responds to their energy creates a collaborative story.
Pacing matters. The narrator should allow moments for the actors to fully physicalize a description before adding the next narrative beat. Rushing past physical moments wastes the actors' work and denies the audience the visual comedy.
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More or Less
More or Less is a short-form game in which the audience or a director calls out "more" or "less" during a scene, instructing performers to intensify or diminish a specific element of their performance. Players must adjust their energy, emotion, physicality, or character choice on command, calibrating their performance in real time. The game trains responsiveness to external direction and teaches performers that every choice exists on a spectrum that can be dialed up or down. It also demonstrates to audiences the mechanics of performance calibration, making the invisible craft visible.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Narrator. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/narrator
The Improv Archive. "Narrator." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/narrator.
The Improv Archive. "Narrator." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/narrator. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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