The Gerbil
The Gerbil is a scene game in which one performer plays a character whose behavior is secretly being controlled or influenced by another performer through hidden signals. The controlled player must justify their involuntary actions within the scene's logic. The game creates comedy through the visible struggle between intention and compulsion.
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He Said While She
He Said While She (also called Two-Headed Expert or Narration Game) is a scene game in which narration and action interweave: one performer narrates what a character says while the other physically performs and voices the character's actions. The split between narrator and performer creates a dual-track reality in which the narration and the physical performance can align, diverge, or generate irony through contrast. The game rewards physical specificity and the narrator's ability to use the performer's choices.
Consciences
Consciences is a scene game in which each main character has an additional performer who voices their conscience, offering moral guidance, warnings, or temptations. The tension between a character's desires and their conscience creates layered comedy and dramatic irony. The game is closely related to Alter Ego but frames the inner voice as a moral authority.
Switch Gibberish
Switch Gibberish is a scene game in which performers alternate between speaking coherent dialogue and gibberish on command. Scene partners must maintain the scene's emotional arc and narrative logic regardless of which mode they are in. The game demonstrates how much communication happens through tone and physicality independent of words.
Dubbed Movie
Dubbed Movie is a scene game in which one set of performers provides the physical action while a separate group supplies all voices from offstage or from the side. The disconnect between bodies and voices generates comedy through mismatched timing, unexpected interpretations, and the challenge of physical performers having to commit fully to words they cannot predict. The game trains both physical storytelling and vocal responsiveness.
Wacky Word Wizard
Wacky Word Wizard is a game in which a performer plays a character who has the power to transform the scene whenever they say a specific trigger word. Each utterance of the word changes the genre, setting, or emotional tone. The game rewards creative use of the trigger and the ability to justify sudden transformations within scene logic.
Non Sequitor
Non Sequitur is a scene game in which performers deliberately respond to each other with statements that have no logical connection to what was just said. Despite the apparent randomness, players must commit to each line with full emotional conviction. The game reveals how much meaning an audience will project onto confident performance and trains players to trust the unexpected.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). The Gerbil. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/the-gerbil
The Improv Archive. "The Gerbil." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/the-gerbil.
The Improv Archive. "The Gerbil." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/the-gerbil. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.