The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Advice
The Good the Bad and the Ugly Advice is a short-form game in which three performers play advisors who give progressively worse counsel on a problem brought by a fourth performer playing a person seeking help. The game generates comedy through the contrast between the sincerity of the advice seeker and the escalating uselessness or toxicity of the advice received.
Structure
The Setup
The host gets a suggestion for a real-world problem from the audience. One performer plays the person seeking advice. Three other performers play three advisors: one who gives genuinely good advice, one who gives bad but harmless advice, and one who gives actively dangerous or counterproductive advice.
The Scenes
The advice seeker consults each advisor in turn, presenting the same problem. Each advisor responds in character, giving their categorically appropriate level of advice.
The Escalation
The advice seeker's responses to each advisor fuel the game. Their attempt to take the bad advice seriously, or their confusion at the ugly advice, is often the richest comic territory.
The Button
The game concludes when the advice seeker makes a decision about which counsel to follow, typically played for maximum comic effect.
How to Perform It
Performer Notes
The good advisor should give advice that is actually good. This is harder than it sounds and provides the necessary contrast. An advisor who hedges or gives mediocre advice in the good slot ruins the game's structure.
The ugly advisor should have an internal logic that explains why they believe their terrible advice is appropriate. The funnier choice is conviction, not awareness that the advice is bad.
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Advice. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-advice
The Improv Archive. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Advice." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-advice.
The Improv Archive. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Advice." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-advice. Accessed September 28, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.