You're Fired
You're Fired is a scene game in which a performer plays a boss who must fire an employee, and the employee responds with increasingly desperate or absurd reasons to keep their job. The game builds naturally toward escalation and rewards strong emotional commitment from both players. The power dynamic provides a built-in engine for comedy.
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Related Games
Firing Squad
Firing Squad is a scene game in which one performer faces a line of players who rapid-fire questions, challenges, or scene initiations. The solo performer must respond to each without hesitation. The exercise builds resilience under pressure and trains the ability to accept any offer instantly.
Walkout
Walkout is a scene game in which performers can walk out of a scene at any point, and whoever remains must justify the departure and continue. The unpredictability of exits forces improvisers to stay alert and adaptable. The game trains the ability to maintain scene coherence despite sudden changes in cast.
Shootout
Shootout is an elimination game in which two performers face off and must respond to a prompt faster than their opponent, with the loser being eliminated and replaced. The rapid-fire format builds competitive energy and rewards quick, fearless responses over carefully crafted ones. The game is an effective way to warm up performers for high-pressure show conditions.
Complaints Department
Complaints Department is a scene game in which one performer staffs a customer service desk while others present increasingly unusual, impossible, or escalating grievances. The desk representative must take each complaint seriously, respond with bureaucratic procedure, and attempt to resolve or acknowledge each case, while the complaints become progressively more surreal.
Old Job New Job
Old Job New Job is a short-form game in which one performer plays a character in their current occupation while simultaneously being haunted by habits, skills, and reflexes from a completely unrelated previous career. The comedy arises from the collision of two incompatible professional worlds within a single person.
Triggers
Triggers is a scene game and exercise in which specific words, phrases, or gestures are designated before a scene begins, and whenever they occur the recipient must execute a predetermined physical or emotional response. The gap between the mundane trigger and the extreme reaction creates the comedic and theatrical engine of the game. It trains active listening, physical commitment, and justification under surprise.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). You're Fired. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/youre-fired
The Improv Archive. "You're Fired." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/youre-fired.
The Improv Archive. "You're Fired." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/youre-fired. Accessed September 29, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.