Warmups For The Improv Class You Enrolled In During A Pandemic
Zip-Zap-Zoom: It’s like Zip-Zap-Zop, but nobody knows who you just passed the energy to because you’re on a Zoom call.
Mind Meld (Easy Version): Pair up with another improviser and try to converge onto the same word, even though we all know the word is just going to be “Cuomo”.
Stretch and Overshare: Stretch and get emotional about the simpler times before the coronavirus shut down all the theaters and ruined improv.
Breezy Hot Spot: Step onto your balcony and begin singing with your neighbors, but step back in when another improviser begins balcony-singing with theirs.
One Word “Story”: Go around the class and have each improviser add one word to form a story that is completely incoherent because everyone is sharing a mediocre internet connection with 3 of their family members.
Crazy Seventy-Eights: Shake each limb out, counting from 78 down to 0, in order to get your blood pumping after doing nothing but watch Normal People over and over again these past two weeks.
Lame Game: Say your name and perform an action that reflects your pandemic personality, like “Darren” and “trying to reconnect with my ex under the guise of being concerned for her health and safety”.
Underreaction Scene: Maintain a blank reaction while another improviser says something profoundly troubling about how we are on the brink of economic collapse, how hospitals are tackling an overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases with diminishing personal protective equipment, and how no matter how many fun improv classes you sign up for, your stupid little pretend world will always be a complete fantasy that will never let you truly escape the end of the actual world around us.
Five Grocery Things: Challenge other improvisers to list five things they couldn’t find at the grocery store this week.
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Eric Shan is a writer and business major whose work can be found in places like JAMA Network Open, Health Affairs, and various corporate slide decks. He’s taken classes at UCB, Second City, and PHIT, but he’s still not very funny.
