Instant Skits: Using Improv to Create Memorable Moments in Ministry

by The Skit Guys

Overview

Using Improv to Create Memorable Moments in MinistryThe Skit Guys bring you more than 200 skits to use in your youth group. Indexed by topic and Scripture reference, you can illustrate just about any lesson you want. Plus, each skit is ready to go and will allow all your students to participate in the teaching, whether or not they can act. They'll laugh, they might cry, and in the end, they'll learn something important.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310265689
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	12/08/2005
Series:	Youth Specialties Series
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	8.49(w) x 10.96(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The Skit Guys are Eddie James and Tommy Woodard, two high school friends who love to communicate God's Word in dynamic and captivating ways through the use of drama, teaching, and comedy. They have been involved in various ministries and impacting lives for more than twenty years. The duo has written numerous dramas, plays, and humorous skits that cover a wide variety of topics. They're the authors of Skits That Teach, Instant Skits, and TV Shows That Teach, along with their own Skit Guys resources. Eddie James has also coauthored he Videos That Teach series, with Doug Fields.

Read an Excerpt

Instant Skits

Using Improv to Create Memorable Moments in Ministry

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By Eddie James Tommy Woodard

Zondervan

Copyright © 2005 Eddie James and Tommy Woodard (The Skit Guys)
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-310-26568-1

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Chapter One

2.0 TOP TEN IMPROV GAMES

The following games will help expand your drama team's ability to think on the move. As your actors become more proficient at these exercises, they will also develop the essentials your team needs to be able to put together and perform on-the-spot skits.

2.1 PROP ME UP, HERE

This fast-paced game is a great way to get your team interested in improv. The main idea behind this game is to see who can come up with the most creative uses for the props; therefore, you'll need to have a good selection of props. Try to have some normal, everyday items, as well as some objects that may be more difficult to identify. You can use the list in section 7.6 to get you started.

Select two or more players to get onstage. Divide the players into two teams. All props should be placed in a box at center stage. At your signal, a player from team one pulls out a prop and has 10 seconds to come up with any application for the item other than the object's intended use. Once finished, the first player hands the prop to a player from team two, who must immediately come up with a different use. When finished, the player from team two will then pass the prop to a different player from team one, who must do the same.

This continues back and forth like a Ping-Pong game until someone can't come up with a new idea. Whichever team can't come up with a new idea drops the prop, and the other team gets a point. Hand a new prop to the last successful player and continue in the same direction. This game can be a lot of fun and even more intense if you have a good buzzer to go off at the end of 10 seconds each time.

Caution: This game could potentially yield some inappropriate innuendos if you're not careful. We want to encourage you to strongly emphasize the importance of appropriateness to your game players. You may even want to deduct points if teams are overtly inappropriate.

2.2 WHO AM I, AND WHAT AM I FEELING?

In this game, the director has made two sets of index cards. One deck describes occupations, and the other deck describes different feelings. One by one, actors pick one card from each deck and then proceed to present a character combining the suggestions from the two cards. The audience then guesses what the two cards held. You can find a list of occupations in section 7.3 and feelings in 7.5 to get you started.

2.3 THE BALL KNOWS ALL

Have your group sit in a circle with any type of round ball. The director gives life to the ball as the group passes the ball around the circle. For example, the director may say the ball is "heavy," and the group acts as if they can hardly lift it. The players can talk to or about the ball; however, they may not use the same words the director used to give life to the ball. This can also be a great game for involving audience members-have them try to guess what the "life of the ball" is.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Fire

Light

Bright

Feels like needles

Knows what you're thinking

Thinks you're cute

Thinks you're funny

Freezing

Thinks you think you know all about the ball's horrible past

Feels like thunder

Heavy

Funny

Knows what you did last summer

Wet

Slimy Smells like poo

Allows you to see the future Feels like Jell-O(tm)

Feels like a warm blanket

Prickly

Feels like razor blades

Light as a feather

Stiff as a board

Looks like your favorite dessert

Makes you have allergies

Sticks to your hands

Filled with helium

Splashes on you when you catch it

Causes you to shout your feelings

Causes you to laugh

Causes you to cry

Causes you to stop breathing until you get rid of it

Causes you to freeze everything except your arms

Fluffy like cotton balls

Causes you to start singing your favorite songs

2.4 CHARACTERS, CONFLICTS, & LINES (OH MY!)

Choose a character from section 7.2, a conflict setting from 7.1, and a line to get you going from 7.8 or line to end with from 7.9. Now have your improv players create a scene. To make things more spontaneous, write out the different elements of the scenarios on slips of paper and place them in bowls labeled characters, settings, and lines. Now have your improv players pick from the bowls, read their elements to the audience, and act them out.

Despite the title of the game, the actors aren't actually given a specific conflict. They're simply provided with a person, a place, and a line. Their job is to quickly and creatively develop a character, set up a conflict, and then resolve that conflict.

This is also a great exercise for your actors if you have a regular drama group. If you can get your actors familiar with this format, you'll be on your way to creating great improvs and writing your own skits.

2.5 TRIFECTA

For this game, choose a small group of audience members to be your improv players. Ask them to create an improvisation that must include three specific things: one prop, one line, and one action. For example: The prop may be a roll of toilet paper, the line might be, "Do you ever get the feeling someone is watching you?" and the action could be a somersault. The challenge here is not only using the things you have given them, but also creating an improv that makes sense and has a beginning, middle, and end. You can find a list of props in section 7.6 and some lines to get them going in section 7.8. To help them with this skit, you may also want to provide them with a character and/or setting from the Scenarios section (7.1, 7.2).

2.6 PASS IT ON

Choose three people from the audience to be improv players and have them leave the room. Direct the remaining audience members to come up with a scenario to be acted out. The scenario should include a setting, character, and simple action. (See sections 7.1, 7.2, and 7.7a for some suggestions on these.)

Now, bring the first improv player back into the room. Explain the scenario and tell her to pantomime the scenario for the second improv player. Bring the second improv player in. After the first actor has pantomimed the scenario for the second, bring the third improv player into the room. Have the second improv player pantomime his understanding of the scene as conveyed by the first actor.

Make sure the actors don't speak at all; they should allow the pantomime to convey the message. You also may need to shush the audience at times if people are giving things away through sighs, moans, yelling "no," etc.

Once the second improv player has finished acting out the scenario, ask the third improv player to tell the audience what he thinks the scenario was supposed to be about, including character, location, and situation.

As with the old parlor room game "telephone," each "copy of a copy" loses something in translation-wherein lies the humor for the audience. So feel free to use four or even five actors in the process. And as your group's acting skills progress, feel free to make the scenarios more complicated.

2.7 ASK THE AUDIENCE

This exercise encourages actors to be expressive with their bodies when conveying a scene to the audience. Have members of your drama team act out a scene without using words. The audience should not know what the actors have been assigned to do. After the scene is completed, ask the audience for feedback regarding what they thought the scene was all about. (For suggestions, see the "Slightly More Complex Actions" in section 7.7b.)

2.8 LET'S GO TO THE CLIP

Select several fairly easy scenes from movies. (For help with this game, see any of the Videos That Teach books from Youth Specialties.) Cue up the clips and bring them to your event. Show a clip and choose the appropriate number of audience members to re-enact the scene onstage-but with a twist. As the leader, you can go in several different directions, but here are some ideas to get you started:

CRAZY CASTING

Instead of casting the obvious players in roles, mix it up. For example: A large jock could play the role of Mini Me; a small middle school student could play the role of Darth Vader; a male actor could play Julia Roberts, while a female could play Richard Gere.

ALTERNATE ENDING

Although everyone may know how the actual scene ends in the movie, let your actors make up their own ending. Encourage them to be as real or as outrageous as they can be.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT

If the clip you choose is a comedy, have your actors make it a drama, and vice-versa.

MOVIE MAGIC

Instead of showing the clip to your audience, have your improv players leave the room and let them watch the clip in private. Then have them come in and act out the scene for the audience. Have the audience guess what movie it was from. For this game, you may want to meet with your drama group before your event to plan ahead.

2.9 FREEZE FRAME

Choose two to four people from the audience to be your improv players for this game. Next, select another couple of audience members to put the improv players in different positions on the stage. Now ask your audience to come up with ideas for the situation. Pick the one you like, assign characters to your players, and let the improv begin. When you want to change things, shout, "Freeze Frame!" At this signal, your players should freeze where they are and wait for your direction. Now, you have two options:

1) Go back to your audience and let them come up with new ideas for the group in the positions they're in. Start the new improv from here. You can either do this on the fly, or you can have the audience choose several situations before you begin, and every time you yell, "Freeze Frame!" you tell them the new situation from the list you created before the game began. 2) Replace your actors with new improv players and continue the skit, letting the new players put their spin on things.

Feel free to shout, "Freeze Frame!" as much as you want. This is a great way to keep things moving when the improv is going too slow, or to help control the direction things are going when your players get a little too crazy. You'll also find this to be a good way to get audience members involved; they get to watch how improv works while also getting the opportunity to try new things.

2.10 LOOK WHO'S HERE

Quietly assign each player a character and an action (both of which they will keep to themselves). Have your performers take turns getting onstage acting out their characters and actions. You may want to set up a scenario where someone is having a party, and every few minutes, you have a new person come to the party. Once everyone has had the opportunity to perform, ask your audience to guess each player's character and action.

Characters can be famous people or a particular type of person. The action should be something that can be physically acted out and should include anything from a specific action to a certain condition. You can use characters or occupations from sections 7.2 or 7.3 for suggestions, along with traits in 7.4 or simple actions in 7.7a.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Instant Skits by Eddie James Tommy Woodard Copyright © 2005 by Eddie James and Tommy Woodard (The Skit Guys). Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 7 1.0 INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 Essential Improv Tips 13 2.0 TOP TEN IMPROV GAMES 19 2.1 Prop Me Up, Here 20 2.2 Who Am I, and What Am I Feeling? 21 2.3 The Ball Knows All 22 2.4 Characters, Conflicts, and Lines (Oh My!) 23 2.5 Trifecta 24 2.6 Pass It On 25 2.7 Ask the Audience 26 2.8 Let’s Go to the Clip 27 2.9 Freeze Frame 28 2.10 Look Who’s Here 29 3.0 SCRIPTURE SKITS 31 3.1 The Fall 35 3.2 The Flood 36 3.3 Abraham’s Sacrifice 37 3.4 Jacob’s Two Wives 38 3.5 Jacob’s Wrestling Match 39 3.6 Balaam’s Donkey 40 3.7 A Left-Handed Savior 41 3.8 Samson and Delilah 42 3.9 Punishment for a Stolen Ark 43 3.10 David Chosen by Samuel 44 3.11 David and Goliath 45 3.12 Solomon’s Wise Decision 46 3.13 Elisha Is Jeered 47 3.14 Boy Jesus in the Temple 48 3.15 Jesus and the Woman at the Well 49 3.16 The Pool of Bethesda 50 3.17 Jesus Heals a Paralytic 51 3.18 The Parable of the Sower 52 3.19 Jesus Calms the Storm 53 3.20 Jesus Feeds the 5,000 54 3.21 Jesus Walks on Water 55 3.22 The Good Samaritan 56 3.23 Jesus with Mary and Martha 57 3.24 The Prodigal Son 58 3.25 Jesus and the 10 Lepers 59 3.26 The Rich Young Man 60 3.27 Zacchaeus 61 3.28 Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead 62 3.29 The Parable of the Talents 63 3.30 A Boy and a Window 64 4.0 PICTURE SKITS 65 5.0 GOING SOLO 93 5.1 Monologue Moments 95 6.0 CHARACTER CONFLICTS 97 6.1 Dating Confl icts 98 6.2 Family Confl icts 102 6.3 Work Confl icts 106 6.4 Believer/Seeker Confl icts 111 6.5 School Confl icts 116 6.6 Friendship Confl icts 120 6.7 Taboo Confl icts 124 6.8 Faith Confl icts 128 6.9 Sin Confl icts 132 6.10 Just for Fun Confl icts 136 7.0 SCENARIOS 141 7.1 Settings 144 7.2 Characters 146 7.3 Occupations 148 7.4 Traits 150 7.5 Feelings 153 7.6 Props 155 7.7a Simple Actions 157 7.7b Slightly More Complex Actions 158 7.8 Lines to Get You Going 160 7.9 Lines to End With 163 8.0 THEME INDEX FOR “SCRIPTURE SKITS” 167 and “CHARACTER CONFLICTS”