Teaching a small group

[Houngan]

I'm teaching a group (with a friend), but unfortunately the turnout isn't as big as we had hoped. It's still fun, but it removes some options. Many games just require a certain amount of players.

There are upsides though. We can get through exercises really quickly, and everyone gets tons of personal attention.

We have some ways of dealing with it. For instance, my friend and I usually play with the group.

Just to be clear: the group size ranges from 2 to 5.

Do you have any tips or exercises do you have that work well for small groups? Are there any things you would like to do, but can't because your group is to big?

 

[mike short]

I've worked with small groups too, and I've also led workshops in solo improv. I've collected and developed a few exercises designed for single players that workshop general skills. They also help workshop a sense of self-reliance. Here's three that might be useful for you.

Die in a Room: This one is for object and space work. A single player gets a suggestion of a location. They must do object work and establish things in that location. Eventually something in the room will kill them. Players are challenged to not rush, to organically find that killing thing, and to really exist in the moment and have themselves a fun death scene.

Personify: A suggestion of an object is given. The player imagines three descriptors for that object. We know throw away the object, but keep the descriptors and turn them into personality traits. For example, a tea kettle might be steamy, high-pitched, and hot. So what does a person who is steamy, high-pitched, and hot sound like and move like? The person then either delivers a monologue or they get interviewed by the coach/teacher. This helps challenge us to play different characters, and gives us another tool with which to treat suggestions.

10 Different: Alex and Beth are on stage. A suggestion of an occupation is gotten. Beth remains silent, while Alex talks to Beth in character as a person with that occupation. When the coach says "switch" Alex changes to a new character still with that occupation. This challenges us to play beyond the quick shorthand stereotype we might have for that one thing.

I do believe that any structure or show format can be altered to be for any number of people; the less there are just means that those people have to do more work. 2 people can do a Harold but they'll be on stage pretty much the entire time. So they have to be challenged to do even more than they normally would.