KristyWes

Joyful Noises
December Photo Project Day #21

Found: Carolers!  On the steps of St. Bart's

We had a substitute teacher at Improv class this week.  One of the warm-up exercises he had us do was a standard Improv game called "Throw Knives at People."  (I don't actually know its official name, but that sounds about right.)

The game goes like this: everyone stands in a circle, and one person throws an imaginary knife at another person.  Hi-ya!  That second person catches the imaginary knife (Oomph!) and throws it at someone else.  Hi-ya!  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  Additionally, the two people on either side of the person who has just caught the knife (Oomph!) are charged with stabbing that person, imaginary-samurai-sword style.  Aaargh!

As the knife gets passed and the swords get slashed, players practice making eye contact (useful later in scene work) and heightening intensity.  The game gets increasingly loud and increasingly fake-violent, building up the energy of the group (also useful later).

"Throw Knives at People" isn't usually my favorite warm-up game (I prefer its more gentle cousin, "Bunny Bunny") but I got into it on Monday night.

Afterwards, the substitute teacher looked at me and said, "By the way, you have a really great horror-movie scream."

I will take that as a compliment.  Thanks, Teach!