Agony Aunt

Agony Aunt

Description

A word-at-a-time game. Ask the audience what problems they are having. The players respond to the problem a word at a time, as one Agony Aunt.

Example

Problem: “My housemate won’t clean their dishes, they just leave them in the sink!”

Improviser A: Dear

Improviser B: Derek,

Improviser C: Your

Improviser A: housemate

Improviser B: sounds

Improviser C: annoying

Improviser A: but

Improviser B: perhaps

Improviser C: he

Improviser A: is

Improviser B: busy

Improviser C: or

Improviser A: scared

Improviser B: of

Improviser C: water.

Improviser A: Try

Improviser B: taking

Improviser C: him

Improviser A: swimming.

Improviser B: Love,

Improviser C: Betsy

Teaching Purpose

  • Listening and being in the present moment with each other.
  • Storytelling.
  • Accepting and building on offers.
  • Being obvious.
  • Teamwork and support.

Additional Tips for Playing

  • Listen
  • Support the other players, you’re working with them
  • You are one character, so remember to say “I” instead of “we”
  • Match the voice/physicality of the other places
  • Remember the names of the person with the problem, and the name of your agony aunt!

Origin

This came out of a Hoopla workshop.

Variations

See other word at a time games like Complaint Letter and Word at a Time Story.

Show Introduction

“This is called Agony Aunt. Our lovely agony aunt is going to help you with some of your problems. Could we get a name for our agony aunt?” “Betsy Dandelion” “Great, do any of you have a problem you’d like Betsy’s advice on? What’s your name?”

Categories

This exercise is in the following categories:

Listening.

Yes And.

Short-Form Games.

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