Einstein Simplified

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Terminology

Back to the Top
A Games

A,B,C...(The Alphabet): Two players act out a scene alternating between the two players with each letter of the first sentence starting with successive letters of the alphabet.

Accents: All players have the same accent or different accents during a scene. Accents may be changed during the scene.

Action Film/Action Hero: Players take on the role of a hero, villain and their sidekicks with the scene being a typical action film story plot.

Actors in a Box: Four players arrange themselves into a square. Two up front, two in back. The front pair is assigned a scene and the whole thing is rotated until all four pairs have scenes. The front scene commences until the emcee freezes and rotates the box to another scene.

Actors in a Box - Two Sided (Einstein Simplified original): Just like Actors in a Box, with the exception that only two scenes are chosen and assigned so that the opposite sides of the square continue each other's scenes.

American Sitcom: Four players are the child, pet, neighbor and one parent and an audience volunteer is the other parent. The child has a catch phrase (audience says aww), pet trick (audience applauds), parent whatever they say (audience boos) and the audient says whatever (audience laughs). The scene is over when the moral for the day (gotten earlier) is reached.

Animal Soap Opera: Players act out a soap opera scene anthropomorphically, getting an animal for all or each, to act like.

Animatronics (Moving People, Mannequins): Two players act out a scene where they cannot move except by the assistance of two audience volunteers.

Armando(Long form): Audience ask-for inspires a monologue (storytelling format) that then inspires scenes based on that monologue. The monologue may return again during the show.

Assigned lines: Three players act out a scene, where two of the players are given one or two line(s) each as the only thing that they can say, and the third player can say anything.

At the Gates: Four players stand in a line. Each will speak in turn, not necessarily down the line, and introduce themselves and narrate their day. As the monologues progress we discover that all the players have died as they days have joined together in that final moment and are explaining what happened to St. Peter.

Authors: Four players narrate a story/book in the style of a different author that they or the audience chooses. The emcee signals when to switch to the next narrator.

Back to the Top
B Games

Backwards ABC: Two players act out a scene alternating between the two players with each letter of the first sentence starting with preceding letters of the alphabet.

Balladeer: One player is the balladeer who begins to sing a ballad. Other players act out the ballad. The balladeer can stop and let the players continue on their own, and then resume ballading.

Bartender: One player is the bartender who listens to problems sung to him and then solves them in song. Three players will come in one at a time with problems, each using a song style of their choosing.

Beat Poet: Each player delivers a beat poet performance on their assigned topic.

Bending-Sitting-Standing (Bending-Standing-Lying Down): Three players act out a scene where one player must always be bending, one sitting and one standing. When one player switches the other players switch to make up for the change.

Blind Date/Mystery Date/Dream Date: One volunteer from the audience will pick their date from the players. Two players behind each dater provide their inner thoughts. The audience determines the date location, and after each line, the player behind the dater provides their inner dialogue.

Blöchbuster (Einstein Simplified original): Three players get three movies that they want to rent from the video store. The fourth player, the clerk, does not know the movies and must figure out the movies from the explanations and acting out of the films by the three players.

Bond: Based on an audience suggestion, players deliver the tag line that James Bond would deliver if the suggestion were used as a weapon or a sexual innuendo.

Bread Line (Einstein Simplified original): A queue forms with everyone in the line waiting for something different. The last person in line is brought back in and must figure out why they are in line. Musical accompaniment occurs with every wrong guess making the line take one step forward, snaking back and forth until the guesser figures out everything or until the number of cutbacks equals the number of line members. Not guessing and delaying the game also causes a step forward.

Back to the Top
C Games

Cable TV: Four players narrate a story/book/event in the style of a different cable station that they or the audience chooses. The emcee signals when to switch to the next narrator.

Catch That Line: Two players are selected and the rest of the troupe is sent to isolation alley while famous lines and quotes are taken from the audience. The two players begin a scene and say the lines as they go along as the other players stand at the side of the stage, in a line. The front sideline player tries to guess what were the given lines yelling "That's a line!" when they believe one has been spoken. It is revealed whether they were correct or not and then they are sent to the back of the line. Once all the lines have been spoken, the game ends, the points are tallied up, the actors on stage scoring for each line not guessed and those off the stage scoring for each one they guessed correctly.

Choose Your Own Adventure (Einstein Simplified Original): Players step forward and tell a story until they are pushed away by another story teller, or they provided options for the audience to choose. At least two options are given and when the audience makes the choice, then the story continues based on the choice made.

Circle of Friends: Two players start the scene and speak about a quirk that an offstage player has. That player then arrives and acts out the scene with the quirk while one of the other players departs. A quirk is assigned to the offstage player who will return for a final cycle of assignment until all three are on stage with their quirks in the scene.

Complaint Department: One player gets an item to return to the unknowing complaint department player who must guess the item being returned.

Complaint Letter: The players divide into two teams, one team 'writes' the complaint letter one word at a time, the other team 'writes' the company response one word at a time. There are multiple exchanges.

Conducted Story: Four players stand in a line facing the audience and narrate a story when pointed to, switching when the conductor points to another player.

Consonant Vowel: Warm-up game where a consonant and vowel are used to create words when passing the focus to another player who may change either the consonant or vowel (or not) when passing focus to another player.

CSI: From an audience suggested location, players deliver the pithy remarks that CSI investigators deliver upon viewing a homicide scene.

CSI-Miami (a.k.a. The Caruso): From an audience suggested location, players deliver the pithy remarks that CSI-Miami investigator David Caruso delivers upon viewing a homicide scene. Yes we do the sunglasses thing.

Back to the Top
D Games

Dating Game: Three players get quirks, stereotypes or whatever and the fourth player asks questions of them to figure out who they are. Typically a fifth player is the host to introduce the bachelor(ette) player.

Day in the Life (A Day in the Life): An audience volunteer is interviewed about their day, which is then acted out for them.

Dead Bodies: One player must move the other players that die upon entering the scene.

Deaf Jam: One player is the DJ, who cannot hear the songs the other players are requesting.

Dentist: The dentist must figure out where the patient is from, their occupation, and why they are at the dentist. All this with the patient already having been given novocaine shots.

Director’s Chair: One player plays director for a scene asking the audience for elements to add to the story such as famous people, natural disasters or story lines.

Director’s Cut: The players act out scenes not shown in movies/TV shows/plays that the audience provides.

Disgruntled Object: One player is a disgruntled object on a daytime talk show. The host player will bring on a surprise nemesis guest and take questions/advice from the audience and callers. The game concludes with a resolution/brawl.

Doo Run Run: All players line up and get a one syllable name. They then sing the doo run run one line at a time, with the third person getting to do three lines. Loop until someone repeats or gets stumped, eliminate and get a new name.

Down on the Farm: One player is the farmer and upon returning must figure out the quirks and the type of animal each of the other players is emulating. That’s what happens when someone leaves the barn door open.

Dream: An audience volunteer is interviewed about their day and if anything is weighing heavily on their mind. Their day is then acted out in a dream-like fashion.

Dude!: Five performers go into isolation and one stays on stage. A person from the audience tells a story to one performer, then the one performer acts out the story to the next performer, saying "Dude! You gotta see this". That performer then tells the story to the next performer, saying "Dude! You gotta hear this". Alternating telling and acting until the last performer who tells the audience. Then the original performer narrates the actual story.

Dumbledore's Office (Einstein Simplified original): Three students are sent to the Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore must guess what house the student is from and what offense they committed to send them to his office. He will assign an appropriate punishment.

Back to the Top
E Games

Emergency Room (E. R.): One player, the ER doctor, must figure out the mysterious ailments that are afflicting the other players as they enter the ER.

Emotional Objects: Three players act out a scene with three objects. Each object is endowed with an emotion that the owner will exhibit when possessing the object.

Emotional Option: Two players act out a scene with the emcee freezing the scene and assigning emotions to one or both players to continue on with in the scene.

Emotional Zones: Three players act out a scene with the stage divided into three separate zones, each zone endowing the players in it with a different emotion.

Every Other Line: Two players act out a scene where one player reads every other line from a randomly selected play and the other player provides the missing line of dialogue concluding with an audience provided ending line of dialogue.

Evil Twin: Two players start the scene as the good people. The offstage evil twins can freeze the scene, carry out a nefarious act, and then exit. The good twin must justify the action and possibly remedy any ill consequences.

Expert (Ask The Expert): One player is interviewing the guessing expert player about an audience provided noun verb (or other randomly selected) area of expertise. The guessing player must answer the questions while trying to figure out what type of expert they are.

Extreme Story, Story, DIE! (Einstein Simplified original): Just like Story, Story, DIE!, except that the host draws a card from a stack that introduces a modification to how each round is played. Modifiers can include accents, physical motions when saying the word or other rules changes. If the modifier is broken, it also leads to the audience yelling "DIE!"

Back to the Top
F Games

Fairy Tale Redux: A fairy tale is reenacted in the style of an audience provided director/author.

Family Dinner: An audience volunteer picks out players to act as family members. Whenever the players deliver a line out of character, the audient buzzes them and they try again. Once they get the character right the audient sounds the bell and more family members enter.

Famous Last Words: Players step forward and give the last words uttered by the person the audience suggested.

Fifties (50’s) Educational Film Strip: One player narrates a film strip while the other players make up each still shot. Note Mrs. Hurpolshimer is always absent and the reason for the substitute giving the film strip. Make it a good reason as to why she isn’t there.

Fill in the Blank: Two players act out a scene occasionally gesturing and saying "um" to get a fill-in phrase/sentence from the audience.

Film Noir: Players act out a scene in a film noir style with asides to the audience after each line of dialogue.

Film/Theatre Styles: Players act out a scene with the emcee freezing occasionally and assigning a film/theatre/TV show style for the scene to continue with.

First Draft (Einstein Simplified original): Players present examples from the unedited "first drafts" of famous movies, television programs, songs and books.

First In Last Out (FILO): One player starts the scene alone and the remaining three or four players enter one at a time, interact with the onstage player and then are left alone as that onstage player leaves until the next player enters. When the last player is alone the order is reversed until the first player is left alone again on stage to deliver the final line.

First Line, Last Line - version 1: Two players act out a scene where the audience has provided the first line of dialogue and the last line of dialogue. The players must justify both lines in the scene.

First Line, Last Line - version 2: Players divide into two teams. One player from each team will act out a scene given the audience suggested first line of dialogue. At some point the emcee will stop the scene and then two new players, one from each team, start a new scene based on the last line of dialogue spoken.

Foreign Film (Foreign Film Dubbing /Subtitles): Two players off stage translate for the two players on stage acting out a film in a foreign language.

Fortune Teller: The fortune teller knows the fortunes for the three people coming in one is a fortune about love, another about how they become famous, and another will become rich.

Forward/Backward: The players will act out a scene, when the emcee shouts backward the scene will then go backward with the exact same lines being said in reverse order. Forward will switch the direction back to normal. The last line that was just said is repeated when the direction changes.

Four-Word (Four-Words): Four players each get a word from the audience. Two start a scene and whenever a players word is spoken that player must leave or enter scene gracefully. A player may not speak their own word or they self destruct.

Fractured Fairy Tale: A fairy tale is reenacted with all the characters being assigned quirks.

Freeze Tag: Two players start a scene with a provided opening line of dialogue. Players from the backline shout "Freeze!" to freeze the scene, tap one player on the shoulder, assume the exact position and begin a completely new scene. May be performed blind where backline players face backstage.

Future Of... (The Future Of...): Players give examples/act out the future of whatever the audience wants prognosticated.

Back to the Top
G Games

Game Show: One player is the host, two players are contestants and one audience volunteer is a contestant for an audience suggested fictitious game show. The host asks questions which the audient will always get right and the players will get wrong. The emcee will freeze the game and assign quirks to the host for each question.

Give Us a Game Title: The audience provides a new game title and the players make up the rules and play a round of the game after explaining the rules.

Go To Hell: One player, the devil, must provide clues to three or four dead sinners so that they can figure out why they went to hell. As soon as they guess correctly, everyone shouts, "Go To Hell!"

Good Cop, Bad Cop: One player is the suspect and must figure a crime that only the good and bad cop know as he is interrogated.

Good, Bad and Ugly: Three players stand in line giving Good, Bad and then Ugly advice for a subject the audience wants counseling on. After each player delivers their advice the audience will shout "That’s Good!", "That’s Bad" or "That’s Ugly!". Players switch positions and repeat this until they have all done each position.

Greatest Hits: Two players are voice-over television people talking about the latest compilation album which is the greatest hits of the audience supplied occupation. One accompanist and one or more singers will sing each song as the voice-over players give the song style and title.

Back to the Top
H Games

Handbag: Two purses or handbags are borrowed from audience members and given to players in the scene who act as women going through their purses, talking, and justifying items pulled from the bags.

Hangover: One player, coming into the scene after a rowdy, drink-laden night, must figure out who he was with, where they were and what they did whilst there.

Harold (The Harold): One audience suggestions launches the players into an open forum association. Then three distinct scenes are generated off the associations. The scenes come back for a second and third beat, eventually coming together. Short form games separate the beats.

Headlines: Two players get several fictional headlines from the audience and then deliver the news with the headlines and stories from those headlines. Eye-on-the-scene reporters and film clips may be called in to play by the in-studio reporters.

Hecklers: A serious topic scene is played, and after it has been established the players off stage begin heckling the performers. The performers keep performing, while the hecklers keep heckling.

Hijacker: One player is sent out as the hijacker. The other players get the mode of transportation, the item used to hijack the players and a goal for the hijacker. hat the hijacker must then guess on his return. Could alternatively get the mode of transportation, a destination and a smuggled item.

History: Players stand in a straight line and deliver a complete chronological history of an object/person/noun that the audience provides, concluding at present day. A particularly poignant bit of narrated history may cause the emcee to freeze the lesson and ask to see that moment in history. Once the scene is complete, the history lesson continues.

HitchHiker: One player drives and has to figure out who each of the three hitchhikers are that he picks up along the way.

Hoe-Down: Four players each separately deliver a four-stanza (AABB) call about the audience suggested occupation sung to a hoe-down/square dance riff. The last players few words are resung by all players.

Hollywood Director: Three players act out a scene based on player four’s direction. The scene will progress until the director shouts cut and has the players redo the scene in a manner of his choosing.

Hostage Crisis: The hostage and ne’er-do-well hostage taker, must figure out what mode of transportation is being demanded, what food item is to be delivered and one unreasonable outlandish request. The one who gets the fewest correct answers is targeted by the SWAT team clue-givers and dispensed with rifled justice.

Hot-Spot: One player jumps out to center stage, begins singing a song but is interrupted after a few lines by another player who pushes them away, takes center stage and begins singing another song somehow related to the previous song. This cycle continues for many songs.

Hot-Spot Story: One player steps out and begins telling a story. After a bit, another player will push them out of the way and continue telling the story until they too are pushed away.

Household Olympics: Two players are the sidestage announcer and color commentator for the two center stage competitor players who are athletes in the audience provided household chore olympics. The commentators call out the actions as the competitors act out the final round in slow motion. This continues until one player has triumphed, usually by attack, over the other player.

Back to the Top
I Games

. . . In a Minute (Movie, Book, Fairy Tale): Players briefly describe an audience suggested movie/book/fairy tale and then act it out, in its entirety, in 60 seconds.

I Like My Women Like I Like My...: Players say how they like their women/men like they like their . An example would be: I like my women like I like my coffee, hot, black and first thing in the morning.

If You Know What I Mean: Players drop innuendo laced lines, and say "If you know what I mean" after each one.

Inner Thoughts: Two players are on a blind date at a dinner location provided by the audience. Two other players then stand behind the daters and speak their inner-thoughts.

Invader: One player gets an invading entity, a barrier blocking a secret weapon and the secret weapon from the audience and then gives clues to the guessing player until they get each item in order and defeat the invader.

Irish Drinking Song: Four Players in a line sing a drinking song about a provided topic.

Back to the Top
J Games

Job Olympics: Two players are the sidestage announcer and color commentator for the two center stage competitor players who are athletes in the audience provided job olympics. The commentators call out the actions as the competitors act out the final round in slow motion. This continues until one player has triumphed, usually by attack, over the other player.

Back to the Top
K Games

Keanu Says What: Players step forward and, in a Keanu Reeves voice, deliver what Keanu would say about the particular topic.

King’s Court (In the King's Court) - (Einstein Simplified original): One player is the King who must guess what the three players who address him one at a time are requesting from the King. Another player is the Court Jester who brings in each requester and assists the King as needed.

Kneeling-Sitting-Standing: Three players act out a scene where one player must always be kneeling, one sitting and one standing. When one player switches the other players switch to make up for the change.

Back to the Top
L Games

Last Line-First Line: Players divide into two teams. One player from each team will act out a scene given the audience suggested first line of dialogue. At some point the emcee will stop the scene and then two new players, one from each team, start a new scene based on the last line of dialogue spoken.

Letter Replacement: Players act out a scene where a letter is replaced with another one. For example "p" becomes "g" and the "glayers go to the gark for a gicnic".

Living Scenery: Two players act out a scene using other players as the living scenery for the location.

Lounge Singer: One player goes out into the crowd and works it like a lounger singer, breaking into song based on what ever the person they are talking to a the moment says.

Back to the Top
M Games

Mad Men (Einstein Simplified original): Players give painfully truthful slogans for real products.

Magazines: Four players narrate a story/book/event in the style of a different magazine that they or the audience chooses. The emcee signals when to switch to the next narrator.

Marshmallow Madness: Two players start a scene based on an ask-for. They are not allowed to say anything funny or cause the audience to laugh. If they do then they must insert a marshmallow into their mouth, chewing, but not swallowing. The scene continues until there is no more room or only unintelligible sounds can be generated.

Master Servant Disaster: The seated master makes requests of the servant based on an initial simple request. None of the requests can be honored due to bizarre inter-connected disasters.

Missing Lines (Whose Line): Audience provided slips of paper, two per player, containing a phrase or sentence are placed in the players pockets and are read during a scene.

Mixed Up Newscast: One player is a news anchor with a co-anchor, weather person and sportscaster who have been assigned quirks. The news takes place with the anchor switching to the other players to report with their quirks and then returning back to the anchor.

Monologues: Players deliver monologues on an audience provided subject.

Mood Swing: Two players each get two emotions and a physical action from the audience. When one player does their physical action the other player switches between the emotions.

Movie Titles: Players divide into two teams, only using movie titles to forward the scene.

Musical (American Musical): An audient is asked about something good that happened to them, their dream job and where they want to go on vacation (three things of varying nature). Players then act out a musical with a song pertaining to each of the three things given by the audient.

Musical Styles: The accompanist will play a song in the style provided by the audience and players will sing a song about the audience provided subject.

Mystery Date: One player must guess the celebrity that he/she is on a date with.

Back to the Top
N Games

National Anthems: Three players sing the national anthem for three fictional countries.

New Choice: Two players act out a scene replacing the last bit of dialogue they just spoke with the emcee hits a buzzer or shouts "New choice!"

NewsCast: Two in studio anchors will talk about an audience provided fairy-tale/children’s story and then go to an eye-on-the-scene reporter who will interview another player as a character related to the story.

Ninety, sixty, thirty... (90, 60, 30...): A scene is done in ninety seconds. Then again in 60 seconds, then in 30 seconds and so on until the players are too exhausted from the time compressed reenactment.

No! Then who? - Warm-up: Player shouts out another players name. They shout No!. They then ask, Then who? Player shouts out another players name, who then shouts No! Repeat until bored.

Number of Words: Three players each get a number from 1 to 10. The player may only use the number of words that they were assigned during the scene.

Back to the Top
O Games

185 (One-Eighty-Five): Players step forward and deliver a joke about an audience provided noun in the form: "185 nouns walk in to a bar. The bartender says I can’t serve 185 nouns. And 185 nouns say ".

Old Job/New Job: Two players start the scene at an audience provided job when a third player enters still stuck in the workings of their old job (also audience provided).

On a Ledge: A player is on a ledge and contemplating committing suicide over a trivial reason. An angel and a devil appear, one on each side. The angel and devil each attempt to influence the player; the angel for the player to live and the devil for the player to jump. As the game reaches its conclusion, the player makes his decision based on how persuasive each side has been and acts accordingly.

One Voice Interview: One player interviews a two-headed expert on a suggested topic. The expert replies with both heads speaking in unison, or 'one-voice'.

One Word Story: Players are in a straight line facing the audience and tell the audience provided story one word at a time looping back to the beginning of the line when the end is reached.

Oracle (The Oracle, The Mighty Oracle): Three players sit on the stage, in a chair and stand (respectively) to form a three-headed sphinxine all knowing oracle. The players answer audience posed questions one word at a time starting with the player lowest on the totem.

Oscar Moment/Musical Moment: Two players act out a scene until the emcee freezes and has one player deliver either an Oscar or musical moment. When the moment is over the scene returns back to normal or the emcee will announce "Back to normal."

Back to the Top
P Games

Pain Game: An audient is pulled up to be "The Mistress of Pain"(MOP). Two to four players compete to make witty 007 type remarks after killing an imaginary villain with one of four objects suggested by the audience. If the audience likes the tag line they laugh, clap and cheer. If not they shout "Clamp! Clamp! Clamp!" and the MOP attaches a wooden clothespin to the offending player. The first one goes on the ear, second on the nose, third on the lip and the fourth on the nip. The first player to get four clothespins loses and the fifth clip is attached to the "Mistress choice" location for a 10 second count.

Party Quirks: Four players each get a quirk and a fifth player is the host of the party where they must guess what the quirks are as the other players arrive at the party.

Performance Art: Three players each separately deliver a performance art piece about an audience suggested subject/noun.

Phoning It In: A scene game for two or three where one player borrows a mobile phone from an audience member and is only allowed to read their text messages as his or her lines in the game.

Pick-Pocket Lines (Einstein Simplified Original): The two players go to isolation alley as multiple lines are collected. When the two players return they each get half of the lines and pocket them. As the scene progresses they pull out the lines from the other players pocket and read them exactly as written, justifying what was just said.

Pick-up Artist: One player sits at a bar and another player begins to put the pick-up moves on them. The emcee will freeze/buzz and assign a quirk to the player until the other player leaves, at which point a new pick-up artist will appear and restart the cycle.

Pick-Up Lines (From the guys of ImprovJam http://www.improvjam.com/): A willing young lady is seated on stage right. The players queue up on stage left and present cheesy downright nasty pick-up lines based on the noun ask-for the audience provides. The audience will respond with laughter or the shout of "Sit down, ass hole!", thus eliminating the player and a new noun is gathered. Rinse, lather repeat until one player is left. That player then delivers a love serenade to the lovely volunteer.

Pillars: Two audience volunteers stand at the downstage right and left corners, motionless like pillars. The two players will act out the scene, moving to touch the pillars on the shoulder for them to add in the next word or phrase.

Pocket Lines: The two players go to isolation alley as multiple lines are collected. When the two players return they each get half of the lines and pocket them. As the scene progresses they pull out the lines and read them exactly as written, justifying what was just said.

Poet: One player speaks a foreign language and the other player provides the translation for his poetry.

Principal's Office (Einstein Simplified original): Three students are sent to the principal's office. The principal must guess what type of student they are and what offense they committed to send them to his office. He will assign an appropriate punishment.

Props: Players divide in to two teams and act out brief scenes with provided props.

Back to the Top
Q Games

Questionable Impressions: Players divide in to two teams. One player from each team starts a scene where they must always ask questions while doing an impersonation. When one player does not ask a question a team mate will take their place. No repeating impersonations is allowed.

Questions Only: Players divide in to two teams. One player from each team starts a scene where they must always ask questions. When one player does not ask a question a team mate will take their place.

Back to the Top
R Games

Race For Coffee: While a guessing game is being played, another player is sent out to get coffee and races to return before the game is over.

Remote Control: The players begin acting out the movie responding to the emcee/remote controller shouting out "rewind", "fast-forward", "slow-motion" or whatever at his discretion.

Repair Shop: Three players get normal items that endow them with unwanted abilities/gifts as the repair shop owner is in isolation alley. Initially the items, the abilities, and all conversation is in gibberish. The owner issues a receipt for the item when he gets it. When the three players return it is back to normal speaking and the owner will tell them the item and the ability as he indicates it has been repaired.

Reverse Trivial Pursuit: The emcee reads answers from trivia cards and the players provide the questions.

Rewind: Two players begin a scene and continue until the scene is stopped, rewound to the beginning and then acted out in an audience provided movie/theatre/TV show style.

Back to the Top
S Games

S & M (Song & Movie Titles) (Einstien Simplified original): Players divide in to two teams. One player from each team starts the scene where one team may only say song titles and the other team may only use movie titles. When a player makes a mistake a team mate will take their place.

Scenes from a Hat: Players divide into groups on stage left and right and act out scenes written down as they are pulled from a hat.

Schwarzenegger: Based on an audience suggestion, players deliver the tag line that Schwarzenegger would deliver if the suggestion were used as a weapon. Yes, it requires the accent.

Secrets: Two players each get an audience provided secret that they must try to guess during a scene.

Shadow Puppets (Einstein Simplified original): Two players mimic the two audients who act out the scene as the players speak. Like animatronics the players cannot move unless the audients move.

Shakespeare: Two players act out a scene around an audience provided conflict as if in a Shakespearean play.

Skydiving Instructor: Three players get quirks and the fourth, the skydiving instructor, must figure them out before shoving each player out of the plane.

Slide Show: One player narrates a slide show on an audience provided vacation location while the other players assume positions on stage for each slide.

Song Styles: The accompanist will play a song in the style provided by the audience and players will sing a song about the audience provided subject.

Song Titles: Players divide into two teams, only using song titles to forward the scene.

Song, Song DIE!: Players sing a song while pointed at by the emcee. When the emcee switches the song should remain the same style and rhythm otherwise the player is out and must die via an audience provided suggestion.

Sound Effects version 1: One player, using a microphone, provides all the sound effects for another player acting out a scene.

Sound Effects version 2: Two audients provide the sound effects for two players acting out a scene.

Spin Doctor (Einstein Simplified Original): Players act as heartless PR reps, trying to put a positive spin on terrible events or things.

Spoon River: The four players stand in a line. Each will speak in turn, not necessarily down the line, and introduce themselves and narrate their day. As the monologues progress we discover that all the players have died as they days have joined together in that final moment.

Stage Direction: Three to four players act out a scene until directed differently by another player offstage.

Star Trekkin' (Einstein Simplified Original): The captain of a starship must determine what the threat is, what it is doing that is so terrible and what kind of awkward Star Trek-like plan they must enact to defeat it. The bridge staff helps the captain with information.

Story, Story, DIE!: The title of a story is given by the audience and the players stand in a line to tell the story, one word at a time, each member saying a single word in order. If any player says "and" or pauses on their turn, the audience yells "Die!". The story pauses and the player steps forward and asks for an unusual object, then performs a short scene wherein they meet their death via that object.

Stumper: This warm-up game starts with all players leaning forward, smacking the tops of their thighs and one player saying "What’s the name of the game", others "Stumper!", first player "And how do we play it?", others "With sound!", first player "And why do we play it?", others "To get warmed up!." The first player then does an action with a sound that all repeat, circling around the circle with each player giving their own sound/action pair until the first player is reached again. The first player then does their sound/action and someone else’s. This player then does theirs and someone else’s, the cycle continuing until minds and bodies are loose and ready.

Stunt Doubles: Two players describe a journey to an audience location to retrieve a suggested object. At the end of the description they shout "Stunt Doubles!" whereupon two other players act out everything described and then shout "Stunt Doubles!" for the original players to return, unscathed, to center stage.

Super Hero Eulogy: Players deliver a brief eulogy about an audience provided fictional super hero.

Super Heroes: One player starts as a fictional super hero discovering an audience provided world crisis on the crisis monitor. This player will call for help and then name the super hero who arrives. This super hero will call for help and name the next super hero cycling until there are four heroes present. Each leaves in reverse order after helping to solve the crisis.

Back to the Top
T Games

Thank God You’re Here: One player is sent out to isolation alley, only to return in the middle of a scene that has already started. One of the players in the scene will utter the phrase "Thank God you’re here." and then the new player must interact with the ongoing scene. Yes, we know its a show.

That's What She Said: Players interact in a scene and drop innuendo laced lines, but do NOT say "That's what she said".

Then Who? - Warm-up: Player shouts out another players name. They shout No!. They then ask, Then who? Player shouts out another players name, who then shouts No! Repeat until bored.

Three Things (Einstien Simplified original): Three phrases or sentences are written on a card. An audience volunteer is in a scene with two players and can only use one of the three phrases each time that they speak.

Time Shift (From Jet City Improv http://www.jetcityimprov.com/): A starting line of dialogue is provided and the scene plays forward until the emcee shouts backwards. The scene is now played in reverse, but the dialogue is said forward, using the exact same lines. The emcee will 'forward' and 'backward' the scene eventually getting to the line(s) before the starting line and playing the entire scene out.

Triangle: One team of three goes into isolation, while another team does three scenes, each pairing in the triangle doing a scene based on one word. Each scene is acted out, with the emcee rotating between all three sides. After a few rotations, the other team is brought in and assigned the same three words and the scene rotation is played out again.

Two Lines (Two Phrases): Three players act out a scene, where two of the players are given one line/phrase each as the only thing that they can say, and the third player can say anything.

Typewriter: One player types/narrates an audience suggested book title in a suggested genre while the other players act out the scenes typed.

Back to the Top
V Games

Vacation Media: Much like Vacation Video, except online media has captured the vacation. Instagram, Snapchat, Boomerang, YouTube, etc are all used to recount the vacation. One person narrates, while the other performers are the media. The narrator can change.

Vacation Video (Einstein Simplified original): One player narrates a video on an audience provided vacation location while the other players act out the video. Pausing, scene jump, and other VCResque controllings occur.

Velvet Rope (Don’t You Know Who I Am?): The bouncer at a club must figure out which D-list celebrities are alleging to be on the list to get in to the party.

Verse: Players divide in to two teams and the audience provides a word. A player from each team starts the scene with the first speaker ending the first line with the provide word, the second line with a rhyming word and a third line with a word that the other player must rhyme in their first line. The other player only delivers two lines, a rhyme line and a feeder line. This alternates until a player cannot rhyme and a team mate takes their place.

Back to the Top
W Games

When I Was Young (Einstien Simplified original): The players stand in a half ellipse facing the audience and reminisce about an audience suggestion in the format "When I was Young . . .".

Whose Line: Two players act out a scene, occasionally taking audience prepared slips of paper out of their pockets and reading them as dialogue. Whatever is read must be justified.

World’s Worst: The players step forward and give an example of the world’s worst whatever the audience suggested.

Back to the Top
Y Games

Yes And - Warm-up: Players are in a circle and advance a story line. Start with a simple declarative and then the next player will say "Yes, and..." to advance the story.

Back to the Top
Z Games

Zip-Zap-Zop - Warm-Up: One player starts by pointing to another and saying Zip. That one points to another and says Zop, that one to another and Zop. Repeat the zip-zap-zop one or two times and then vary to zoing, or what ever other sound/action you craft to pass the focus to another player. Don’t think, just do.

Back to the Top
Terminology

Ask For: The suggestion given by the audience when the emcee Asks for a suggestion.

Audient: An audience volunteer, typically one appearing on stage with the troupe.

Backline: The line of players along the back wall of the stage space.

Buzzer: The noise making device, handheld, used to indicate a change as in New Choice or scene Freeze as in Film/Theatre Styles.

Edit: The point in a scene where it is concluded by the emcee buzzing, stepping center stage and clapping or just simply saying 'OK that's the end of , wasn’t that incredible!'

Edit point: The same as Edit.

Emcee: The master of ceremonies for the show. More specifically the player who introduces the group, introduces each game, gets the ask fors, interacts with the audience and directs the entire show.

Freeze: When spoken by the emcee or players the current scene has all the players freeze in position without any further movement or dialog until some action takes place.

Isolation Alley: The stairway/alleyway outside the stage side door where players are sent out when they are the guesser for a guessing game. (Term first used by Lance Harwell May 15, 2007 for Hostage Crisis.)

Left, Center and Right Stage: The relative positions on stage with respect to someone looking at the stage from the audience.

MC: Master of Ceremonies, same as Emcee.

Offstage: The space to the left and right of the stage that are not in the 'official' stage space. This can be either on the wings or off to the sides and on the floor for smaller venues.

Snapping: Used to indicate when a player is close to the correct response in any of the guessing games. Snapping the fingers has also been used in other games by the audience when the player is close to a goal.

Standard scene setup: General statement of Emcee getting ask for(s) to setup the scene. These typically can include a location, relationship, quirk, made up novel title or whatever the specific game needs.

Main Page Troupe Members Hire Us Videos About Us Schedule