Quick Description
When a bell makes a ding, a player’s emotional state goes deeper.
How to Play
Players begin a scene with trivial content.
Every time the bell rings, the players reveal deeper feelings and/or motives.
Notes
The scene does not need to be ‘serious-deeper’… it can be deeper-funny.
Often scenes can be trivial and this game asks the players to make an adjustment.
This is a ‘Trigger Game”. When something happens, it triggers a reactions. Different triggers: bell, phrase spoken by off stage voice (Emcee), phrase spoken by another players, a time limit (every 20 seconds), a zone of the stage….or other means. It can be fun to play with.
Variations
You could have different sounding bells for each player. You could have a bell that triggers a move away from deeper…toward shallower.
Origin
I remember seeing this improv game at BATS Improv, but can’t remember who created it…heck I may have created it because I feel that players avoid deeper themes in scenes. I don’t mind seeing a funny scene about almost nothing…but I also enjoy seeing a funny scene about something. This could help.
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