Quick Description
The Portkey improv game: Players use ordinary objects to spark memories of different locations in their life. Player A to Player B: Shoes Player B: That takes me to a store in my home town where I bought my first pair of shoes on my own.
A PORTKEY is a magical object that transports a person from one place to another instantly.
How to Play
Portkey is a game that reminds us that we have so many stories in our life that anything can trigger them.
This game can be played in a circle or in pairs.
Have one person say a single word. The word can be a physical object.
When I learned the game, I was told, “Imagine a physical place where you have spent time in the past.” I thought of the garage of the house where I grew up.
“Now using your Mind’s Eye look around that space and when you see something , say it out loud.”
I said, “Ladder”.
The player who received the word lets the word spark a memory of a place and time. That player says, “That takes me to…” and identifies the place and time. The player tells a very short story about the memory.
The other player says, “That takes me to my new apartment when I was painting the walls…”
At the end of the short story about the ladder, that player uses their mind’s eye to look around where the story ended and name something they see.
For example, if the story was about painting a new apartment when they left home, the player would look around the new apartment…in the room that he/she was painting and identify something he/she sees. In my mind I see a radio in the room where I painted, so I would say ‘radio’.
The next player says, “That takes me to” and tells a story about a location that contained a radio.
Origins
The Portkey improv game came to me from Rebecca Stockley. She got it from Matt Smith (Seattle) who used to call it “Takes me to”. Before that it was called Talisman. See Matt tell the story in the video below.
Notes
It’s very easy for the stories to get longer and longer. It’s tricky as a teacher to keep them short. If you impose a time limit, it can seem dominating. Encourage the group to keep them short.
I have seen it played with the following guides:
- It’s a true story from your life in 1 to 2 minutes .
- The story is inspired by a word or short phrase “[blank] takes me to [place in your memory]”
- Be curious about everyone’s story
- Allow silence as a part of the process
- When your 2 minute story is finished – pass along a new Portkey
Variations
Just the location. In this version of the Portkey improv game, instead of telling a short story simple say “That takes me to” and name the physical location. And then identify the new word by looking around that space (in your mind).
What was that about? In this version, after each story the person telling the story is asked “What was that about?” This can prompt a big picture observation. For example using the ladder and painting example above. If the player tells a story about painting a new apartment, they may say after being prompted, “That was about creating a new home…my home”. Or they could say, “That was about a fresh start, clean and unmarred by the past”.
Matt Smith adds this note: “The original version forbids narrative. You can’t tell the story, except through the images frozen in one moment. I always teach it like that before going into Advance and Color. My favorite thing to monitor is the quality of the sound in a room full of people, in groups of 4, playing this game. There is a reverence to it. “The sound of listening”.
Thanks to Barbara Scott for her grammar guidance.
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