Improv Game Friday: Back in my day...

Line games are a genre of improv exercise that involve players quickly creating punchlines to short jokes. It epitomizes the ‘one-liner’ you often see in media.

Simple game = quick fun.

There are tons of formats for line games. One favorite is: Back in my day…

Goal

• Work on quick-thinking to rationalize your punchline

What

1. One player will pick a word for the group to begin.

   • You can also use a random word generator.

2. Anyone can begin by saying: “Back in my day, we didn’t have [word], instead we [punchline].

   • Note: Players can go in any order! Be courteous of others.

3. Take turns making punchlines until you have exhausted the word. Then you can pick a new ‘subject’ word and play again.

   • Stop whenever you want! Improv games tend to have flexible rules.

Example

Let’s say our word is: apartment buildings.

The above is a pretty one-to-one replacement for apartments. You can also go wild with creative replacements:

Try playing this game at the office, with a few work-related subjects — Back in my day, we didn’t have Zoom. In fact, we didn’t have any meetings and life was perfect!

Joyous Friday to you and yours,

Tyler