Ask-for
Where are we?
Description
This is a Keyword .
Question asked of the audience to get some input to steer a scene. See Audience Participation .
Here are some 'classic questions' :
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Can I have a non-geographical location?
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Can I have an occupation, a hobby?
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Can I have a room in a building?
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Can I have a title for a book/a song?
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Can I have an emotion?
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Can I have a genre of film/literature/theatre/song?
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Can I have a relationship between 2 people?
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Can I have an item you would find in the kitchen/garage?
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Can I have a problem that needs to be solved?
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Can I have an important moment in history?
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Can I have an era? A year?
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Can I have a mode of transportation?
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Can I have a foreign country? (see Gibberish )
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Can I have an animal? (see Animalistics )
If you want to be a little more original try things like
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What did you want to be when you grew up?
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What is this? (open your hands or arms as if you hold something)
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Give me a place where you have been lost
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Why was my spouse limping this morning?
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Give me a place you would not want to be alone at night
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What would be a nasty/annoying habit?
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Give me a place where you would likely meet unusual people?
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What would you never want to hear from your q4 year old daughter?
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Can I have a state of mind?
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What was the best birthday present you ever got?
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If I kissed you now how would that feel?
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What are the things your spouse does to drive you crazy?
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Can I have a non-green vegetable?
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What is a tradition in your family?
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What is the opposite of green (or any other color)?
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Give me something you would want but would never buy yourself
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Can you give me an annoying personal habit?
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What would the eleventh commandment be?
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Can I have an excuse for not having sex?
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Where would you (never) want to go on vacation?
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Can I have a problem that a repairman can fix?
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What would be your grandfather's hobby?
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Give me an occupation what involves (no) risk of physical harm
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What do you have in your basement/attick/boot of your car?
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What would be a lousy excuse for not getting a speeding ticket?
If you're tired of asking the same old stuff over and over again, buy a summary history book (you know - something like "History of the 19th Century" - a book that summarises the historical highlights of every year withing a century), ask for a page number and pick anything off that page. You'll get plenty of different locations, characters, objects (the invention of the light bulb) and so on.
Variations
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Instead of asking for something specific, you can also just start talking to an audience member. Ask them where they live, what their job is, who are their co-workers, do they like them, why or why not. Then just pick anything they mention as a scene starter. Asking for that much information may even be necessary for games like Day in the Life .
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Be creative with the suggestions. Classic example is using the location 'Batchroom' only to step through th emirror into a kind of Alice in Wonderland location.
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Instead of just asking for suggestions before a scene, why not ask the audience to write down suggestions on slips of paper before the performance? Put these in a hat and just draw suggestions before the scene. Or stick them on a dartboard and have an audience pick the suggestion by 'darting' it.
Notes
There is a long list of ask-fors at LearnImprov.com .