Improvisation: Characters

Objective
To identify and practice one of the elements of improvisation.

Description
Characters have a lot of value in empowering your students’ improv. In this lesson, students will start to explore character
in improv with the warm up game “Character Walkabout” and the improv game “Hitchhiker.”

Materials
• Character Walkabout Instruction Sheet (for the teacher)
• Hitchhiker Instruction Sheet (for the teacher)
• Reflection

Instruction
1. Journal Prompt: What do you find frustrating about improvisation? If you don’t find anything frustrating, why
do you think that is?
2. Discuss the journal prompt with students. What frustrates you about doing improv? What makes a successful
improv? Guide students away from the “a successful improv is funny” line of thought. Improv can be funny but
that should never be the intent.
3. Emphasize that strong characters are one of the most important elements to a successful improv. Ask your students
why that might be. See what their answers are and then introduce the idea that characters are all about POV (Point Of
View). A character’s point of view gives the student a perspective to work from. There’s always something to talk about.
4. Exercise: Character Walkabout. This is a warm up exercise. Get everyone up and moving around the space.
Have students walk with purpose, without talking, and check in with themselves: How are you feeling today?
Are you tired? Is anything sore? Are you super excited and jazzed?
5. Instruct students to keep moving. On your “go,” have students say hello to one another. Have students say only
hello, so they don’t start thinking about what they have to say or do as the exercise progresses. Instruct students
to say hello from wherever they are, whatever they’re feeling. Remind them to make eye contact with whomever
they’re saying hello to.
6. After a few minutes, have students say hello like they’re happy to see everyone they encounter. Hello! Nothing
else. Have students keep moving, making eye contact, and saying hello like they’re happy to see the person.
7. Next, instruct students to say hello like they’re not too sure about everyone they meet. Have students keep
moving, making eye contact, and saying hello like they’re not sure about them.
8. Side coach students during these: keep moving, make eye contact, say hello and nothing else. Give students
the opportunity to say hello to at least 3-4 people before changing to the next one. After the “not sure” round go
through the following. Feel free to add to the list. The idea is to say hello, but also play with different moods,
emotions, and motivations.
a. Say hello like you’ve just won the lottery.
b. Say hello like you’ve just checked your back pocket and you’ve realized you’ve lost the winning ticket.
c. Say hello like you suspect that everyone you see has de-friended you on Facebook.
d. Say hellolike you have de-friended everyone on Facebook, but you’re trying not to let anyone know.
e. Say hello like everyone you see is your favorite celebrity.

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 9. Do a quick check-in. How are you feeling? Were some emotions and moods easier to play than others? Did
you maybe overhear someone that was doing something cool and funky that you were digging?
10. Have students move around the space. This time they’re going to start playing with character and ages. They can
also say more than hello, if they want.
11. Start with students greeting each other like they are all toddlers at a daycare. Let them explore this character and
this age for a minute. Side coach them to think about being a 2-3 year old toddler at a daycare. Coach them to use
their voices and bodies to sound and to move like toddlers.
12. Next, increase the age. Now students are 6 year olds at a birthday party. How does their character change?
Coach them that they’ve all just had cake and they are loaded with sugar.
13. Side coach students during these exercises: keep moving, make eye contact, say hello and encourage them to say
more if they want. Remind them to focus on the character and their age.
Remind them to think about the physicality of this character. Side coach them to think about body language:
How do you walk? How do you communicate? How do you express?
Give students the opportunity to say hello to at least 3-4 people before changing to the next character/age/
situation.
Keep moving up in age. Even if they don’t have a lot of experience with the ages, remind them to think about
people they know in these categories. How do these people present themselves?
Feel free to play with the ages and the situations. The goal is to get them playing with different energy levels and
physicality, ranging from hyper, energized youth to grave, weighted old age. For example:
a. Tweens at their first school dance.
b. Teens at a prom.
c. College students living away from home for the first time.
d. Graduates at their first day on the job.
e. New parents who haven’t slept but have to go to work.
f. Retirees who don’t have to work anymore.
g. Elderly people on their first day at a nursing home.
14. Bring students back to neutral, but keep them moving around the room. Tell them to focus on professions and
stereotypes. Think about these types of characters. Have the students go back to saying only “hello.” Remind
them of the pattern. Keep moving, make eye contact, say hello. Remind them that when they move, they should
be moving as their character. How does this character move?
15. Go through the following greetings. Feel free to add to the list as long as they’re playing between different types,
physicalities, and energies. Give students time with each character. Let them say hello to 3-4 different people
before moving on to the next exercise.
a. Greet each other as cowboys, prima ballerinas, lawyers, campaigning politicians, kindergarten teachers,
plumbers, used car salesmen, supermodels, and drama teachers.
16. Do a quick check-in. How was that for you? Were some roles harder to take on than others? What did you do
when you didn’t know how to walk like a lawyer or like a prima ballerina? Did you look at somebody else?
How was it to interact with one another using these different personas? How was it to interact with one
another being someone other than yourself?
17. Have students identify which characters came most easily for them and keep a mental list. These characters are
going to come in handy with the next game, “Hitchhiker.”
18. Hitchhiker. Line up three chairs in front of your group. Explain that the chairs represent the front seat of a
car. The chair furthest to the left is the driver’s seat, while the other two chairs are for passengers (one who
will be the hitchhiker). This improv will start off with a driver and one passenger. Get two volunteers to sit in
those chairs.
19. Everyone is going to participate, so have the rest of the class line up off to the side. The people who are waiting to
come on stage will be the hitchhikers.

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 20. Start the improv. The driver and the passenger are just driving around, perhaps going to the mall. They start a
conversation in a neutral state and talk about whatever they want. The first hitchhiker is going to step forward,
the driver will see them, and pull over to pick them up,
21. The hitchhiker’s job is to bring a strong character into the car. A strong offer. Remind students to think about
the characters in the Walkabout Game. A strong offer is when you were like the cowboy and you talked with
that accent, with that drawl. Another strong offer is when you stood very tall and very stiff and posed like the
prima ballerina.
22. You may want to be the first hitchhiker, to model this for students. If you enter the car as a cowboy, say “Howdy,
ma’am! Howdy, miss! I was sure glad you could pick me up today. I’m on my way to the rodeo.”
23. Once the hitchhiker enters the car with the strong offer, the other two people in the car will duplicate it. “Oh,
yeah, sure! Great to have you in the car!” “Oh, I love to pull over for a fellow cow person like myself!” They
continue the conversation and all three are the same character type.
24. If students have trouble with the vocal traits of the character, side coach students to get into the physicality. Look
at how the other people are seated. Are they sitting back? Are they sitting forward? Are they sitting upright?
Start with that. Then, look at what are their hands doing? Do they have any facial tics? Copy that and then
trust that the voice is going to come with it.
25. After the scene goes on for a minute, the driver has to find an excuse to leave. Once the driver exits the car, the
first passenger moves over to become the driver, the hitchhiker moves over to become the passenger, and they
drop the persona and return to a neutral state. Now they are ready to pick up a new hitchhiker.
26. Repeat the process (see step #25). The driver and the passenger are in neutral. The hitchhiker steps forward with
a strong character, a strong offer and enters the car. The driver and the passenger adopt the physicality and vocal
characteristics of the hitchhiker’s character. At some point the driver has a reason to leave, everyone moves over
and the process begins again.
27. Note: The point of this exercise is not accuracy. It’s to challenge and push students to explore the boundaries of a
character. To identify the physical and vocal qualities of a character and to have fun with it. Another goal for this
exercise is for students to present a strong offer (i.e. a strong character) and work with it.
28. Check in with students after the exercise. How was that for you? If it was fun, why was it fun? If you were an
audience member enjoying the play, what were the performers doing that made you enjoy it so much? Talk
about how having a strong character can make a successful improv.
29. Reflection: Have students reflect on the exercise. What was it like to present a strong offer and accept a
strong offer? Were some of these characters easier to do than others? If some of these characters were more
challenging, how did you try and find your way into these roles? What strategies/things did you use to make
it work for you?
30. Exit Slip Question. If you use the Reflection for homework, consider asking these exit slip questions at the end
of class:
a. Why is a strong character important to a successful improv scene?
b. Describe the Hitchhiker game in your own words.
c. Describe your participation in today’s exercises. What would you change if you had the chance?

Assessment
A Reflection Rubric and a Participation Rubric are included.

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 Character Walkabout
Hello
• Get the group to move around the space.
• Instruct students to interact using the suggestions you call out, but the only word they can
say is “hello.”
• They must demonstrate the following qualities via body language, gait (the way they walk)
and voice (tone, intention).
• One-at-a-time, call out the following:
• Say “hello” as yourself and however you’re feeling at the moment.
• Say “hello” like you’re happy to see everyone you meet.
• Say “hello” like you’re not so sure about everyone you meet.
• Say “hello” like you just won the lottery.
• Say “hello” like you just checked your pocket and the winning ticket is gone.
• Say “hello” like you suspect that everyone you see has de-friended you on Facebook.
• Say “hello” like you’ve just de-friended everyone on Facebook but don’t want them to
know.
• Say “hello” like everyone you see is your favourite celebrity.
• Keep them moving around the space but ask the students:
• How was the exercise?
• We’re some roles/situations easier to play than others?
• Did you encounter or overhear someone doing something that you liked? And if so,
did you try to mimic that quality or borrow something from them?
Encourage students, especially the shy ones, to “borrow” from their friends. Their
character will still be unique, but mimicking a quality they like might help them discover
and bring out something different in themselves.

Character, Age, Occupation

• Everyone continues moving around the room.
• Call out the following scenarios (take away the “ello only” restriction at this point and let
them say whatever they want).

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AGE
Greet each other like:
• Toddlers at a daycare.
• 6-year-olds at a birthday party.
• Tweens at their first school dance.
• Teens at a prom.
• College students living away from home for the first time.
• Graduates on their first day on the job.
• New parents that haven’t slept but still have to go to work.
• Retirees.
• Elderly people on their first day at a nursing home.
Have students return to neutral as they continue to walk around the room. Have them take a
deep breath and let it out, to physically shake things off.

OCCUPATION
Greet each other like:
• Cowboys
• Primaballerinas
• Lawyers
• Campaigning Politicians
• Kindergarten Teachers
• Plumbers
• Used Car Salespeople
• Supermodels
• Improv or Drama Teachers

Ask the students:

• How was that for you?
• Were some roles harder to take on than others? When you didn’t know what to do,
what did you do to get through it?
• How was it to interact with one another using the various personas or character POV’s
(points of view)?

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 Hitchhiker
• Set up three chairs. The three chairs represent the inside of a car.
• One person always sits in the chair stage left (Driver) and one in the middle chair
(Passenger).
• When there are only two people in the chairs, they can talk about anything as long as they
stay neutral (i.e. no crazy accents, exaggerated personalities, etc.).
• The Hitchhiker enters the scene by standing stage right of the car with their thumb out.
• The Hitchhiker makes a strong character choice (or “offer”) that they’re going to bring into
the scene (i.e. a crazy accent, exaggerated personality - maybe talking like a cowboy, a rapper,
or an old person who can barely hear and only wants to talk about “the good old days”).
• Once the hitchhiker enters the car, everyone mirrors whatever the Hitchhiker is doing and
carries on with the scene.
• Encourage them to indulge in the characters as long as they’re not blocking or negating
one another. If anyone is struggling with their character, instruct them to look at the
Hitchhiker’s physicality and copy that first. Are they sitting forward? Are their legs crossed?
Are they gesturing a lot with their hands? This is especially helpful when a student is
struggling with an accent; mirror the physicality first and trust that the voice will follow.
• After a minute or two, the driver needs to find an excuse to leave the car that agrees with
their character (e.g. a cowboy might see a steer he/she needs to rope, a rapper goes off to
buy a rhyming dictionary, an old person wants to join a “Bring Back the Hindenburg” rally).
• Once the driver leaves, the two people in the chairs slide over so that they become the
driver and middle passenger. They go back to neutral (during which they can talk about
anything they want) to prepare for the next Hitchhiker.
• Keep Hitchhikers-in-waiting standing in line, ready to go next.
• Keep rotating through the students until everyone has played all three roles.

Ask students questions:

• How was that for you?
• If it was ‘fun,’ why was it fun?
• Were some characters easier to take on than others?

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 Reflection: Improv Characters
Reflect on participating in the Hitchhiker Improv Game. Consider the following questions
in your answer:

• What was it like to present a strong character and accept a strong character?
• Were some of these characters easier to do than others?
• If some of these characters were more challenging, how did you find your way into those
roles?
• What strategies/things did you use to make that work for you?
• How can you use what you have learned in future improv work?

Length: 1 page.

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 Reflection Rubric
Name: 

4 3 2 1

Comprehension Demonstrates Demonstrates solid Demonstrates some Demonstrates little

thorough understanding of the understanding of the understanding of the
understanding of the task. task. task.
task.

Effort Reflection is Reflection is detailed Reflection has Reflection is not

detailed, focused and and thoughtful. some detail and detailed and contains
thought provoking. some commitment superficial content.
Goes beyond has been made Unfocused with
requirements of the to completing a minimal work.
assignment. thoughtful reflection.

Personal Demonstrates Demonstrates solid Demonstrates some Demonstrates

Connection thorough connections between connection between limited connection
connections between their personal views their personal views between their
their personal views and the assignment. and the assignment. personal views and
and the assignment. the assignment.

Commitment to Excellent attention Solid attention Some attention Little attention

Presentation to form and to presentation. to form and to form and
presentation. Reflection is easy presentation. presentation.
Reflection is easy to to read. One or two Reflection is mostly Reflection is difficult
read. No spelling or errors in spelling easy to read. Several to read. Many
grammatical errors and/or grammar but errors in spelling errors in spelling
that interfere with do not interfere with and/or grammar that and/or grammar
understanding. understanding. sometimes interfere that interfere with
with understanding. understanding.

Overall Excellent reflection. Solid reflection. Satisfactory Reflection needs

reflection. work.

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 Participation Rubric
Participation in the improv game “Hitchhiker”

Name: 

4 3 2 1

Commitment as Actively committed Committed to An attempt at a Commitment needs

Hitchhiker to the improv with the improv with a strong character. work. Little to no
a strong character strong character Not fully committed attempt at a strong
offer beyond the call offer. for entire improv. character offer.
of the exercise.

Commitment Actively committed Committed to An attempt at Commitment

as the driver/ to accepting the accepting the accepting the needs work. Little
passenger character offer character offer. character offer. Not to no attempt at
beyond the call of fully committed for accepting character
the exercise. entire improv. offer.

Energy Excellent active Solid energy An attempt is Little to no energy

energy throughout throughout the made but energy is throughout the
the entire scene. scene. inconsistent. scene.

Focus Actively focused for Focused for the An attempt made Focus needs work.
the entire improv entire improv. to focus during the Easily distracted
beyond the call of improv. during the improv.
the exercise.

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