Two truths and one lie

A volunteer stands up and briefly describes three life experiences he or she has had. Two are to be true, one a lie. After they share these three items, the others vote on which one is a lie. My own example: "I once worked as a stand-up comedian in Honolulu." "I've worked as a rough-neck building an oil pipeline from Canada." "I was stationed near the Afghan border with Pakistan, a few miles from where Bin Laden is thought to be hiding." The audience is polled and each person votes on the one they think is a lie. Using both nonverbal clues and what they already know about the volunteer, they try to decide which is the lie. Each round takes only a few minutes, and this game is lots of fun. (Note: My own lie above is #1. Although Ive performed with an improv comedy troupe, I have never worked as a stand-up comedian. I did, however, work as a rough-neck and also was stationed near Peshawar, Pakistan.)

One-word story
People shout out the title of a story thats never been told before. For example, The Scary Turnip" or How Gwendolyn Seized the Village or Mysteries of the Shopping Mall. A host or facilitator picks one of the first ones and gives it to the line-up. Six to eight volunteers are lined up and the first in line begins the story with one word, then followed by player #2 and so on. When the last person in line offers a word, the first person continues. Words must be in proper grammatical form and sequence and said with no hesitation. The key is not to think ahead but to listen carefully to those who precede you so you can follow the story-line. This game is a great way to improve your listening and spontaneity. Example: "When...Gwendolyn...was...9...years...old ...she...decided...to...attack...the...village..." and so on until the story comes to a conclusion.

Stories can take sudden detours and have many surprises, but they should include the main idea in the title offered.

Limerick
Five volunteers are needed for this fun game. They line up to represent lines 1 through 5 of a limerick. The host or another person suggests a title, such as flies. Then the volunteers proceed to create a limerick For example: There once was a fly on the wall I wondered why it didn't fall. Because its feet stuck Or was it just luck? Or does gravity miss things so small? Note the rhyme scheme (A,A,B,B,A) and the meter of each line: Da Da Da Da Da DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA da da da da da DADA da DADA, DADA da DADA, DA DA DADA da DADA

As a warm-up to this game, you can hand out a few limericks and have the group recite them together to pick up the beat and rhyme. Its easy To find limericks by searching online. After the first group of five have a few tries, invite other volunteers to participate.

Improve skills while having fun!