Space start / pause · → skip word
Spin a scene, play it, wrap it when the timer says so. Scene starters with a built-in two-minute clock for classes, warm-ups and rehearsal.
Space start / pause · → skip word
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Improv teachers have used suggestion lists forever, and they have a persistent problem: whoever reads from the list is choosing, and choosing is the opposite of improvising. Even a well-meaning teacher picks the prompt they think this pair can handle, which quietly removes the risk that makes the exercise work.
A wheel spun in front of the room takes that decision away from everyone. Nobody chose it, so nobody can complain about it, and the players get the genuine experience of being handed something they would not have picked — which is the entire skill.
The prompts here all follow one rule: they contain a relationship and a problem, not just a place. “A lift” is a location and forces players to invent who they are, why they are there and what is wrong, all while the audience watches them think. “Two astronauts stuck in a lift” hands over all three and lets the scene start on the first line.
The second rule is that the funny part should not be pre-decided. A prompt with the joke already in it leaves players performing someone else’s punchline. Each of these has an obvious first move and no obvious second one — which is where the actual improvising begins.
For a warm-up, drop to 60 seconds and run scenes back to back with different pairs. Short rounds keep energy high and stop anyone getting precious about a scene — you cannot overthink something that ends in a minute.
For teaching, use the full two or three minutes and stop scenes deliberately. The most useful moment in an improv class is usually a scene paused thirty seconds in so everyone can look at the choice that just got made. The timer running in the background means you can stop and restart without losing track of how much scene is left.