Acting Game: A Fun Mix of Sound Effects and Improv Acting

Try the Acting Game at your next youth function. I'm sure it will be a hit and generate barrels of laughter. To pull it off, you need a small group of volunteers, some sound effects, and a scenario.

You can play the Acting Game several ways, however, the first time around consider playing a simple version by . . .

• Choose two males and two females; create two male/female teams.
• Establish a scenario such as a teen coming in past curfew from a date and being grilled by a parent.
• Using the example above, you might have one pair be a Mother/Son team and the other pair be a Father/Daughter team.
• Instruct them that they are to act out the scenario and must integrate the sound effects into their story line as you play them.
• Either character is free to use the sound effects to their advantage; however, the parent should always attempt to keep the skit focused on the initial scenario setup.
• The objective is to interweave the sound effects with the scenario to create a humorous improvised skit.
• Play sound effects every 10-15 seconds or as often as needed to keep the story moving along.
• Every couple sound effects have the teams swap off and continue their story line where they had left off.
• Irrelevant sound effects can add additional humor; especially, if you have selected some quick minded and creative thinking teens.
• The length of the Acting Game varies based on the creativeness of your participants and the number of sound effects you have chosen to use.
• It’s better to stop the skit early if it is not going well rather than let it run until you have exhausted your sound effects.
  

I have used the Acting Game in both youth events and marriage retreats with great success. The most memorable was with two husband/wife teams where the husband was late for supper and he was trying to justify his being late. A herd of pigs, thieves running from police, ambulance sirens, a thunderstorm, and a host of other sound effects had the wives and husbands spinning quite a yarn for the audience. From the initial “Honey, I’m home.” opening to the closing sound effect, it was sidesplitting laughter.

Try taking the Acting Game high tech with Black Cat Systems’ SoundBytes, a computerized cart rack that places digital sound effects at your fingertips. Pair a laptop, external speakers, and the Lite version (free) for up to 75 digital recordings that are ready to play at the click of a mouse!