I am a tree

A very popular exercise, suitable for beginners of improvisation

The players stand on the stage/around the room. Player A goes to the middle, strikes a pose and says who or what they represent. For example, he lifts his arms over his head and says "I am a tree." A second player arrives, adds to the picture, and also says who or what he is. A third player enters the scene and completes the suggestions from A and B.

Now that the scene is finished, player A leaves the stage taking one of the other players with them. The other player stays on the stage and repeats their sentence (without changing their pose) As a result he offers a suggestion for a new scene.

This exercise can take place with any number of players.

Example

• A: I am a tree.
• B: I am the dog who's peeing on the tree
• C: I am the man whom the dog belongs to.
• A: (leaves the stage) I'm taking the man with me.
• B: I am a dog.

It automatically occurs that not only images are portrayed, but also figurative representations of abstract concepts.

Example

• A: I am a tree.
• B: I am acid rain (Player B symbolizes rain falling on Player A).
• C: I am conservation (Stretches an umbrella over Player A).
• A: (concedes) I am taking Conservation with me.
• B: I am (acid) rain. (Player B remains standing in the middle)

This game can also be extended when building images with multiple players. Then the exercise goes on to build into a machine. For example, a machine that fells a tree and processes it to pencils.

Video example

Improv Warm-Ups: I Am a Tree