Josh Bowman is a professional fundraiser, storyteller, comedian, improviser, and blogger. He also writes for tenthingsivelearned.com, The Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, and improvises around Toronto, including regular shows with Opening Night Theatre and Surprise Romance Elixir, and when he tricks other better improvisers into performing with him.
Note: Any scene can be terrific if it’s played enthusiastically and intelligently, but generally when I see players initiate any of the scenes below, it doesn’t end well. PS: I’ve done most of these myself. Blergh to me.
- A married couple arguing because the husband came home late from work. He was likely having beers with “the guys”
- People just arguing in general for no apparent reason
- Somebody teaching somebody else how to be cool
- Any combination of two or more of the following: robots, pirates, vampires, Jesus, explosions, time travel, a funeral
- Somebody on the toilet sitting beside somebody else on the toilet, talking about toilets
- People waiting for the bus
- “This is the best (blank) ever!!”
- Somebody calling somebody else fat/ugly, and helping them be prettier
- Too much talking
- Scenes where people keep saying “I don’t understand!” “I don’t know what’s going on here!”
People and Chairs 
Now I want to do a set entirely following this list.
I have a feeling you already did some of those scenes with The Jeremy Birrell Show. (Brilliantly, of course.)
Do it!!
Great post. Guilty of 2 and 3 on occasion… and 7 and 10 far far far too often.
scenes that start with pleasantries…a scene is just a small moment in the characters’ lives so let’s start in the middle of a conversation and feel free to end things unanswered sometimes.
Agree. It’s like eavesdropping on a cell phone conversation. The most interesting soundbytes are mid-call.