Buzby Burkley exercise
Allow people to move closer and farther apart Allow people to move left and right, overlapping other mirrored pairs Allow people to switch the player they’re mirroring, making and breaking different groups
How to run it
- Allow people to move closer and farther apart
- Allow people to move left and right, overlapping other mirrored pairs
- Allow people to switch the player they’re mirroring, making and breaking different groups
- Build to everyone moving around the room, switching mirroring, coming together, breaking apart - committing to following the crazy
- If everyone is “doing it” then no one looks dumb “doing it” - but the moment it becomes apparent that someone in the group is not committed then the audience doubts the entire endeavor.
- When you are “playing” others want to play with you - if you’re having fun and committing the audience will follow you no matter how silly you look
- That is the weirdest thing I’ll ever have you do - thank them for just doing what you asked them to without judgment; encourage them to remain that trusting throughout class
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Prompts to use +
Allow people to move closer and farther apart
Allow people to move left and right, overlapping other mirrored pairs
Allow people to switch the player they’re mirroring, making and breaking different groups
Build to everyone moving around the room, switching mirroring, coming together, breaking apart - committing to following the crazy
If everyone is “doing it” then no one looks dumb “doing it” - but the moment it becomes apparent that someone in the group is not committed then the audience doubts the entire endeavor.
When you are “playing” others want to play with you - if you’re having fun and committing the audience will follow you no matter how silly you look
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Buzby Burkley exercise. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Allow people to move closer and farther apart; Allow people to move left and right, overlapping other mirrored pairs; Allow people to switch the player they’re mirroring, making and breaking different groups; Build to everyone moving around the room, switching mirroring, coming together, breaking apart - committing to following the crazy. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Improv Does Best; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Improv Does Best.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.