Don't Think of the Color Black!
Don't Think of the Color Black! is a focus exercise that demonstrates the impossibility of suppressing a thought once it has been named. Players attempt to clear their minds of a specified image or concept -- the color black -- and immediately discover that the instruction to avoid thinking of it guarantees they will. The exercise is used to introduce discussions about attention, mental focus, and the paradoxical nature of thought suppression.
Structure
The Instruction
The facilitator asks all participants to close their eyes or soften their gaze and follow a single instruction: for the next thirty seconds, do not think about the color black. Do not let the image of anything black enter your mind.
The Experience
Participants attempt to follow the instruction and immediately discover that it is impossible. The instruction itself generates the thought it prohibits. After thirty seconds the facilitator asks participants to open their eyes and share what happened.
Discussion
The facilitator opens a short discussion: what happened when the instruction was given? Why? What does this tell us about how attention works? What happens in rehearsal or performance when a performer is told not to do something?
Application
The exercise concludes with a redirect: instead of instructing what not to do, the facilitator introduces the alternative principle -- what to focus on rather than what to avoid. Participants practice the positive frame.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Don't Think of the Color Black targets the understanding that attention is drawn toward what is named rather than repelled from it. This principle has direct applications in coaching, scene direction, teaching, and performance: directing attention toward the desired action rather than away from the undesired one produces better results.
How to Explain It
"I have one instruction for you. Close your eyes. Do not think about the color black. Ready? Go."
Pedagogical Purpose
The exercise is used primarily as an introduction to positive instruction in coaching and teaching. The follow-up lesson is: when coaching, say what you want rather than what you don't want. "Focus on your partner's eyes" works; "don't look at the floor" doesn't. This principle applies across teaching, leadership, parenting, and communication.
Common Pitfalls
The exercise is most effective when brief and followed immediately by the positive-frame lesson. Extended discussion of the psychology of suppression loses the practical application. Keep the exercise short and move quickly to the redirect.
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Drop Inhibitions
Drop Inhibitions is a category of applied improvisation exercises designed to reduce self-consciousness and free participants for more authentic expression. The exercises use physical activity, group play, absurdity, and supportive social norms to displace the internal critical voice that typically moderates spontaneous expression. They are used to prepare groups for creative, collaborative, or personally vulnerable work by lowering the threshold for authentic participation.
Point to Things in the Room
Point to Things in the Room is a warm-up exercise in which players walk around the space and point at objects while deliberately calling them by the wrong name. The exercise disrupts the automatic connection between seeing and labeling, training the brain to separate observation from habitual response. It builds the cognitive flexibility essential to spontaneous creation.
Concentration
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Don't Think of the Color Black!. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/dont-think-of-the-color-black
The Improv Archive. "Don't Think of the Color Black!." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/dont-think-of-the-color-black.
The Improv Archive. "Don't Think of the Color Black!." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/dont-think-of-the-color-black. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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