Move On
Move On is a scene exercise in which a facilitator calls out the directive to prompt performers to abandon their current scene beat and transition immediately to a new choice. The call forces performers to leave comfortable territory and advance the scene rather than circling the same material. The exercise builds editorial instincts about when a moment has been fully explored and trains the habit of moving forward rather than sideways. It develops the internal sense of pacing that distinguishes dynamic scene work from repetitive scene work.
Structure
Two or more performers begin a scene based on an audience suggestion or a facilitator's prompt. The performers play the scene normally, establishing characters, a relationship, and a situation.
At any point during the scene, the facilitator calls the directive. The performers must immediately shift to a new beat: a new topic of conversation, a new activity, a new emotional register, or a new location within the scene. The shift must be instantaneous. Performers cannot finish their current thought, wrap up the current moment, or transition gracefully. The call demands a hard cut.
The facilitator calls the directive whenever the scene circles, stalls, or stays in one emotional gear for too long. The call also comes when a scene beat has reached its peak and continuing would diminish it. The facilitator's timing teaches the performers what "too long" feels like at a physical, instinctive level.
As the exercise progresses, the performers internalize the facilitator's editorial instinct and begin moving on without being prompted. The facilitator reduces the frequency of calls as the performers develop their own sense of pacing.
Variations include performer-directed versions (one performer in the scene has the power to call the directive on the other), audience-directed versions (the audience calls the directive), and timed versions (the directive comes at fixed intervals regardless of the scene's state, forcing performers to work within compressed beats).
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"You are in a scene. When you feel yourself returning to the same ground, choose to move forward instead. Something new has happened. Accept it. Keep going."
The exercise addresses one of the most common problems in improvised scenes: circling. Performers who find a comfortable dynamic, a reliable laugh, or a safe emotional register tend to stay there long past the point of maximum impact. The directive breaks this pattern by making forward motion mandatory.
Coach performers to treat the directive as a gift rather than an interruption. The call does not mean the current beat was bad; it means the scene is ready for the next discovery. Reframing the directive as opportunity rather than criticism helps performers respond with energy rather than deflation.
The exercise teaches the difference between horizontal and vertical scene movement. Horizontal movement adds new information at the same emotional level. Vertical movement deepens the scene by moving to a new emotional level. Coach performers to respond to the directive with vertical shifts rather than horizontal ones: change the emotional stakes, not just the topic.
The exercise develops the internal clock that experienced improvisers rely on. After enough repetitions, performers begin to feel when a beat has peaked and move on without external prompting. This instinct is one of the markers of performance maturity.
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Related Exercises
Pivot
Pivot is a scene exercise in which performers identify the moment when a scene needs to shift direction and make a deliberate choice to change it. The facilitator may call "Pivot" to signal the moment, or players practice identifying pivot points themselves. The exercise develops editorial awareness and trains the skill of knowing when a scene needs to evolve rather than repeat.
Annoyance Scenes
Annoyance Scenes is an exercise rooted in the Annoyance Theatre tradition of finding the truth in aggressive, high-energy play. Performers practice scenes in which characters pursue strong wants with unapologetic directness. The exercise builds confidence in making bold choices and playing at the top of one's intelligence.
Three Rules
Three Rules is a scene exercise in which the facilitator establishes three specific constraints that performers must maintain throughout their scene. The constraints can be physical (always touching the wall, never letting your hands go below your waist), verbal (never using the letter S, only asking questions), or behavioral (treat your partner as royalty, move as if underwater). The exercise demonstrates that limitations generate rather than restrict creative choices, and trains performers to divide attention between scene work and rule compliance.
Make More Interesting
Make More Interesting is a hybrid game and directing exercise in which a director or facilitator watches a scene and, at any point, stops the performers and asks them to replay the most recent moment -- the same beat, the same content -- but made more interesting. The request does not define what "more interesting" means; performers must find a more specific, more committed, more unexpected, or more resonant version of what they just did, discovering through the iteration what raised the scene's quality.
Adjective Scene
Adjective Scene is an exercise in which a caller periodically inserts an adjective that the performers must immediately incorporate into the tone or style of the scene. A scene might shift from "romantic" to "furious" to "confused" at the caller's discretion. The exercise trains emotional agility and the ability to justify abrupt tonal shifts.
Play With
Play With is a scene exercise in which performers are directed to explore and heighten whatever elements have already emerged in a scene rather than driving toward a predetermined outcome. The coaching directive -- "play with it" -- asks players to treat each established detail, character behavior, or game pattern as material to revisit, expand, and discover rather than move past. The exercise trains the improv muscle of finding satisfaction in the present moment of a scene.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Move On. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/move-on
The Improv Archive. "Move On." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/move-on.
The Improv Archive. "Move On." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/move-on. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.