Shared Holiday
Shared Holiday is a scene exercise in which performers play characters experiencing a holiday or special occasion together, using the emotional weight of the event to drive the drama. The shared context provides built-in stakes and expectations that scenes can conform to or subvert. The exercise teaches players to use cultural rituals as rich launching pads for character work.
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Related Exercises
Party Planning
Party Planning is an exercise or scene game in which a group of performers must collaboratively plan a fictional event while navigating different character agendas and communication styles. The exercise trains group agreement, negotiation, and the ability to advance a shared objective while maintaining individual character perspectives.
Scenes That Bring You Joy
Scenes That Bring You Joy is a scene exercise in which performers are invited to play only scenes that genuinely delight them, prioritizing personal enjoyment over audience-pleasing instincts. The exercise reconnects players with the pleasure of performing and often produces unexpectedly authentic, engaging work. It counters the tendency to default to conflict-driven or joke-heavy scenes.
Shared Activity
Shared Activity is a scene exercise in which two performers engage in a common physical task together, such as cooking, cleaning, or assembling furniture, allowing the activity to ground the scene in specificity and provide natural opportunities for dialogue. The exercise teaches that doing something together is often more engaging than talking about something.
Piece of Cheese
Piece of Cheese is a scene exercise in which a performer endows a simple object with extraordinary emotional significance, treating it as though it carries deep personal meaning. The exercise teaches players that strong scene work comes not from extraordinary premises but from the emotional weight characters assign to ordinary things.
Telltales
Telltales is a storytelling exercise in which performers share short personal or fictional anecdotes and the group identifies the dramatic elements, emotional beats, and scene potential within each story. The exercise bridges personal narrative and improvised performance, teaching players to mine stories for their scenic essence.
Personalize It!
Personalize It is a scene exercise in which performers draw on their own real experiences, opinions, or emotional truths to inform their characters rather than inventing from scratch. The exercise pushes players past generic choices toward specific, grounded work. It builds the muscle of accessing personal material while maintaining the safety of a fictional frame.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Shared Holiday. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/shared-holiday
The Improv Archive. "Shared Holiday." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/shared-holiday.
The Improv Archive. "Shared Holiday." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/shared-holiday. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.