Canadian Who What Where
Canadian Who What Where is a variation on the classic Who What Where scene-building exercise, typically played with an apologetic or overly polite Canadian sensibility. Players establish character, activity, and location within the opening moments of a scene. The exercise reinforces the foundational skill of grounding scenes quickly with specific information.
Structure
Setup
Two performers. A scene suggestion is given by the audience or facilitator.
The Mechanic
Performers establish three pieces of information in the scene's opening moments:
- Who: the relationship between the characters
- What: what they are doing in this moment
- Where: the specific physical location of the scene
The "Canadian" element: all of this exposition is offered and received with excessive politeness, apology, and self-deprecation. Characters don't simply establish the world - they apologize for doing so, thank each other for clarifying it, and express gratitude for obvious information.
Example: "I'm sorry to interrupt your work, but I do wonder if perhaps you might have a moment, since we are, after all, at the dentist's office?" / "Oh, that's terribly kind of you to mention where we are! I had been so caught up in cleaning your teeth that I'd nearly forgotten!"
Training vs. Performance
In pure training use, performers can run the mechanic straight (without the Canadian element) to practice grounding scenes quickly. The Canadian overlay adds comedic texture to what is otherwise a technical exposition drill.
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"Establish Who, What, and Where in the first few lines - but be extremely Canadian about it. Polite, apologetic, grateful. The audience needs to know where they are, who you are, and what's happening - and you're going to be very sorry about telling them."
Why It Matters
Who What Where is a foundational scene-building skill: audiences need to know who is in the scene, what the characters are doing, and where they are before they can invest in the scene's drama. Most improv students either over-explain this information (breaking the fourth wall to announce "I am a doctor") or under-establish it (leaving the scene in a void of unknown context). This exercise trains the middle path: weaving exposition naturally into character behavior and dialogue.
Common Coaching Notes
- The exposition should feel like natural scene action. Characters establish who they are through what they do, not through announcements.
- Use the Canadian element strategically. The polite over-explanation is a crutch that makes exposition forgivable in training. In performance, the exposition should be invisible.
- Three specific pieces. Hold performers to all three: Who, What, and Where must be established before the scene develops.
Debrief Questions
- How quickly did the audience know where they were?
- Which element was hardest to establish naturally?
- What's the difference between exposition that feels like acting and exposition that feels like announcement?
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Canadian Who What Where. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/canadian-who-what-where
The Improv Archive. "Canadian Who What Where." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/canadian-who-what-where.
The Improv Archive. "Canadian Who What Where." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/canadian-who-what-where. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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