Written Lines
Written Lines is a scene game in which performers hold slips of paper with pre-written lines that they must incorporate naturally into an improvised scene at opportune moments. The challenge lies in finding the right context to deliver each unrelated line without breaking the scene's logic. The game rewards smooth justification and the ability to steer a scene toward unexpected material.
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Related Games
Script Tease
Script Tease is a short-form game in which performers hold actual scripts or random text and must incorporate whatever lines they read into an improvised scene, making the pre-written words seem like natural dialogue. The game rewards the ability to justify unexpected text within a coherent dramatic context.
Fortune Cookie
Fortune Cookie is a scene game in which performers receive slips of paper with fortune cookie messages that must be incorporated into the scene at key moments. The random text injection forces creative justification and produces unexpected narrative turns. The game trains the skill of making any external input work within the scene's logic.
Blind Line Offers
Blind Line Offers is a scene exercise in which performers receive random written lines from slips of paper and must incorporate each one seamlessly into the scene as it unfolds. The unexpected text forces players to justify and connect disparate material in real time. The exercise trains adaptability and the skill of making any offer work.
Non Sequitor
Non Sequitur is a scene game in which performers deliberately respond to each other with statements that have no logical connection to what was just said. Despite the apparent randomness, players must commit to each line with full emotional conviction. The game reveals how much meaning an audience will project onto confident performance and trains players to trust the unexpected.
Don't Mess with Textus
Don't Mess with Textus is a scene game in which performers incorporate pre-written text -- lines from a play, a manual, a newspaper article, or any fixed document -- into an improvised scene. The challenge lies in making the fixed text feel natural, motivated, and contextually appropriate within the scene's reality rather than inserted or forced. The game trains adaptability, contextual responsiveness, and the ability to find the meaning in given language.
Switch Gibberish
Switch Gibberish is a scene game in which performers alternate between speaking coherent dialogue and gibberish on command. Scene partners must maintain the scene's emotional arc and narrative logic regardless of which mode they are in. The game demonstrates how much communication happens through tone and physicality independent of words.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Written Lines. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/written-lines
The Improv Archive. "Written Lines." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/written-lines.
The Improv Archive. "Written Lines." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/written-lines. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.