I love the central premise of this game but will freely confess it’s a seldom played offering in my own repertoire. The conceit is delightfully elegant but tends to become a bit of a stumper. Compulsive Liars, nonetheless, offers great lessons for the training lab even if you also find yourself a little reluctant to bring it to the public stage.
The Basics
For the duration of a scene, every major offer is assumed to be a lie by the other players (and characters) and is immediately called out as such.
Example
Characters sit around a table and prepare for their weekly poker game.
Player A: (shuffling the cards) “It’s so nice that we can have the escape of this friendly Wednesday night game…”
Teammates amp up the intensity of their preparations, assuming that the “friendliness” offer was a lie.
Player B: (miming that their arm is in a sling) “You still owe me for my hospital bill from our last game when I caught you cheating…”
Teammates assume the source of the injury is a lie.
Player C: “I saw you at the tennis club yesterday. You weren’t injured then….”
Players assume that C was not at the tennis club.
Player A: (as they start dealing cards out) “So that wasn’t you I saw doing community service on the side of the highway when I was delivering meals on wheels?”
The Focus
Bold choices, rich specifics, and active listening are all a must.
Traps and Tips
1.) Do something. As the featured dynamic tends towards the verbal, it’s incredibly helpful to establish and explore a rich physical world. It’s likely that you’ll find moments when the current thread of conversation runs dry, so a detailed action or activity can readily inspire a new angle: “I always love the snacks when we play at your house…” However, be cautious of exclusively talking about the activity itself as this will quickly pose content challenges. There are only so many lies our poker plays will likely be able to conjure about the cards…
2.) Pick something. There will often be multiple possibilities when it comes to identifying the lie in each offer. Don’t waste your time trying to decipher the “best” option – just trust your instinct and quickly pick one fact or facet and run with it. For example, in the opening line above, fellow players could also assume that it isn’t Wednesday, or nighttime… It can work to have various players reveal these different lies in the same offer in a pile on fashion, and this can certainly give an energy boost. I’ve found that such an approach can make finding the next move or lie problematic, so regardless of whether you tend towards a chain (as I’ve illustrated above), or a series of clumps (as I’ve described here), be mindful that you also…
3.) Offer something. The first obligation of the dynamic is to discover, call out, and then heighten the false claims of your scene partners. The second – equally crucial – component consists of then offering up your own detailed choices that others can similarly shape and endow. When Player A states that they were delivering meals on wheels while exploding their teammate’s untruth, they have given the poker table something new and rich with potential. It’s certainly fun to uncover unexpected angles and untruths in unlikely elements of a choice, but if accusations don’t include previously untilled material, players will probably struggle to continue the game. So, whether or not you’re mindfully revealing your own trap for someone else to spring, bravely offer specifics.
In Performance
While it can be tricky to find and maintain a jaunty and stage worthy tempo, the central requirements of this game all lean into critical improv competencies; namely, building detailed worlds, quickly embracing and heightening the choices of your partners and explicitly using them to craft you own, and bringing colorful details to your scene work. Not to mention that this game also unlocks the delightful power of lies!
Cheers, David Charles.
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Photo Credit: Leesa Brown
© 2023 David Charles/ImprovDr
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