We’ve just started playing this decider at Sak Comedy Lab in the last year or two, but the game has already itself to be a nice introduction and icebreaker.
The Basics
Players form a line at the edge of the stage as the audience is given instructions as to their role in the game. One at a time, players step forward and offer up a random name for consideration. If any audience member shares that name, they should raise their hand (or cheer or similar), thereby allowing the current improviser to remain “in.” However, if no one shares the player’s offered name – thereby providing an unsuccessful roll call – the offending improviser is “out,” and they strike to the sides of the stage. The process continues until only one player (or team) remains.
Example
Player A: “I’m looking for a John in the audience…”
Two audience members raise their hand, and Player A celebrates their good fortune while Player B now steps forward.
Player B: “Is there an Amanda in the house tonight?”
After a few seconds, it becomes clear there is not, and the host announces the loss, sending B into the wings.
Player C: “OK, I know there has to be a Catherine…”
The Focus
The mechanics of this game are rather simple, so players need to consider energy and charm if the decider is to have any performance value and payoff. To this end, my tips concentrate on how to raise the stakes of the whole affair.
Traps and Tips
1.) Build the expectation. I’ll admit I’m still polishing my own approach to this, but a lot can be gained or lost in terms of how the decider is set up. Without any contextualizing frame, the game will often feel rather perfunctory and anticlimactic. It should at least appear as if this is some feat of skill. Of late, I’ve been setting it up with the boastful notion that the cast are not only improvisers but also clairvoyant or mind readers and subsequently know all the names in the auditorium that evening. That particular lens might not appeal to your sensibilities, but it’s helpful to pitch something at least slightly more theatrical than “we’re just going to say a bunch of random names…”
2.) Build the heat. Depending on your venue and the diversity of your audience and company, the game might inadvertently favor more mainstream or vanilla names, and so it’s nice to seek some inclusive variety in your roll call. That being said, it can start the game off with a fumbly energy if the first few names are extremely unlikely to be in attendance (though this provides a fun level of risk if the decider is painfully limping on and on). On the other end of the spectrum, avoid “cheats” such as saying the names of friends or attendees that you know and can see in the house. Tactics of this ilk reduce the risk to zero (and likely cool everyone’s interest and engagement to zero as well).
3.) Build the suspense. This decider is now used with some frequency in Sak’s King of the Hill format, where it whittles down five competitors to the first two “kings” for the performance. With such a small bench, it can feel jarring if you don’t even successfully make it through one round of guesses as one elimination quickly follows another. To address this concern, we’ve introduced “a second life” to the process so that each player must chalk up two fails before being removed from the lineup. When played with energy and attack, I like this addition to the rules as it increases the momentum and volume of the game. I’d just caution that if players aren’t using the time to create rapport and playfulness, that such a move will only result in prolonging dullness rather than adding fuel to your improv fire.
In performance
If you play short-form shows a lot, you can quickly burn through the relatively short list of viable deciders (and all play warm-ups, too, for that matter). Hopefully, Roll Call can provide some variety if it wasn’t already featured in your repertoire.
And if you didn’t already know, you can keyword search other exercises and games by type, skillset, or name with the Game Library search engine located here.
Cheers, David Charles.
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Photo Credit: Kalani Senior
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