There is a lot to love about the action-packed decider What Are You Doing? If it’s new to your repertoire, it can take a little practice to find comfort with the rhythms and mechanics, but it’s worth the time investment if you’re looking for an energized starter.
The Basics
This is a tricky exercise to describe in print, so I’ve weaved my example through this definition for clarity. I usually deploy some iteration of this description in show with two volunteer players to make it clear for the audience as well.
One player begins by performing an activity…
Player A starts washing the dishes.
The second player then asks the first,
Player B: “What are you doing?”
The first Player must now respond by saying something they are not doing.
Player A: “Changing a lightbulb.”
Player B now begins performing that named activity.
We see Player B pantomiming the action of changing a light blub for a moment or two.
Player A must now ask the second player,
Player A: “What are you doing?”
And the second player must answer something they are in fact not doing.
Player B: “Reading the newspaper.”
And Player A must take on this new action…
Player A begins reading a mimed newspaper.
This continues until players are eliminated for stalling, repeating previously named or performed actions, or other infractions introduced along the way.
The Focus
This has a bit of a “pat your head” and “rub your stomach” at the same time feel to it, especially if you’ve not played it a lot. Play with fearlessness, embrace the loss with joy, and get yourself into trouble! My tips below are both dynamics to avoid and ways to increase the likelihood of eliminations if the game is going a bit long.
Traps and Tips
1.) Avoid stalling. While you want to give each player a moment to playfully establish new named activities, be mindful that you don’t wimp when you’re offering the verbal prompts. General “ums” and “ahs” tend to disproportionately slip in, as do “I ams” and “I’ms” as in “I am… [stall, stall, stall] painting my toenails.” All of these are (perhaps unconscious) ways of giving yourself a few extra seconds to get to the gerund or action. When I’m facilitating the game, I’ll usually give a warning if this type of language slips in and then use it as a criterion for elimination afterwards.
2.) Plant yourself. I’m not sure if I’m somehow inadvertently encouraging this behavior when I teach the game, but I often see players darting away into their own corner to start performing their new activity. This strikes me as another clever wimping strategy as you get some thinking time while you travel back and forth to your opponent. So, as best you can, start your pantomimed action right where you offered your reply. While you want to let these mini vignettes have a second to breath as they are often so much fun in their own right, also be wary of needlessly extending them in lieu of committing to the game. Sometimes a simple call of “faster” or “pick up the pace” will do the trick to get things jumping again.
3.) Provide context. Most companies that regularly play this game likely use some variations of the following prompts, but it can be helpful to frame each round in a slightly different way. I generally start with open locations, move to occupations, and then deploy the addition of initials. Answers should now incorporate (at least tangentially in the first two cases) these prompts, so forest might garner “drinking from a river,” dentist could result in “coding a patient bill,” and the initials “D.C.” might inspire “dunking clowns.” I actually find that such handles help my creativity by giving some boundaries and limitations. These frames also make infractions a little more obvious and likely.
4.) Celebrate failure. As this game is designed to serve as a decider, everyone bar one player will eventually become eliminated. Take the loss with grace and excitement! If one player after another leaves the stage with an air of frustration, disappointment, or even angst, you’re setting yourself up for a rather funky show. On the other hand, when the audience sees everyone smiling and laughing as they stumble, it sets a delightful tone and, frankly, makes the crowd inclined to like you, which is not the worst thing in the world when they’re about to watch you for the next hour or two. And if you find yourself loitering on that colorful response that doesn’t meet your venue content parameters, it can be exciting to see that you wanted to say something a little naughty, but nonetheless opted not to before falling on the proverbial improv sword and taking the loss.
In Performance
The more fearless you are in the execution of this game, the more whimsical the actions tend to become and the more fun you’ll have in performing them. And while I’ve advised against voluminous scenic flights of fancy, don’t overlook that a quick specific or line of dialogue in these contexts adds so much entertainment value. Be careful of your inner wimp or desire to win getting in the way of this dangerous kind of fun.
Cheers, David Charles.
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Photo Credit: Kalani Senior
© 2025 David Charles/ImprovDr
Connected Concept: Story Series for Improv I
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