IMPROV “GETS”:

“Gets” are audience suggestions or prompts solicited by the players. They serve as seeds to start a scene or game and can be anything, really. Something mundane or unremarkable is often as good as something odd or dramatic. 

The improver addresses the audience saying, “Can I have a ___.” or “I need a ____.” Sometimes you ask for a combination, e.g., “A location and an occupation,” or “An important life event and an everyday household object.” 

Pro tip: a get can be used to start a scene or can be held suspended to eventually be worked into the story later. A get may even begin as its opposite in performance. A get of “sad” can launch a scene that is very happy and later finds the “sad.’

Also, the asker has discretion in selecting a get, as some are best avoided (sexually explicit or violent) and others more promising.

A get doesn’t need to be clever or funny. Simple is fine.

Here are some typically useful gets:

Occupation

Everyday household object

A phobia

A holiday

A location 

A career

A historical period

A movie genre 

Well-known/famous author or director

Television genre 

Literary genre 

Type of relationship

An odd secret

A secret wish or goal

An important life event 

A mundane activity 

An unusual obsession or hang up 

An emotion

An impossible dream

An annoying habit

There are endless possibilities! A boring or unremarkable get can turn out to be the most fruitful.

Remember a get doesn’t have to be the starting point- it can work into the story much later!