More
Players perform a scene. Offstage players or audience members call for “more…” of something.
Much comedy is rooted in exaggeration and this game gives players an excuse to exaggerate small traits to a comedic level. In this game, a Caller watches the scene and looks for behaviours that can be exaggerated.
PAUL: Well, I’ve looked over your resume, and you seem like a well qualified candidate. What makes you want to work at Belkin Hodge Munroe?
AMY: It’s a fast-growing Fortune 500 company,
CALLER: More corporate clichés.
AMY: I’m a motivated self-starter, a blue-skies thinker, but I’m all about the bottom line, and I want to be part of a team…
The Caller can also suggest entirely new elements.
CALLER: More romance!
AMY: …a team with a man like you—tall, strong, bespectacled… I love you. And I sense that you love me.
Paul starts unbuttoning his shirt.
CALLER: More family-friendly!
PAUL: We all love you, Miss Walden. Whew! It’s gosh-darned hot in here. I could sure go for some lemonade right about now.
As with games like Oscar Moment, onstage players should feel free to abandon “mores” that are difficult to maintain for an extended period after they’ve given it a short run. (Eg, “More scratching.”)
The Caller has two good approaches. The first is to look for small things and call for more of it. If a player hesitates before speaking, call “More hesitation!” or “More nervous!” It’s amazing how a minor action, if exaggerated, can become an interesting personality trait.
The second approach is to look for things that are missing from the scene (usually action and emotion) and call for “more” of something that isn’t actually there in the first place.
The Caller should vary the categories of things being called. The easiest call is for more emotions:
- “More grief!”
- “More suspicion!“
- “More amused!”
You can also exaggerate some other quality that players seem to be doing already. It’s surprising how often a dull action becomes much more entertaining when it’s amplified. Even a weak choice can be entertaining if it’s decisively performed.
- “More adorable!”
- “More indecision!”
- “More flailing!”
If both characters are standing like blocks of wood, try:
- “More movement!”
- “More hugging!”
- “More dancing!”
Of you can introduce something out of left field, which has no bearing on anything we’ve seen so far. In a scene about a parent-teacher interview:
- “More poetry!”
- “More supermodels!”
- “More giant lizards!”
I’m not sure where this game originated. It is fairly new to me, but I like it. It seems like it may be an offshoot of “More Specific, Less Specific” but offers more possibilities for redirecting a scene, and so has more in common with directing games like Options.
If you ask the audience for suggestions, the influence of the Saturday Night Live sketch makes it likely you’ll get “More cowbell!”