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	Acting With Your Entire Body Performing without words helps you learn some of the basic principles of acting. When you have to use only your body to communicate your ideas, you find ways to express yourself more clearly and completely. Challenge yourself with the following games. Silent Acting Practice Try using just your face and body to communicate the following: • "Watch where you're going" • "I can't remember." • "Oooooooh! That's disgusting!" • "Isn't she/ he beautiful?" • "I don't believe it!" • "Pretty please!" • "I couldn't care less!" • "Oh no, look what I've done!" Silent Acting Game Divide players into two teams. Have someone outside the game write each situation listed below or slips of paper, or have each team write down situations for the other team to guess. Each player draws one situation out of a hat and acts it out without words. Use a timer or a stopwatch to time each round. The player who gets their team to guess in the shortest amount of time, wins. You can also keep a running total of the time and declare a winning team at the end.
	• Riding a bucking bronco • Getting attacked by killer bees • Watching a scary movie • Riding a roller coaster • Getting toilet paper stuck to your shoe • The three stooges • Getting sprayed by a skunk • Metal band musician • Giving flowers to your girlfriend/ boyfriend • Slipping on a banana peel • Pro wrestling • Running to catch a bus as it's pulling away • Blowing up a balloon • Catching your pants on fire • Burglarizing a house • Finding a $20 bill on the ground • Sitting on a whoopee cushion • Searching for buried treasure Mirrors For partners. Players stand facing one another and choose one person to lead. The leader then does any physical action they like and the job of the second person is to "mirror: the leader and do exactly what they do, as if they were the leader reflection. If the leader raises his right hand, the follower will rise her left hand, etc. After a few minutes, the partners switch roles. Wink Murder This game works best with groups of six or more. Payer sit in a circle, preferably in chairs. In person is the leader. Everyone the group covers their eyes and the leader walks around the circle, tapping one player on the shoulder to select them as the "murderer". When they have chosen someone, the leader tells everyone to open their eyes and players start looking at each other. The murderers's job is to try to "kill" as many people as possible by making eye contact and winking at them, without others in the game noticing. If someone is winked at, they must silently count to ten and then act out a dramatic death, falling to the floor. Play continues until someone (who is still alive) thinks they can guess who the murderer is. If they guess incorrectly, that person dies and play continues until someone else guesses to until everyone is dead. The player who "kills" the most people before caught wins. More Games Please - No For partners. Person One is Please. All he or she can say is the word "please." Person Two is NO. All he or she can say is the word "no". The objective of PLEASE is to make NO say "Yes" or "All right". The objective of NO is to keep saying "no" and not give in. PLEASE starts the action by saying "Please" and physically touching NO in some way. You can make contact with your partner by touching his back, stepping on his foot, shaking him, etc. NO responds by saying "no" and physically moving away - taking a step, running off, bending down, turning away, etc. Continue the game until PLEASE gives up or NO gives in and says "yes". PLEASE should try many different ways to get NO to say "yes" - from asking politely or charmingly to begging and crying, insisting and yelling, whining and whimpering - whatever you can think of. Remember to listen and respond to your partner. Switch roles and play the game again. What are you doing? For two or more players. Player One begins miming an action, such as combing their hair. Payer Two asks Player One, "What are you doing?". Player One responds by saying "I'm _______" and fills in the blank with any action other than what he is currently miming (combing his hair). He could say, plying tennis, walking a dog, dancing the hula, etc. Let's say he chooses "dancing the hula". Player Two then begins to hula and Player One asks her, "What are you doing?" She responds by saying "I'm ________" and fills in any action besides dancing the hula. Let's say she says "peeling a banana." Player One stops combing his hair and starts peeling a banana. Player Two asks, "What are you doing?" The players continue the exchange back and forth until one of them messes up the routine or repeats something that has already been said. Someone else then steps into the game and play starts again.