Sound Effects

Sound Effects is a crowd-pleaser where the audience becomes the Foley department. Two improvisers play a normal scene — maybe from a suggestion like 'camping trip' or 'space station kitchen' — but they make NO sound effects themselves. Instead, one or two audience members stand at microphones off to the side and voice every sound: footsteps, doors creaking open, wind, animals, machinery, eating noises, you name it. The performers react to whatever they hear and justify it on the spot. The laughs come from the mismatch between the action and the sound, the inventiveness of the audience artists, and the performers' nimble justifying. It shines a light on the often-overlooked art of live sound design, and it makes for a wonderfully collaborative show.

• Pick two improvisers to play the scene.
• Pick one or two audience members (or improvisers) to be the sound-effects artists at the microphones.
• Grab a location or scenario suggestion from the audience.
• The performers start the scene, silently miming actions that would normally make noise.
• The sound-effects artists watch closely and voice live sound effects for everything they see.
• The performers react to those sounds and adjust based on what they hear.
• The scene rolls on, playing in the interplay between visual action and vocal sound.
• The host calls the scene once it reaches a satisfying close.

• Stage space. One or two microphones for the sound-effects artists. And an audience suggestion.

• Two-Person Sound Effects: Each performer has a dedicated sound-effects artist who handles their character's sounds only.
• Musical Sound Effects: The sound-effects artist uses a keyboard or sampler for sounds instead of just vocals.
• Sound Effects with Props: The sound artist has a table of random objects that can be used to create sounds.
• The performers can 'conduct' the sound artist by exaggerating physical movements to call for specific sounds.