Two improvisers do a scene.
At any point they can choose to tell:
A truth about me A truth about you A truth about us
The truth about me is, I make jokes to deflect from what I really feel.
The truth about you is, you don’t realise how inspiring you are.
The truth about us is, we’ve never worked a day in our lives.
These statements are immediately true and affect the scene as it progresses.
This exercise is about deep truths and how they affect your scenes.
Don’t manufacture truths, try to feel what is true in the moment - an audience can tell when something is being invented rather than discovered.
There is power in things that are true both for the improviser and the character.
In performance, you don’t have to say the truth about… bit - you can just say the truth. This makes the exercise totally performance-grade.