“Welcome to Crappy Car Mountain.”

“The mountain’s top is held on with duct tape.”

“Cellophane bushes rustle in the wind.”

“This one side is a different color than all the rest of it.”

Looking for a fun warm-up to get your ensemble playfully building a world together?  Here’s one!

Welcome to BLANK Mountain – Everyone stands in a circle. Player One enters the circle, hands above his or her head to form a “peak” by touching fingertips. Player One announces, “Welcome to [Blank] Mountain,” with [Blank] being anything at all (ex: Yoga Mountain, Bad Haircut Mountain, Pretentious Food Mountain, Didgeridoo Mountain). Really anything.  Then, in no set order,the other players enter the circle to flesh out the world of this mountain with descriptive phrases and some sort of physical gesturing to indicate where on Player One’s mountain this endowment is – like one would do in executing a “We See.”  Once every player has contributed something to the mountain, every player then says in unison, “Welcome to [Blank] Mountain.”

Example:

Player One – “Welcome to Yoga Mountain.”

Player Two – “A scent of lavender emanates from everything.”

Player Three – “Every tree trunk is long and skinny, with Lycra bark.”

Player Four – “There are lots of dogs with their butts in the air.”

Player Five – “And lots of cats with their backs arched.”

Player Six – “And lots childs – relaxed childs.”

Everyone – “Welcome to Yoga Mountain.”

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NOTE: I don’t know who came up with this exercise but it was introduced to me by The Johnsons and I love it.