List Of Places For Improv Scenes

An image of some of the places your improv scene might be set in.

When I was a young improviser, back in 2007, I found that I was fascinated by where improv scenes might take place. The answer of course was anywhere and have been in or read or thought about hundreds of plays that were normally in someone’s home or workplace… well it was just mind bogglingly exciting! So I started making a list of places my future improv scenes might be set in.

I’d write them down and get excited.

A fancy restaurant. The host stand at a fancy restaurant! Just outside of a fancy restaurant with big windows where a scene could be played with one actor at the host stand and the other on the sidewalk.

That last one was a pretty bad spot for a scene to be set. Still, you get what I was after.

My secret thinking was, I could use these locations to give myself an edge when improvising. My pièce de résistance, the absolute best location I ever came up with, the one I was sooooo excited about was…

A rope bridge deep in a jungle.

18 years later and I still haven’t done an improv scene on a rope bridge, though I was in one in a pretty bad student written play in college. 

But that’s how it worked with most of these locations. I’d write them down in my little notebook and unless it was something pretty basic, (for example: teller station at a bank) I would never do a scene there.

Waste of time write?

I don’t think so! Because I found I would return to my notebook with my list every now again and pager through the possibilities. If I was in a slump or maybe feeling uninspired about improv, I would page through the old spiral notebook that possibilities scrawled down in it.

Of course after awhile it wasn’t just locations. I had lists of relationships, professions, activities and eventually a much shorter list of games. I never went into a scene thinking, 

“I know! In this one I’ll be in a rocky marriage at a pitcher mound, whittling a wooden soldier.”

But I found reading through the possibilities would inspire me and get me excited to do some improv (which is often how I would feel before doing good work). That notebook is long gone by now…

Too bad.

But presented here is a new list of places with the hope that readers scanning it will find it just as inspiring as I did. I’m breaking the lists into a couple of different categories, to try and make it fun. Enjoy!

BASIC, EVERY DAY PLACES

• Beach at sunset

• Rooftop overlooking a skyline

• Park bench 

• Subway platform

• Bus stop

• Airport gate

• Airport metal detector

• Coffee shop 

• Wedding reception table

• Hospital waiting room

• Hospital examination room

• Hospital front desk

• Doctor’s office

• Baseball dugout

• High school cafeteria

• Fancy restaurant table for two

• Hiking trail

• Hiking trail rest stop

• Fishing dock

• Hotel lobby

• Hotel room

• Hotel hot tub

• City apartment living room

• Art museum gallery

• Church basement 

• Farmer’s market stall

• Gas station pump

• Gas station counter

• Open mic stage in a bar

• Ski lodge fireplace with chairs

• Campground picnic table

• Amusement park line

• Office break room

• Cubicle in an office

• Elevator

• Security desk at a professional building

• Movie theater lobby

• Movie theater seats (during movie)

• Car during a drive in movie

• Car driving scene

• Car with front and back seats for taxi scenes

• Grocery store checkout line

• Train dining car

• Train seats

• Airplane Seats

• Airplane cockpit for two pilots

• Dentist’s waiting room

• College dorm common room

• Big observatory with big telescope

• Little telescope in a field at night

• Backyard

• A barbecue in the backyard

• A backyard pool

• Community pool deck

• Roller rink

• Public library stacks

• Church wedding location (where the couple says I do)

• Wedding chapel in Las Vegas

• Zoo lion (or whatever) enclosure viewing area

• Ice cream truck stop

• Subway sandwich shop

• Laundromat

• Gazebo

• Outdoor amphitheater lawnBackstage of a theater

• A theater’s green roomBeach boardwalk

• Mountain cabin

• Mountain cabin porch

• Science fair 

• Aquarium 

• Aquarium shark tunnel

• Train station information boothObservation deck of a skyscraperCruise ship deck at night

• Porch roof at night

• Submarine near the periscope

• Duck blind

• Crime scene (murder scene, for detectives)

• Inside a subway car

• Inside a bus

• Best Buy

• Scientific lab

• Recording studio

• Plant nursery

• Baby nursery

PLACES THAT HINT AT COMEDY

• DMV line 

• Kids’ bounce house at a Chuck E’ Cheese

• Dentist chair, mid-root canal

• Haunted house “employee break room”

• Malfunctioning car wash 

• Malfunctioning elevator

• Karaoke bar, 3 p.m. on a Tuesday

• Airport lost luggage office

• Hot yoga studio

• Wax museum with suspiciously lifelike statues

• Shopping mall Santa’s village

• Tiny dog park 

• Curvy drive-thru 

• Funeral home refreshments table

• Coffee shop open-mic poetry night (maybe only I think that sounds funny?)

• Escape room

• Costco free-sample stand

• Comic book store

• Grocery store self checkout terminals

• Airport self check in ticket

• Gift shop at Graceland (does that exist?)

• Middle school detention

• Middle school class (or high school, elementary school or college)

• Optomotrist’s office with eye test

• DMV eye test station

• Carnival “Guess How Many Jelly Beans” stand

• IKEA showroom, the bathroom

• IKEA showroom, the bedroom

• IKEA showroom, the bathroom

• A ferris wheel

• A Merry-go-round 

• Renaissance fair

• Renaissance fair turkey leg stand

• Renaissance fair tarot reading table

• Renaissance fair combat pit

• Boxing ring

• Dance contestant in a gym

• Spinning teacup ride 

• Beauty contest on stage

• Beauty contest in audience

• Beauty contest backstage

• Zoo “petting area” 

• Spin class 

• Community theater, in the audience 

• Community theater audition room

• Sports bar bathroom

• Clown college graduation ceremony

• Graduation limo

• Bachelorette party limo

• Yoga retreat (again, this may just be me that finds this immediately funny)

• Library “silent study” room 

• Laser tag arena  

• Job interview room (office)

• Pet grooming salon  

• Fast-food ball pit or gym

• Double decker tour bus 

• Pizza delivery car

• Theme park ride line

• Haunted hayride 

• One of those haunted bush or corn mazes

• Ice cream truck in traffic 

• Ice cream truck speeding on the highway

• Jury duty room

• Hotel towle closet 

• Sushi restaurant 

• Hibachi restaurant

• Airport luggage carousel

• “Speed dating” event 

• Silent meditation retreat 

• Dance class

Sometimes if you’re doing a Macroscene, Pangea, or Tracers, or another form that is geographically anchored to a larger location it can be helpful to think about smaller locations within the larger one. Here are some listS of places within larger locales.

HOSPITAL

(Almost all of the below locations could have the word hospital in front of them. I didn’t do that because it would feel boring!)

• Neonatal ICU observation roomGift shop 

• Hospital chapel 

• Cafeteria salad bar 

• MRI waiting area 

• Burn unit visitors’ lounge 

• Physical therapy gym

• Operating room supply closet 

• Rooftop helipad 

• Psych ward day room 

• Pharmacy pickup counterMorgue refrigerator bay

• Nurse’s station 

• Pediatric playroomBlood donation center 

• Emergency room triage desk 

• Hospital laundry chute room 

• Family consultation room 

• Janitor’s closet by radiology 

• Hospital parking garage elevator lobby 

MALL

(Almost all of the below locations could have the word Mall in front of them. I didn’t do that because it would feel boring!)

Food court

Macy’s

Barnes & Noble

A yogurt shop

A candle shop

Coin operated rides in the middle of a hallway

Escalator landing

Mall security office

Movie theater lobby

Arcade

Parking garage entrance

Children’s play area

Empty storefront

Mall management office

Kiosk in the main corridor

Restrooms

Loading dock

Employee break room

Ice skating rink

Rooftop access

Holiday display area

Fitting rooms

Jewelry store

Freight elevator

SPACE STATION

(Almost all of the below locations could have the words space station in front of them. I didn’t do that because it would feel boring!)

• Command bridge

• Observation deck

• Airlock

• Engine control room

• Cargo bay

• Crew quarters

• Mess hall

• Medical bay

• Zero-gravity gym

• Greenhouse module

• Science lab

• Communications hub

• Shuttle docking bayC

• Navigation control room

• Security checkpoint

• Hydroponics bay

• Reactor core chamber

• Maintenance tunnels

• Holographic training room

• Escape pod bay

COLLEGE CAMPUS

(Almost all of the below locations could have the words college campus in front of them. I didn’t do that because it would feel boring!)

• Lecture hall

• Dorm room

• Dining hall

• Campus bookstore

• Student union lobby

• Library stacks

• Faculty office

• Science lab

• Art studio

• Football stadium bleachers

• Campus radio station

• Theater stage

• Fraternity house living room

• Sorority house kitchen

• Quad

• Campus coffee shop

• Computer lab

• Administration building lobby

• Gymnasium court

• Parking lot

MUSEUM

(Almost all of the below locations could have the word museum in front of them. I didn’t do that because it would feel boring!)

• Main atrium

• Dinosaur fossil hall

• Ancient Egypt gallery

• Medieval armor exhibit

• Modern art wing

• Natural history diorama hall

• Planetarium dome

• Children’s discovery area

• Café

• Gift shop

• Restoration lab

• Security office

• Rotating exhibition hallSculpture gardenAuditorium

• Archives room

• Staff offices

• Rooftop terraceStorage warehouseTicketing lobby

A very similar thing can be done with locations for specific motifs. For example:

WESTERN

• Saloon

• Sheriff’s office

• General store

• Train station

• Bank

• Jail cell

• Blacksmith’s forge

• Livery stable

• Stagecoach stop

• Hotel lobby

• Church

• Schoolhouse

• Ranch house

• Bunkhouse

• Cattle yard

• Gold mine entrance

• Cemetery

• Town square

• Watering hole

• Outlaw hideout

HORROR MOVIE

• Abandoned cabin

• Cemetery

• Old hospital

• Haunted mansion

• Forest clearing

• Foggy swamp

• Basement

• Attic

• Cornfield

• Motel room

• Carnival grounds

• Graveyard crypt

• Lighthouse

• Sewers

• Asylum ward

• Church ruins

• Morgue

• Mine shaft

• Gas station

• Isolated farmhouse

ROM COM

• Coffee shop

• Bookstore

• Farmers market

• Rooftop bar

• Airport gate

• Park fountain

• Office break room

• Wedding reception hallFlower shop

• Restaurant patio

• Grocery store aisle

• Ice cream shop

• Dog park

• Art gallery openingKaraoke barTrain platformHotel lobby

• Movie theater

• Beach boardwalk

• Cooking class kitchen

FRENCH FARCE

• Hotel suite

• Country villa

• Grand staircase landing

• Balcony

• Opera house box

• Restaurant dining room

• Kitchen pantry

• Train compartment

• Garden hedge maze

• Ballroom

• Dressing room

• Office with too many doors

• Theater wings

• Wine cellar

• Parlor

• Coat check

• Guest bedroom

• Courtyard

• Attic room

• Carriage house

There you have it, a sizable list of locations to pour over and draw inspiration from. Don’t forget, the next time you start a scene and don’t have a great idea as to where to set it, try a rope bridge.