🚇Talking with your hands

Setup and Launch

Form a trio: two performers play the scene, the third becomes "the hands." Position "the hands" slightly to the side or diagonally behind the performers — wrists clearly visible to the audience and both scene partners, never touching faces. Performers stand open to the house so every gesture reads.

Give a simple dialogue topic. Explain the rules: performers speak clearly, no rushing; "the hands" use two fingers to mime the opening and closing of each speaker's "lips," and separate gestures to suggest physical actions. Performers fold those actions into the scene immediately and justify them in dialogue.

Flow

The coach monitors gesture visibility, speech tempo, and whether the actions from "the hands" stay legible — one clear gesture at a time, never blurring together.

1. Scene start. Performers open the dialogue on-topic with short lines. "The hands" keep wrists visible, ready to snap between partners.

2. Lip sync. "The hands" wiggle two fingers only while the matching performer speaks. Speaker changes — fingers jump to the other performer instantly. When nobody talks, the "lips" freeze.

3. Actions. "The hands" make one big, unmistakable gesture at a time. Performers execute it on the spot and weave it into the conversation. For example, "the hands" mime drinking — the performer grabs an imaginary glass and works it into the next line.

4. Tempo and pauses. If speech races ahead and sync falls apart, the coach calls a stop, restarts slower, and reminds everyone: short phrases, clear pauses between lines for switching and reading actions.

5. Rotation. After each short scene, rotate roles within the trio so everyone gets a turn as "the hands" and as a speaker.