Scene work
Tag Run Drill
A pattern is established in a two-person scene, then tagged repeatedly to produce eight or more escalating instances of the same idea.
Also known as: Tag Out Practice
How to run it
- Two players begin a scene and establish a clear pattern within thirty seconds.
- Anyone may tag a player out and immediately show another instance of the same pattern — different moment, different people, same logic.
- Tags should come fast, with no gap between the previous line and the new scene.
- Aim for at least eight instances, each larger than the last.
- Stop when the pattern has nowhere left to go rather than when the group runs out of energy.
What it teaches
Heightening the same idea rather than adding new ones, plus the physical mechanics of tagging cleanly.
Coaching notes
When somebody tags in with a new idea rather than a bigger version of the old one, stop and rewind. That single distinction is most of what separates an escalating run from a pile of unrelated jokes.
Where it usually goes wrong. Instances that get stranger rather than bigger, which loses the audience's thread.
Related reading: heightening and exploring, edits.
See it played
We do not link individual videos we have not watched end to end, so this is a search rather than a recommendation: Tag Run Drill on YouTube. Quality varies enormously — prefer recordings from working theatres over tutorial channels.