Four Minutes to Make Them Laugh

Strictly speaking, this is not a role-play background. The aim of the video is to set the scene for students to tell a long joke or an amusing anecdote.

If you are planning to ask your students to recount something funny that happened to them or tell a prepared joke, this background brings the atmosphere of a stand-up comedy club into the classroom, complete with an audience that reacts from time to time.

How to use

Give your students a prompt and ask them to prepare a brief outline of what they want to say. They may take their notes onto the “stage”, but they should use them only to organise their ideas—not read from them.

Then have them deliver their story or joke with their backs to the screen, facing their classmates.

They have four minutes. Their time is up when the lights dim and the audience begins to applaud.