Fortunately, Unfortunately

Instructions below from

http://www.bbbpress.com/2014/10/drama-game-fortunately-unfortunately/

Purpose: Similar to one word story, this is a beginning improv game that helps students create interesting stories by thinking quickly and creatively.

Procedure:

1. Have the players stand in a circle.

2. The goal of the group is to tell a coherent story going around the circle, each player contributing one line at a time.

3. A leader will begin the story with one establishing sentence.

4. Then every line must alternate between “Fortunately…” and “Unfortunately…”.

EXAMPLE:

LEADER: “Once there was a monkey who wanted to be a movie star.”

PLAYER 1: “Unfortunately, she lived in the wild far away from civilization.”

PLAYER 2: “Fortunately, she had a cousin who lived in Los Angeles.”

PLAYER 3: “Unfortunately, she had no money to buy a plane ticket to Los Angeles.”

PLAYER 4: “Fortunately, she was a very fast at swinging through trees so she began her journey to California.”

PLAYER 5: “Unfortunately, her arms go so tired she had to stop and take a nap in a bear cave.”

PLAYER 6: “Fortunately, the bear was out running errands so she had the whole cave to herself.”

PLAYER 7: etc.

Note: make sure each player builds directly on the offer before

Coaching Variation

Fortunate Me (created by Erica Marx)
Players sit in semi-circle. One person chooses a goal that they want to achieve in 1 year from today. The game is played as if it is exactly one year in the future. The person plays themselves, telling the story of how a year ago they set this intention to achieve this goal and all that happened between then (real life today) and now (real life a year from now).

They start telling the story "A year ago today I decided...(the goal they decided to achieve)" and the first person in the circle says UNFORTUNATELY... (what happened). Then the main player says "FORTUNATELY... and finds a way forward with their story. They go around the circle refuting every UNFORTUNATELY that comes their way. 

Notes: Toward the end of the circle ask the main person if they want to have someone add any additional unfortunately for them to refute (real things they are scared might happen).