VAPAPO is a character creation technique created by Jill Bernard, the author of Small Cute Book of Improv.

The idea of VAPAPO is that by strongly choosing each of the 6 traits it is possible to create an entirely unique character in each scene. Further, these choices are indepedent of the scene and can be made beforehand thereby making a very colorful scene.

We played the Character Tornado to warm up.

To practice Voices we played 2 person scenes where we each had to raise/lower our pitches. Changing the pitch of voice changes the mannerisms and automatically puts you in the shoes of a different person.

To practice Attitude we played 2 games. In the first game, one person comes up with a random (possibly absurd) belief and someone else takes charge of that belief and says a monologue based on it. The goal is to create a character that owns the belief completely and thoroughly. In the second game, we used this idea in 2 person scenes where we each picked a belief and leaned into it.

To practice Posture we played 2 person games where each character was a person who lead with a certain body part.

To practice Animal we played 2 person games where each person was an animal they did not know of, and the other person would give them hints and try to make them guess.

To practice Prop we worked in groups and played with a prop with the added restriction to never let go of the prop, the idea being that this added restriction improves object work and makes it more real.

To practice Obsession we did 2 player scenes where one person had an obsession and that obsession would somehow naturally show up in the scene.