I'm Home

A two-person warmup for character heightening โ€” building intensity while keeping the core. Take turns opening a "door" and saying "I'm home" in character, each time a little bigger โ€” until the character hits its limit.

Players

2

Full description

Setup and Launch

Agree on an imagined door โ€” where it is, which way it opens. One of you starts, the other follows.

Play

  1. A opens the door and says "I'm home" in some character โ€” for example, exhausted after a shift.
  2. B repeats the same character, opens the same door, says "I'm home" โ€” but a little bigger. Louder, shoulders drooping more, heavier step.
  3. A heightens again.
  4. Climb in steps until the character hits its limit โ€” where it's physically uncomfortable to keep going.
  5. Switch character, start over.

Key rules

  • The base stays the same across the whole series โ€” tired, in love, in a rage. Only volume and scale change.

  • Don't change the character mid-run โ€” the series falls apart.

  • Heightening goes in steps: each beat slightly bigger than the last, not jumping straight to the max.

  • Push to the limit โ€” the interesting stuff starts where it's already uncomfortable.

Context