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Drawing monsters…

Drawing monsters… 150 150 Esther Waterhouse

At DEMEC in December 2025, over 100 people drew monsters with us.  We had a stand with an activity – to draw a monster, a line at a time, in collaboration with someone you had never met.  The results were amazing – lots of monsters hanging behind the stand, lots of laughter and connection.

So, why did we draw monsters?  Well, it’s a way to demonstrate the power of improv without getting people to do it; more accurately it’s a way to demonstrate it without people realising that they are doing it.  The brief is simple – draw a monster by taking turns to draw lines on a piece of paper.  A line can be long, short, angular, curved – anything you like.  Just take turns and see what happens.  The end is determined by one person deciding that the monster is finished.  At that point they start writing the name, and then the name is written one letter at a time until someone decides it’s finished.

Most people started off very hesitant.  We heard a lot of ‘I really can’t draw’, people worried about getting it right.  The delight at the end was lovely to see.  We had happy monsters, sad monsters.  Cuddly monsters, frightening monsters.  Angular spiky monsters and fluffy cuddly ones.  All had faces of some kind and all had great names.

Then came the debrief.  How had we achieved this?  We had allowed no discussion, no instruction and no judgement.  We discussed mirroring, supporting, working out what was needed (and supplying it), giving up your own idea for the other person’s.  We recognised that doing this exercise brought connection and rapport between the participants.  And then we related it back to the workplace.  Where do these behaviours and skills fit in the workplace?  How might they help when talking to colleagues, patients or families?  We could see people suddenly ‘get’ it as they realised that this wasn’t ‘just a game’; it had deep learning and applicability.

On our study days we use lots of ‘games’ or exercises which are fun in themselves, bring learning and applicability as well as being connection and laughter.  Why not come and draw some monsters with us?

Our next study day is 24th April in central Birmingham – details on our website (in our bio)