• 85 acts
  • Checked October 2026

Solo Talent Show Ideas

Acts one performer can carry alone: press Pick 5 new acts, then choose an age.

Solo Talent Show Ideas

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  1. Paddle Ball, Counted by the RoomHit a paddle ball as many times in a row as you can while the audience counts out loud. A week.
  2. Rope SpinningSpin a flat loop of rope beside you, step into it and step out again. A month, and a stage with space around you.
  3. Ballet Steps, Named as You Do ThemSay the name of each step, do it, and string five of them together at the end. A week if you take lessons.
  4. Finger Knitting Through One SongStart with a ball of yarn when the music begins and hold up as long a chain as you can when it ends. A week.
  5. Two True Stories and One You Made UpTell three short stories about yourself with a straight face. The audience votes on which one never happened. A week.

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All 85 acts

Singing and instruments 15

  • A Clean Rap About This School Sixteen lines about the lunch line, the bus and the bell, over a beat or over your own clapping. A week to write and memorize.
  • A Piece Played With Your Eyes Shut Play a piece you know so well that you can close your eyes, or tie on a scarf, from the first note to the last. A month.
  • A Shaker You Made, Played to a Song Shake a shaker you made from a bottle and buttons in time to a song, loud on the chorus and soft on the verse. A week.
  • A Song Sung to a Stuffed Animal Carry a stuffed animal on stage, sit down and sing your song to it, not to the crowd. It helps with nerves. A week.
  • A Song You Wrote Your own words and your own tune, with one sentence beforehand on what the song is about. A month to write it and learn it.
  • A Tune Blown on Bottles Line up bottles filled to different heights and blow across the tops to play a tune the room knows. A week to tune them and learn the order.
  • Harmony With Your Own Recording Record the tune on a phone, play it through the speakers and sing the harmony line on top of yourself. A month to make the two voices lock.
  • Humming and Whistling at Once Whistle the tune and hum a second line under it at the same time, so that one mouth sounds like two people. A month.
  • Lullaby, Then Dance Tune Play one tune slowly as a lullaby, stop, then play the same notes fast enough to dance to. A week on an instrument you already play.
  • One Song in Two Languages Sing the first verse in one language and the second in another, and say which is which before you start. A week.
  • One Stool, One Guitar, One Song Sit, play and sing with no track and no band. Pick a song that fits your voice without straining. A month if the chords are still new.
  • One Verse and One Chorus, No Track Sing the first verse and the chorus of a song you know by heart, with nothing playing behind you. A week of singing it around the house.
  • The One-Person Band A kazoo in the mouth, a tambourine tied to one foot and a ukulele in the hands, all on one tune. A week to keep the foot in time.
  • Snare Rudiments, Slow to Fast One drum and two sticks: start a roll slowly enough to count, speed up until the sticks blur, then come back down. A month.
  • Teach the Room a Song With Motions Sing one line, show its motion and have the audience copy you, line by line, until the whole room is doing it. A week.

Funny acts for one 17

  • A Duet, Both Parts Yours Sing both parts of a duet, with a hat for one singer and no hat for the other, turning to face yourself. A week.
  • A Lecture With a Pointer and No Slides Point at a blank wall as if the charts were there: this line going up, that pie, the surprising dip. Nothing to practice but a straight face.
  • A Made-Up Language, Translated Give a speech in a language you invent on the spot, stopping after each line to translate it into something very ordinary. A week.
  • A Nursery Rhyme in an Opera Voice Announce a grand aria, then sing a nursery rhyme with huge notes, long holds and a hand on your heart. Nothing to practice.
  • A Speech From Cards in the Wrong Order Drop your cue cards on the way in, pick them up and read the speech in whatever order they landed. A week to write a speech worth scrambling.
  • An Argument With a Recording of Yourself Record one half of a conversation with gaps, press play on stage and answer back. The recording wins. A week to get the timing.
  • Announcer for Your Own Entrance From backstage, announce yourself in a huge voice. Run on, look amazed at the crowd, clap once and take a long bow. Nothing to practice.
  • Both Sides of a Phone Call Play two people on the phone by stepping left for one and right for the other, faster and faster as they argue. A week to write the call.
  • The Bubble Gum Bubble That Lifts You Off the Floor Chew invisible gum and blow a bubble so big that it pulls you onto your toes and across the stage. Then it pops. Nothing to practice.
  • The Coat That Will Not Go On Try to put on a jacket. One arm finds the wrong sleeve, the hood covers your face and it ends up worn as pants. A week.
  • Conductor of a Recorded Orchestra Play a recording of an orchestra and conduct it with a baton, a music stand and total seriousness, page turns included. A week with the recording.
  • The One-Kid Relay Race Run a whole relay alone: hand the baton to yourself, run again and cheer for yourself from the side. Nothing to practice.
  • Playing Catch With Yourself Throw an invisible ball high, run across the stage and catch it. Then a harder throw, and a dive. Nothing to practice.
  • The Sneeze That Never Comes Feel a sneeze starting, wind up for it, lose it and feel it come back, over and over. Sneeze only as you bow. Nothing to practice.
  • Ten Hats, Ten People Pull hats from a bag one at a time and say one line as the person each hat belongs to. A week to choose the hats and the lines.
  • Three Clean Minutes About Your Own Family Stand-up about your own house, read to the family first so that everyone in it has agreed. A month to write, cut and time.
  • The Wind-Up Toy That Runs Down March like a wind-up robot, slow to a stop in the middle of a step, then reach behind, turn your own key and march off. Nothing to practice.

Skills and tricks 19

  • A Broom Balanced on One Finger Stand a broom on your palm, move it to one finger and walk the width of the stage. A week of practice in the yard.
  • A Paper Airplane Through a Hoop Fold a plane on stage and fly it through a hoop that a helper holds at the far side. A week to find the fold that flies straight.
  • A Plate Spun on a Stick Spin a plastic plate on a stick, pass it to the other hand and lift it over your head. A month.
  • A Rope Cut in Two and Whole Again The old rope trick: cut it, tie it and pull it out in one piece. Learn it from a library book and tell nobody how. A week.
  • A Unicycle From Wing to Wing Ride a unicycle across the stage, turn and ride back, with a wave on the way. A month or more, and a clear floor.
  • Any State, Its Capital The room calls out states in any order and you answer with the capital before the next one is called. A month of flash cards.
  • Counting by Fives With a Jump Count by fives to one hundred with a jump on every number, then by tens with a spin. A week.
  • Diabolo Tosses Spin the diabolo on its string, toss it higher than your head and catch it on the string again. A month.
  • Every Dinosaur in the Box Take toy dinosaurs out of a box one by one, hold each up and say its name. Nothing to practice if you already know them.
  • Every Flag on the Cards A helper holds up flag cards one at a time and you name the country for each. A month, unless flags are already your thing.
  • Hat Flips and a Cane Twirl Roll a hat down your arm, flip it onto your head and twirl a cane between the flips. A month.
  • Kendama Catches Swing the ball up into the big cup, then the small cup, then onto the spike. A month.
  • Paddle Ball, Counted by the Room Hit a paddle ball as many times in a row as you can while the audience counts out loud. A week.
  • Pi, as Far as You Can Go Recite the digits of pi from memory while a helper follows on a printed sheet and raises a hand at the first slip. A month.
  • Reading a Book Held Upside Down Hold a book upside down and read a page aloud as smoothly as if it were the right way up. A week.
  • Rope Spinning Spin a flat loop of rope beside you, step into it and step out again. A month, and a stage with space around you.
  • Three Tops Spinning at Once Set one top spinning on a tray, then a second, then a third, and keep all three going. A week.
  • Walking on Your Hands Kick up on a mat and walk on your hands from one side of the stage to the other. A month, with a spotter while you learn.
  • The Weekday of Any Date The audience calls out birthdays and you name the day of the week each one fell on, checked against a calendar on a phone. A month to learn a method.

Speaking and stories 12

  • A Book Talk That Sells the Book Hold up a book you love and convince the room to read it, without giving away the ending. A week.
  • A Folk Tale Told, Not Read Tell an old tale with no book in your hands, with a voice for each character and one pause before the ending. A week.
  • A Letter to Yourself at Ten Read aloud a short letter to the child you were: what to worry about less and what to keep doing. A week to write it.
  • A Monologue From a Play One speech from a play, learned by heart and delivered in a simple costume. A month to learn it and find the pauses.
  • A Rhyme From Three Words The audience gives three words and you make a four-line rhyme with all of them on the spot. A week of practice with a friend calling words.
  • A Spoken Word Piece About Your Street A poem written to be said aloud, about the block you live on and the people who wave. A month to write and memorize.
  • Count Down From Twenty, Then Blast Off Count backward from twenty without a slip, crouching lower on each number, and jump on blast off. A week.
  • The Days and the Months, Forward and Backward Say the days of the week forward and backward, then the months of the year the same way, without a slip. A week.
  • The News From One Hundred Years From Now Sit at a desk and read invented headlines from the future: the weather on the moon, the school run by jet pack. A week to write them.
  • One Object and Its Story Bring one thing from home and tell where it came from and why you keep it. Nothing to practice: you know the story.
  • One Thing I Can Teach You in a Minute Teach the whole room one small skill, such as folding a paper cup or a greeting in sign language, and have everyone try it. A week.
  • Two True Stories and One You Made Up Tell three short stories about yourself with a straight face. The audience votes on which one never happened. A week.

Dance and movement 12

  • A Dance From Your Family's Country A folk dance someone in the family can teach you, in the right clothes if you have them, with one sentence on where it comes from. A month.
  • A Dance Inside One Taped Square Tape a small square on the stage and dance a whole song without stepping out of it. A week.
  • A Dance That Tells a Story Choose music with no words and dance one small story to it: waking up, losing something, finding it. A month.
  • A One-Person Cheer Write a cheer for the school, call it loud enough for the back row and finish with a cartwheel or a jump. A week.
  • A Parade on Tin-Can Stilts Walk across the stage on stilts made from two cans and two loops of string, turn and walk back. A week.
  • A Routine on Roller Skates Glide, turn, skate backward and stop on a toe, set to one song. A month, and a stage floor you have tested first.
  • A Waltz With a Coat Rack Dress a coat rack or a broom in a jacket and a hat and dance a slow waltz with it, dip included. A week.
  • Balance on One Foot While the Room Counts Stand on one foot with your arms out while the audience counts aloud. Then the other foot, with your eyes shut. Nothing to practice.
  • Ballet Steps, Named as You Do Them Say the name of each step, do it, and string five of them together at the end. A week if you take lessons.
  • Freestyle to the Song the Room Picks Offer three songs, let the audience cheer for one and dance to it with nothing planned. Nothing to practice, which is the act.
  • Freeze Dance for One A helper stops the music without warning and you freeze in the strangest pose you can hold. Five freezes and a bow. Nothing to practice.
  • Robot Arms and a Freeze Robot arms, a wave that travels from one hand to the other and a freeze on the last beat. A month.

Made on stage 10

  • A Bracelet Finished Before the Song Ends Knot a thread bracelet against the length of one song and tie it on a helper's wrist as the music stops. A week.
  • A Caricature of the Host, Who Agreed Ask the host beforehand, then draw them large and kind while the room watches, and hand over the drawing. A month of sketching faces.
  • A Chain of Paper Figures Fold a strip of paper, cut half a figure and unfold a row of them holding hands at the last second. A week to get the fold right.
  • A Foil Sculpture Against a Timer Tear off a sheet of kitchen foil and squeeze it into a horse, a swan or a figure before the timer rings. A week.
  • A Paper Crown, Made and Worn Cut zigzags along a strip of paper, add three quick drawings, tape the ends together and wear it for your bow. A week.
  • A Scribble Turned Into an Animal A helper who agreed beforehand draws a scribble on a big sheet, and you turn it into an animal with a few more lines. Nothing to practice.
  • A Story Drawn While It Is Told Tell a short story and draw it on a big pad as you go, so the last line of the story is the last line of the picture. A week.
  • A Thumbprint Garden Press inked thumbprints onto a big sheet and turn each one into a flower, a bee or a bug with a marker. Nothing to practice.
  • Finger Knitting Through One Song Start with a ball of yarn when the music begins and hold up as long a chain as you can when it ends. A week.
  • One Line, Pen Never Lifted Draw a face or an animal on a large sheet in one unbroken line while the audience watches it appear. A week.

How it works

These are talent show ideas for one person: acts to do by yourself, with no partner and no backing group. Each says what you do on stage and how long to practice.

Read the full guide

Good solo talent show ideas by age

Every act is marked for the ages that can hold a stage with it: Count Down From Twenty, Then Blast Off for kindergarten to 2nd grade, Any State, Its Capital for 3rd to 5th, Robot Arms and a Freeze for teens, A Monologue From a Play for adults.

Easy talent show ideas for one person

Open More filters and choose No practice. That leaves acts for tonight, such as Announcer for Your Own Entrance, One Object and Its Story and A Lecture With a Pointer and No Slides.

  • A solo act can be short: stop while the room still wants more.

Questions and answers

What are talent show ideas for one person in first grade?

A Song Sung to a Stuffed Animal, The One-Kid Relay Race, Every Dinosaur in the Box, Counting by Fives With a Jump and Freeze Dance for One. Set the age to Kindergarten to 2nd grade for more.

What is a funny talent show idea for one person, for a kid?

The Coat That Will Not Go On, The Sneeze That Never Comes and The Bubble Gum Bubble That Lifts You Off the Floor have no words to learn.

What are talent show ideas for one person, for an adult?

A Waltz With a Coat Rack, Both Sides of a Phone Call, A Letter to Yourself at Ten and Harmony With Your Own Recording.

What are easy talent show songs for one person?

Choose a song you already know by heart, that sits in the middle of your voice and has a chorus the room can join. One Verse and One Chorus, No Track keeps it short.

What can I do in a talent show by myself with no talent?

Acts built on nerve, not skill: Playing Catch With Yourself, A Nursery Rhyme in an Opera Voice and Balance on One Foot While the Room Counts.

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