Improv of Life

Rules.

Rules are good. There are rules for everything. Seriously

Some rules are there so a game runs smoothly. Some rules are just good citizenship, like not talking on your phone during a movie. Other rules can have deadly consequences if they aren't followed, like breaking the rules of traffic and running red lights or driving against the flow of traffic.

Even in improvisation there are rules to keep things on track. If you don't follow the rules of improv, you end up with a mess. Don't believe me? Just watch the BLAIR WITCH project. Each scene is full of broken improv rules and the whole thing is -to my taste - a mess.

I believe that life is just one big improvisation, and, like anything there are rules. Yeah, I know, I know, what about "No rules, just right" and all that? Well, I doubt the people who came up with that slogan would agree to it if your interpretation of their slogan meant that you wanted the server to go down the street and bring you food from another restaurant. 

There are RULES to improvisation, and I think they serve well in life, too. Here they are:

1. Always "yes, and . . . "
2. Make statements instead of asking questions

I'll explain them more fully below.

ALWAYS "YES, AND . . . "

Others call this "agree and add". Call it what you like, as long as you follow it.

"Yes, and . . . " keeps the action moving.

"Yes, and . . . " accepts what IS and moves forward, understanding that you cannot change what has already been said or done. (See how these rules of improv apply directly to real life?)

To properly "Yes, and . . . "  you accept the OFFER (which in an improv scene would be what your scene partner says to you) AND add to that offer. 

Here's an example of "Yes, and . . ." in action . . . 

Player One: It's a gorgeous day, I love the beach.

Player Two: It is a great day! Too bad that big octopus stole our picnic lunch.

Awesome, a scene has begun, Player Two accepted the offer from Player One that they are at the beach on a gorgeous day and added that their lunch has been purloined. I cannot wait to see where THIS goes!

Here's an example of "yes" without the "and" . . .

Player One: It's a gorgeous day, I love the beach.

Player Two: Yup. Sure is pretty and I love the beach, too.

Very agreeable but this scene is going nowhere. Player Two did a great job of accepting the offer of being at the beach on a gorgeous day but then dropped the beach ball, as it were. How many conversations have you had just like this. Boring and it leaves the person who made the initial offer (or comment) dangling, in charge of coming up with something ELSE to say. Bad form, Player Two, in an improv scene and in life.

Here's an example of BLOCKING the offer.

Player One: It's a gorgeous day, I love the beach.

Player Two: Are you crazy? We're not at the beach. This is prison, man.

Whoa. Where did that come from, Player Two? You didn't agree that you're at the beach on a gorgeous day and instead forced your own idea. Player One will have a lot of work to recover from that one. 

People do this in real life, right? How many times have made a casual comment to someone and had it shot down? That is blocking, right there. It feel awful. Don't do it. 

"Yes, and . . ."

• Defers judgment
• Accepts the situation
• Opens the door to possibility

MAKE STATEMENTS INSTEAD OF ASKING QUESTIONS.

What do you think of . . . ?

Do you want to . . . ?

I'll be there are times when you ask questions, expecting a specific answer and being upset when the answer you wanted didn't appear.

For example:

Player One: What a nice day, hey What is that up in the sky?

Player Two: Oh my gosh, run! It's a giant cat and it looks like he's going to lick us!

(At about this point, I'm always amused because in a scene like this usually the next thing to happen is Player One looks at Player Two like that person is crazy and then BLOCKS the scene.)

Player One: NO it's not, it is a meteor shower.

Wow! It started out so well, then, Player One messed it all up and blocked the action by asking a question that obviously had a VERY specific answer! If you MUST ask a question, you'd better be willing to "yes, and . . ." the answer, or else don't ask!

In the scene above, if Player One wanted it to be a meteor shower, they should've opened the scene by saying, "What a cool meteor shower."