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If you are having problems getting to our front webpage (http://www.sbimprov.com), I am working on correcting that. For now, this blog is hosted at another location, so it shouldn't suffer while the main page is being corrected. Sorry about the inconvenience!
I want to thank Andy for grabbing the camera and taking these shots. Last night was a big class, with 21 people including me. We still got everyone through 5 games, separate from the warm-up exercises.
These pictures don't capture everyone, but I picked out 6 that I think represent the class pretty well.
This was a panel of knitting experts. The players are Allegra, Ben, Marika, Scott (one of the two), and Neil who played the MC. They had a pretty good range of characters, although I think the favorite was Slash (Scott), a parolee who made his knitting needles from toothbrushes in prison.
What was wonderful about this scene was how all the players kept endowing an event that had been offered in the initial introductions by Mary Beth (Marika). There was a horrible knitting accident in 1998. Rather than focusing on the external event, they made it affect each other in an immediate way. Lot's of feelings and support. Nice.
The second panel consisted of experts on snowflakes. Scott (the other one), Diana, Sharon, and Eric were experts, and Jim served as MC. I think Julie Langsrom (Sharon) from Minnesota ("don't you know") was the best played character since she interacted enthusiatically with everyone. But Starshine Zephyr (Eric), who was searching for his personal snowflake, was quite memorable.
We don't have a shot of the third group since Andy was in that one (oops, flaw in the system).
This is the fourth panel of experts. Mark, Rosey, Brian, and Karla played experts on lollipops. Allegra was the MC, although she didn't make it into the shot. Mark is explaining how his character survived a horrible lollipop accident.
Now we have a couple of shots from the Irish Drinking Songs. I don't remember the topic of this one, but Victoria, Ben, Allegra, Patricia, Karla, and Jim were setting the bar pretty high for the following groups.
Here, Rosey, Scott, Scott (yeah, both of them), Lisee (oh man, I hope that's spelled right - I'm already sorry for screwing up the pronunciation of her name the whole night), and Teri. Somehow, I had the 4 brand new players teamed together for the song. Luckily, Teri served as an anchor. They all did great, especially for the first time.
Actually, the new players were great all night. ALL of them were quick to jump up on stage when given the opportunity. ALL of them actively participated in the scenes without overwhelming them. I've been pretty impressed with the caliber of new players coming to the workshop.
This last shot is from one of the Entrances and Exits games we played at the end of the night. The setting in the shot is a police station, and a police officer (Patricia) is trying to get the confessed murderer (Teri) back to her cell. Another officer is off stage (Lisee), and the interrogating police sergeant (Scott) was basking in his good police work.
We went a bit late, but I think the night was worth it.
Dyna Moe at Nobody's Sweetheart is putting together an Improv Infographic that explains a Harold. Roughly in the form of a flow chart, all the phases (beats) are illustrated along with an indication of the flow, timing, and points of focus. It's a pretty fun graphic although she hasn't finished it, yet. It's possible that she'll do other graphics on the elements of a scene. If she decides to make these into posters, I'm buying some!
This post doesn't directly address improv performance, improv in Santa Barbara, nor improv techniques. This is more along the lines of my post on Soviet Era humor. I see these as examples of how humor is a common component of the human condition, no matter how horrific or oppressed that condition may be. This post will discuss humor under the Nazis, and if this sounds like too uncomfortable a topic, I understand and would recommend you exit this post now. A new book is being published in Germany that looks at humor under the Nazis. The book is in German, but there is an English review at the Speigel website.The title translates as Heil Hitler, The Pig is Dead. The Speigel review quotes a lot of jokes:
Hitler visits a lunatic asylum. The patients give the Hitler salute. As he passes down the line he comes across a man who isn't saluting. "Why aren't you saluting like the others?" Hitler barks. "Mein F�hrer, I'm the nurse," comes the answer. "I'm not crazy!"
The book reports that this joke was told openly in the early years of the Third Reich. As with the Soviet era humor, the images are very dark, and in some cases a joke could lead to a death sentence:
Hitler and G�ring are standing on top of Berlin's radio tower. Hitler says he wants to do something to cheer up the people of Berlin. "Why don't you just jump?" suggests G�ring.
The German worker telling this joke was convicted of undermining the war effort and executed in the final years of the Third Reich.
The article gives examples of how jokes changed over the war years, and even discusses the gallows humor of the Jews. Jokes provided a pressure release, and from the safety of our current perspective, they give an insight into the common concerns, frustrations, and fear of the general population. This one was told as the allies were closing in, and the bombing was wiping out German cities:
"What will you do after the war?" "I'll finally go on a holiday and will take a trip round Greater Germany!" "And what will you do in the afternoon?"
Personally, I find it hard to read some of the jokes, even though I generally find this type humor interesting and powerful. The pain behind each situation is really close to the surface and is hard for me to keep distant. And, I've only read the few jokes that were translated for the review. But, I think there is a lot to learn from this book, and when it is translated to English, I'll read it.
I come from an improv background which advocated NO QUESTIONS. The core reasoning around this rule is based on very sound, scene building principles. A questions doesn't usually add information to a scene. And what's worse, a question typically demands that your partner supply additional, specific information. A question is usually asked to avoid defining something or to avoid providing information. "What are you doing?" is a typical, blatant example. But more subtle examples can be easily found, such as: "Why did you do that?"; "Where are you taking that?"; and "How long have you been there?". All of these accept the partner's offer, but do not add anything to the scene. This is one form of wimping.
Instead of asking these questions, the performer should directly provide the answer. "What are you doing?" becomes "Please stop chopping down that tree!". "Why did you do that?" becomes "I hate when you become so competitive". "Where are you taking that?" can become "Mother needs that money, now". And finally, "How long have you been there?" is stronger as "Please don't tell anyone you saw me take the diamond". Each of these statements add more to the scene, giving something to the partner to work with.
If you catch yourself asking a question during a scene, you can recover by immediately answering the question. Then it appears like a rhetorical question was asked. In the previous paragraph, each question could have been immediately followed by its strong statement counterpart, creating a 2 line, question/answer dialog that sounds natural.
As a final thought, keep in mind the reasoning behind the rule. It's not that all questions are inherently bad. The real issue is whether a question adds information to a scene or requires the questioned player to add information. The question "When are you going to stop making a fool of yourself?" doesn't really require an answer. It adds its own information to the scene. That's the real test of whether a player has avoided wimping.
It's official. We have Jefferson Hall reserved for the next class recital. Here are the specifics so that you can start letting friends and family know: Date: Saturday, September 30, 2006 Time: 8:00 pm until 9:30 pm Location: Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street
I passed around a sign up sheet at the last class and I'll continue signing people up at the next. If you don't have a chance to sign up and would like to participate, please contact me.
Here's the thing: I'm not sure whether this is an amazingly ironic moment, or a setup by a very clever improvisor in the workshop.
We rent a small performance space for our workshop, and I usually arrive a couple of minutes early to start setting up. Last week I unlocked the door, and there on the stage was a table with a lovely vase of flowers. Not thinking beyond the fact that I had to now clear the stage, I moved everything to one side and the class went on.
Afterwards, as we were clearing up I put the table and vase back on the stage. At that point, several much more observant players in the class pointed out that this was a physical representation of my classic Yes And talk. That description appears in my previous post on the subject.
Well, we were all impressed and amused so we took several photos. I even mentioned at the end of the posting for lasts week's class that there was a special picture which deserved its own posting. You can see that picture at the top of this post.
However, in the interim it occurred to me how this was all a bit too perfect. Like maybe it was a setup. Perhaps someone who's heard my talk a few too many times (anyone who's been in the class more than a month) realized how damn funny it would be to put a table with a lovely vase of flowers out for me to accept and perhaps add something.
So, which is it. A beautiful cosmic coincidence, or a funny setup that I didn't even get until a week later?
Either way it's damn funny.
Isn't that a great shot of people just having a good time on stage. And to think, they're all singing. Very cool.
It was a big class on Wednesday. Eighteen people showed up ready to risk it all on stage. I was number 19, and we filled the room with some fine short form work. Three were brand new to improv, but each of them enthusiastically jumped up to participate, even for some games that were new to me.
Inspired by my search for websites with game listings (see my previous post), I brought several new variations on games we normally use for the workshop. I think they worked out really well, especially for such a large group.
In addition to new players and some new games, we also debuted our new curtains. I planned on posting an image as I was building the damn things, but they took so long I never had a chance to stop and photograph them. I think they'll work out fine, but there are a couple of tweaks I still want to make. I'm such an engineer.
Okay, that expression on Scott's face makes this scene work for me. I believe he was playing a horse, although during this replay scene there was a critical beat when the horse lifted it's leg. Hmm, I guess we're more urban than I realized.
And Victoria made her triumphant return after her adventures in house remodeling, moving, and a trip to the Burning Man event. We missed her, and she came back ready to play. In fact, in this scene I believe she was playing an octogenarian who couldn't quite make it to Burning Man.
You know, I don't remember what was actually happening in this scene. but, I like just making up what might have been happening.
What I like about this shot is that it doesn't involve me doing push-ups. It was one scene, okay. Don't ask.
Once again, a very good night of improv work. I'm always happy to have such enthusiastic new players, especially when they're dragged in by their relatives and on their honeymoon. But, that's a story for another time.
I've added another website with a list of improv games to the post on improv game sites. I've seen this site referenced, but the links were always broken. I've just come across the current link: The Living Playbook hasn't been updated for awhile (the current list is dated from 2001), but it is a long list of long and short form games along with a glossary.
I am thinking about creating a list of critical improv aphorisms or 'rules'. But, I've come across a lot of exisiting lists that are available of the web and before I publish mine, I thought it would be a good idea to reference some other (and possibly better) lists.
The first list is The Eleven Commandments of Improv which is found on the Improv Encyclopedia website. They reference Del Close as the source. Here's the list:
Another list at the Improv Encyclopedia is named the Ten Commandments. They didn't reference where they found this list. The commandments are:
The third (and last) list at the Improv Encyclopedia is named The Rules. Again, no reference of the source, but here they are:
The next list comes from the Pan Theater Improv Theater and is titled The Rules of Improv Part I- the First Ten . The group is from San Francisco, and the article was written by David Alger. Here's the list:
David went on to write a follow up article cleverly titled The Rules of Improv Part II. The ten rules in that list are:
Dan Goldstein has created a long list consisting of some basic rules of thumb. The article is titled How to be a Better Improviser and the list consists of:
The Purple Crayon of Yale is the college's improv comedy troupe. They have a list of rules that they call Improv Wisdom. That list consists of 160 rules so I'm not going to duplicate it here. I find lists that long to be be distracting, with only a few of the rules being generally useful or unique. However, I give you the link in case you want to mine it for your own gems of wisdom.
By now you are probably cross-eyed from the all of these lists. You can see that there are some common items to all of them. The differences generally define the style of improv performed by the list maker.
What's the best list? Well, you know I'm not going to answer that directly. Instead, I'll be putting together my own. You should do the same.
There were a lot of great photos from the class last night. Thanks to all the players who picked up the camera and took shots throughout the night. I picked out a set that I believe covers everyone who was at class.
Early on, we did an exercise where the dialog could not be about the environment. Here, Alegra, Eric, Marika, and Patrick were at an archeological dig, but discussing Allegra's blindness.
Her hand is on his leg. Really!
Same exercise, but here Geof and Mike are discussing the lousy gifts they got their mothers. At the same time, they're firemen cleaning up after a big fire.
Sol looks rather pained during this Irish Drinking Song, but Ben's just happy it's not his line. I think Phyllis finds Sol more amusing than my directing (yes, that's my hand).
Oh yeah, Neil and his new haircut. Sweet.
Teri seems amused by his last line in the Irish Drinking Song.
I liked this shot of me directing. It looks like I'm about to give some dynamic bit of stage direction or wise advice.
This is Eric and Jim during a Three Line Drill. I don't remember what the scene was about, but I love Jim's face in this. A very enthusiastic response.
No, Patricia is not flipping off the new guy, Geof. That's her index finger. I think she was actually miming the polishing of her fingernails since she was playing a prostitute being saved by a friend.
Okay, I loved the colors in this shot and the looks of sheer boredom. Teri is in the reddish orange, Andy in green, and Allegra in light blue. I believe I was discussing a One Act that they were going to perform, and I had clearly captured their imagination. As I recall they all did quite well.
I like this shot because both Phyllis and Justin were clearly having a good time.
For some reason, I kept calling Justin by the name of Travis at the end of the evening. I don't have a good excuse, I was just wrong. Sorry Justin.
So that was the evening, and it was a good one. There's another shot that we took just after the class, but it deserves its own post, later.
There are a variety of websites that have lists of improv games. Some are comprehensive lists that are compiled with the help of many contributors. Some are the list of games a particular troupe use for their shows. As of today, Sept. 6, 2006, this list is accurate. I will try and update this post periodically with any changes that I find. Improv games often are known by several names depending on the group referring to it. Also, the game may have several variant methods of playing it.
Unfortunately, there isn't a single site that I go to for all games. Some are more comprehensive than others (listed first, below) , and I still review small sites to find any new or unique games. New games and variations are being developed all of the time.
Improv Encyclopedia has the most comprehensive list, and provides the games either alphabetically or by categories. They also try and list the games under all known names and variants. I use this site most often.
Chicago Improv Network Wiki is a new site to me. They have three lists, Exercises, Longforms, and Shortforms. I really like the layout, but there is a problem with a lot of incomplete definitions. In several cases, a page for a game is exists but without content. I plan on spending some time exploring this site.
The Improv Wiki has a small set of games, and doesn't appear to be updated very often. However, it's worth checking in on this one from time to time.
Learn Improv has a smaller list, but the descriptions are pretty good and their list is also categorized. Access their lists using the Structures box on the side.
The Living Playbook hasn't been updated for awhile (the current list is dated from 2001), but it is a long list of long and short form games along with a glossary.
Long Form Stuff Shaun Has ... is a list of long form structures that Chicago's Shaun Himmerick has collected from a variety of source. The descriptions are pretty good although brief.
Idiotica has a smaller list, and the descriptions aren't detailed, but they do try to rate the characteristics of each game. Each game is given a score between 0 and 5 for Character, Plot, Timing, Mime, and Group Mind.
Fuzzy's Game List is an older list that hasn't been updated for awhile, but is still out there and worth looking over.
Mark's Guide to Whose Line Is It Anyway, The Games is a fun site where a lot of the games seen on the Who's Line Is It Anyway TV show are listed. The descriptions are limited, but they include a sample of the dialog. It's a fun list.
The Spolin Games list games promoted by The Spolin Center. The group promotes the work of Viola Spolin, one of the founders of modern improv. The descriptions are way too short, but they do give you a sense of the games.
FNI Games is a site listing the games played by the FNI (Friday Night Improv) in Pittsburgh. A short list, but I sometimes like seeing this kind of focused list.
Improv Games for Rehearsal and Performance is an interesting site that has a short description of a large group of games. I'm not certain who put this list together, but it's a nice list.
Improv Games for Kids is a nice little list of improv games that are appropriate for kids.
Okay, this should be the last post about Laughingstock 3. Here's a group picture taken by the VATS folks documenting our participation in the festival. From left to right: Mike Gordon, Jim McRobie (kneeling), Andy Devore, Alan Irwin, and Patrick Desnoyers.
Whew! The last night of Ventura Area Theatresports (VATS) Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle was a full on, short form extravaganza, and they went out with a very successful bang. They started the same as every night with a Free-For-All. Jim, Mike, Patrick, and I all participated in that first performance, along with players from VATS and Chimps (the Chadwick Improvisors). I think we all had a good time, and I really enjoy the challenge of working with other improvisers.
Then it was a Micetro knockdown. There were a total of 3 shows, in an elimination match to determine the Master of the Universe. At least in Improv. And maybe just in our region. And pretty much just Theatresports folks. But still, it was damn good improv, and really funny.
There's a better descriptions of the Micetro here, but briefly the idea is a large group of players compete by performing scenes in small groups chosen randomly. Each piece is assigned points by the audience, and all players in that piece are awarded those points. At the end of a match, the top point winners move on the next round.
The first two Micetro shows of the night were preliminaries with 12 to 13 players in each match. The players came from VATS, Chimps, Rapid Fire Theatre (the Edmonton guys), and LATS (LA Theatresports). The top 6 from each met in the final match, with some alterations made to accommodate some of the guests. It was a lot of short form improv, and I was pretty tired by the end, but to their credit, that last show just got funnier.
At the end, there was a multi-way tie, and frankly I don't remember who won what. It really didn't matter, since it was the end of the festival, and they didn't even bother with any sort of a tie-breaker. They invited all the performers from the entire weekend up on stage for a final thank you, and it was all applause and appreciation. VATS was a great host, and Tom Mueller and Judy Gottlieb deserve a lot of credit. Thank you both.
Actually, I'd like to thank several of the folks from the VATS group who were very welcoming and helped put on a great show: Tom and Judy I mentioned before; George Morgan, the piano player who added mood to every piece and made each musical number sound like real show tune; Gary Best who MC'd many of the shows; Katherine Boring and Jim Kasmir who directed Sunday's Free-For-All; and a general thank you to so many of the VATS members who would check in to be sure we had whatever we needed or just to make us feel welcomed.
Wow. Some amazing long form improv on the second night of the Ventura Area Theatresports (VATS) Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle. I've got some pictures, so let's get right to it. First, there was a workshop put on in the afternoon that I missed, but a couple of players from Santa Barbara attended. It was taught by Dan O'Conner from the LA Theatresports (LATS) group, and both Andy and Patrick reported that it was terrific.
The first show of the evening started at 5:00 and I missed that, also. It was a performance by Straight Up, a youth improv group from Ventura County.
I did get there in time for the 6:00 show, which was a Free-For-All consisting of VATS players, some performers from Chimps (the Chadwick Improvisers from Palos Verdes CA), the Rapid Fire Theatre (from Edmonton Canada), and maybe some LA folks. It was a pretty big group (13 players) so I don't quite remember them all. I didn't start taking pictures until it was almost done, so I don't have a good group shot. I do like this shot, which is one of the players from VATS and one of the Edmonton guys (Okay, tonight I'm getting a program and recording everyone's name).
Next came the first long form of the evening, titled a Quirky English Comedy. One of the LATS groups put it on, and I enjoyed it. I know it got mixed reviews because it wasn't laugh-a-minute funny. But, it was touching at times, and I enjoyed the characters. I especially liked a couple of scenes where one player had to portray two different characters in the scene at the same time. Everyone supported the technique and I think it played well.
Next was a brilliant Operetta put on by VATS along with Tristan from San Diego (as the itinerant podiatrist). This was another long form, where all the dialog was sung in that very distinctive operetta style (think Gilbert and Sullivan). This was funny all the way through and the singing was just so darn impressive!
Next up was the most impressive show of the evening and was performed by LATS. I've got several pictures from that one piece, and so I'll spend a bit more time rambling on about it.
They started with an extended warm-up that by itself could have been their entire show, and still have been one of the best of the night. It was called My Movie, and consisted of a series of movie titles and pitches made up on the spot. Any pitch that sounded interesting then had a scene performed. It was a high energy piece that they performed for about 20 minutes. Wonderful.
Then came their long form performance piece, which was a Tennessee Williams play. I believe their starters from the audience were puberty and wedding. The performance was amazing! A full range of characters, most were important to the plot and really compelling. The main plot was straight forward, but the secondary plots were very well constructed, added nicely to the texture of the characters, and each was beautifully tied up by the end.
And this was clearly a Tennessee Williams play. There was the young, naive summer gardener raising money for his coming marriage and who somehow never wore a shirt while in the garden; the man of the house (a dentist) who always had a drink in his hand and had a couple of hidden secrets; his wife (named Frustration) who had bouts of 'sickness' when reminded of her dead daughter (who was named Opportunity, and yes, she did knock at one critical plot point) and who lusted after the young worker; the younger (not dead) daughter (Honesty) who also lusted after the young worker but was convinced by her mother that she wasn't pretty (and who never seemed to be wearing pants); the sheriff looking into the dark secrets of the dentist and his 'tutoring'; 'Big Daddy' who was the patriarch of the family; and the local politician who wanted the wife as his own. There was also a soda jerk who was less involved, but did bring in a few key plot elements.
I can't speak highly enough about this piece. In my mind, it's what long form strives to be. Interesting, funny, rich, touching, and memorable. This was a gem in what still would have been a great night. An extra treat.
And of course, it didn't end there. Next was an Improv Jam, and it was pretty fun. Players from VATS, Edmonton, LATS, and San Diego put on a series of short form pieces that had some really fine moments. This picture came from a scene where two girlfriends were in a bathroom comforting a young woman at their prom after her date had said a few inappropriate things. A great scene.
Finally, the last show of the evening was Jimmy Mooks, a trio of players from VATS that put on a short form show where there are no holds barred. At this point I was pretty tired, so after only seeing a few games, I left for the night.
Okay, that's more than enough for now. One more night tonight, which I recommend you get out to see. A few of us from Santa Barbara will join in the Free-For-All at 6:00. Get out there!
Last night was the first night of the Venture Area Theatresports (VATS) Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle, and I'd say we all had a great time. Five of the Caught in the Act players joined in the first Free-For-All at 6:00 pm, mixing it up with players from VATS, the Chadwick Improvisors (Chimps) from Palos Verdes CA, and Rapid Fire Theatre from Edmonton Canada. Afterwards, we stuck around to see several really fun improv shows. It started with a traditional Theatresports match which I enjoyed, except of course for the horribly deluded judging (boo! hiss!). Players from VATS, Chimps, and LA Theatresports (LATS) challenged each other to some very funny scenes. And I must say that this show included the best portrayal of a spaceship using a chair that I have ever scene. Ever.
Then the Rapid Fire group performed a very funny long form structure. Three very appealing guys spent an hour taking suggestions they fished from the audience (you'd have to see that process to appreciate it) to put together some wonderful scenes, running the gamut from bullies at school to dealing with a delusional girlfriend.
There was a Gorilla Theatre competition, which I thought was some of the best improv all night. The four experienced improvisers put on a great show. Three were from the VATS group, and one fellow was from San Diego. For me, he was the hit of the show. When performing, his characters had a riveting physical presence, creating some really wonderful scenes. I believe he won the competition, but who can understand the subtleties of scoring?
The night ended with an Improv Jam, where they had 8 players from VATS, Chimps, and Edmonton on stage putting together whatever came to their crazed minds. It lasted about an hour, and although the scenes were risky and didn't always work, they hit to some fun moments, and their enthusiasm really made the show.
I'm sorry I didn't get more of the players' names. Tonight I'll try and get a better list, and I may come back and add some to this post. I need to take better notes, but it's all so delightfully distracting.
On a final note, I want to thank the VATS organizers, and let everyone know how damn well they treat their guest performers. Besides the logo tee shirts and food, they always made us feel welcome and appreciated. They put on a great festival. Get out there!
I want to thank Mikki for snapping pictures through this class. I had a pretty good set to chose from. We had a particularly good night, and it was nice change to have an experienced set of players. I love having new folks come into the workshop, but it's also good to have a small, experienced group.
Here's a sample set of pictures.
 I liked this ABC scene between Sol, Teri, and Lily. Teri was the counselor as the other two argued over who needed to be seen first. |
 Ah, the smoking scene. I believe this was also an ABC scene between Andy, Ben, and myself. The setting was a cigarette factory, and Ben was the quality inspector. Luckily, the picture where I was licking the cigarettes was too blurry to publish. |
 The songs were particularly good this night. That's Andy, Abbe, Karla, Teri, Jim, and Patrick belting out the Irish Drinking Song. I was directing, and that's the back of Ben's head. |
 This is the start of a 3 line drill, with Andy preparing an emotional setting for Patricia's opening line. |
You may have noticed that there aren't the usual curtain panels on the edges of the stage. There's an amusing story behind the missing curtains, but let's just say it was my fault that we now have the opportunity to build some fresh new stage settings!
I just got word that players from Caught in the Act will be performing at Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle this Friday, September 1 at 6:00 pm. That's scheduled to be a Free-For-All, so we'll be mixed in with other players. At this point, the players from SB Improv will be Jim, Andy, Mike, Patrick and myself. There are shows scheduled through the night on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so set aside some time and head on down to Venture.
The Ventura Area Theater Sports group is hosting their annual Improvathon this Labor Day Weekend at their Livery Theatre. This year the event is called Laughingstock III: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle. They host an extended weekend of improv shows and events, hosting groups from around California, and this year at least one group from Canada is being featured. Players from our Caught in the Act group participated last year, and we had a blast. Several of us plan on being part of the show, and I hope to get down to watch a lot of great improv. Check out their schedule and get yourselves down there.
The term Yes And is a short hand reference to the concepts of Acceptance and Addition. These are core concepts of improv; actually the core concepts of improv. In an improvised scene, the players are building everything from scratch: setting, plot, and characters. It is critical that when one player defines some component of a scene (mimes an object, performs an action, refers to an event, or endows another player with some attribute), all the other players immediately accept that component as a real part of the scene.
For example, if I mime placing a table on the stage, it's important that any other players walk around the table rather than right through it. If my partners walk through the mimed table, then the audience can see there is a problem, but what do they believe as the scene goes forward - is there a table, or not?
Accepting that the table is now part of the scene is the YES.
Beyond just accepting the table, if my partner mimes adding a vase of flowers to the table, then the audience senses a more interesting environment. And there is a subtle expectation that this is an important table and worthy of attention.
Adding an object to the table is the AND.
I use the physical, mimed example to simplify the concept, but Yes And is even more important to endowments between the characters. If I say the line "you don't pay enough attention to our kids" to my partner, and the response is "that's because we don't have kids!", well that's funny, but where do we go from there? Do we have kids? Do we not have kids? What does the audience understand?
Instead, the line "that's because I've never liked our kids" accepts my original premise, and adds more information about the kids and the player's feelings about them. Now we can keep building the scene together. A good example of Yes And.
There are a lot of "rules of thumb" for improv, and they cover a range of styles and methods for generating scenes. They're not necessarily hard and fast rules, and most can be creatively broken from time to time. But the concept of Yes And is a core concept to all of improv. Few things can shut down a scene quicker than not accepting, and a scene without additon will often seem lost or random. I'll talk about how Blocking and Denying - the opposite of Yes And - can drag down a scene in another post.
