The Golden Rule of Improv:
Yes, AND!

You hear it all the time. Yes, and! Yes and! Yes and! You must always accept the offer a player gives you, and then add onto it to raise the stakes and progress the scene to the next level. This is considered “The Golden Rule” for a reason–because it is absolutely true!

This rule is commonly misinterpreted, however, to mean “NEVER SAY NO!”

I love “no”. “No” is so lovely, so simple! It just shoots out from your clenched teeth straight into the face of the person you say it to and smacks them right between the eyes! Try it now… Just say it… look at your roommate and say “NO! I will NOT clean your dishes for you!” Look at your homework and say “NO! I will NOT do you until I have absolutely no other choice!” Look at that spam you got in your e-mail and say “NO! I do NOT wish to know how to increase my penis size in days!”

YES! It feels wonderful, doesn’t it? The fact is, sometimes “no” is necessary, and will make much more sense than a simple “yes, and” would. Allow me to present some examples. (Yes, I will do a lot of these. what can I say, I love improvising.)

A Scene between a mugger and a victim:

Mugger
Gimme your money, bitch!

Let’s begin with “Yes, and.”

Victim
Sure thing! Here, you can have the keys to my car, too! I won’t need these anymore now that I’ve decided to live off the land. I was thinking Oregon or Alaska. What do you think?

The scene continues with the victim convincing the mugger to end his life of crime and revert to a simpler form of life out in the wild. The mugger then returns all the stolen goods and goes even further to give the victim the keys to his home.

Victim
Go! Go start life anew! … I wonder if he has a pool…

All fine. All dandy. Solid scene. No quips on “Yes, and.” I am curious, however, to see what happens when the victim decides he DOESN’T want to be mugged (weird, huh?)

Mugger and Victim, take 2:

Mugger
Gimme your money, bitch!

Victim
No!

Mugger
Huh?

Victim
No! And I’m not a bitch, either! My name is Melvin and I’m actually a really nice guy!

Mugger
Nice to meet you, Nice Guy Melvin. This is my gun, and my gun says GIMME YOUR MONEY!

Melvin
My mom told me this morning that people take advantage of my kindness. I’m not gonna be nice anymore! I’m tired of being bullied around by guys just because they’re bigger or they have guns! I am NOT gonna give you my wallet!

Scene continues. The mugger becomes intimidated by Melvin’s newfound ballsy-ness. Melvin gives the mugger a wedgie, takes his lunch money, and sends him home crying to his mom.

It is perfectly normal for a character onstage to deny doing something they realistically would not want to do. If every character onstage would say “yes” all of the time, conflict would never happen (not to mention the opportunities provided to pervert improvisers who are surrounded by players who never say “no”). Conflict creates drama, drama creates story, stories make great improv. Bam.

Let’s look at what these “no”s are actually doing in the scene. I’ll translate the lines into the language of offers/acceptance

Mugger
Gimme your money, bitch! (I am a mugger and you are my victim)

Victim
No! (YES, I am your victim AND I am not going without a fight)

Mugger
Huh? (YES, you are fighting back, AND this surprises me)

Victim
No! And I’m not a bitch, either! My name is Melvin and I’m actually a really nice guy! (YES, you are suprised, AND I will push you even further)

Mugger
Nice to meet you, Nice Guy Melvin. This is my gun, and my gun says GIMME YOUR MONEY! (YES, you are pushing me further AND I will raise the stakes by threatening your life)

Melvin
My mom told me this morning that people take advantage of my kindness. I’m not gonna be nice anymore! I’m tired of being bullied around by guys just because they’re bigger or they have guns! I am NOT gonna give you my wallet! (YES, you are threatening my life, AND I will make you pay for it!)

Funny how those there translations looked a lot like…WHA!? C-Burt, you’re telling me that a “No” can actually be used to mean “Yes, AND!?”

Absolutely.

As long as your “no” adds to your character’s intention and gives the scene direction, it will not be detrimental.

Alright, one more go-around with an example of a BAD no.

Mugger and Victim take 3:

Mugger
Gimme your money, bitch! (I am a mugger and you are my victim)

Victim
What’re you gonna do, shoot me with that banana? (NO! You are not a mugger. NO, your gun is not a gun. You are a guy with a banana and I am funny because I made that happen.)

Hyuk-Hyuk. Womp-Womp.
This “no” is actually detrimental to the scene. Now the mugger must backtrack and redefine the entire premise he set up to start with. The scene is doooooooomed!

…or is it?

Mugger
You’re right…I’m just a clown who’s down on his luck. I haven’t gotten a gig in months, and rent is due. Please, have a heart. *while blowing up a balloon and tying it into a heart shape* (YES, I am not a mugger, AND I just want some help.)

Victim
I understand more than you’ll ever know *while pulling a clown nose out of his pocket and putting it on.* Honk…Honk… (YES, you want help AND I will give it to you, as I too am a clown)

Any scene can be recovered through some constructive “yes, and”-ing. Problems happen when we get chains of “No”s. No, that’s not a gun. Yes, it is. No it isn’t. Okay, you’re right, but I’m gonna mug you anyway. No you’re not. Uh-huh! Nuh-UH! You get the point. A “no” can give the scene a new direction, but don’t go overboard with it!

So what does all of this mean?

I’m saying that there is room to wiggle around with both positive and negative interactions between characters. The rule of “Yes, and” should NOT be interpreted to mean “never say no”. “Yes, and” simply means to listen to the piece of the story that is given to you and build upon it. Do not be afraid to cause conflict (no, I will not be mugged). Do not be afraid to make a choice that may be a bit off-the-wall (Sure, I actually WANT to be mugged).

Whatever you choose to do, just be sure to work with your teammates to push that idea forward with the utmost confidence and commitment.

And that, my friends, is the true Golden Rule.

–Bryan

Many of you reading this are improvisers. This means that you have probably, at some point, received the crash-course intro to improv class. You have also inevitably been told a set of ground rules which are presented as the heart of improvising. The most popular three:

1- Yes, AND! Never say no.
2- Do not ask questions.
3- Always know the other characters onstage (always have a history).

These are wonderful things to keep in mind for the beginning improviser who is afraid to give offers in general. With these basic rules we avoid the ever-so-popular “scene about a thing.” Example:

Scene about: SHIRTS!

Whoami #1
Hey, What’re you doing?

Whoami #2
Just looking at this shirt

Whoami #1
Ya I like that shirt

Whoami #2
Can I buy this shirt?

Whoami #1
Oh, it’s not for sale

Whoami #2
Why not?

Whoami #1
Uhmmm…it’s my shirt

GYAHHHH! MAKE IT STOP! I DON’T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS!!!!

So, yes, were these players to follow the basic rules, we may be able to dig up something a little more rich, meaningful and entertaining.

The problem with these rules arises, however, when improvisers adhere to them too literally. You see I presented the rules in absolutes (Always, never, etc…), and many improvisers are actually taught the rules in this way. As a result, players may see these as unbreakable laws, automatically punishable by bad scene work and ridicule from peers. The improv know-it-all will gasp as soon as they hear “no” uttered. He will comment after the scene, “You know when you asked ‘why is the Sun so green today?’ You should’ve just said ‘The Sun is green.’ Nya! *Blows raspberry*”.

Ultimately, looking at these basic rules as absolutes is very limiting. Worse, improvisers looking to follow the rules all of the time will be AFRAID to play to their full potential.

In my following posts, I will be addressing these basic rules of improv one-by-one, turning this black-and-white terminology into something a little more comfortably gray. If there’s one exciting thing for me to shed upon all of you through this set of blogs, it is this:

Rules Are Meant To Be Broken!

And, oh, how good it feels to do so!
More to come…

– Bryan

Ed.: You can check out the first Rule in Bryan’s series here! — FG