The underground Comedy Dipatch #2: Acceptance

Another cornerstone of Improvisation, and I'm not the first to say it, is Acceptance. Say yes. When you do, it moves the scene forward. When you don't, the scene becomes a pointless argument that nobody cares to watch or listen to.

It's ever so important that, if your partner(s) in a scene give you something, that you must use what they've given you as the building block for what's to come next. Unlike sketch, you don't have the luxury of discarding it, and hoping the next idea is better.

That being said, denial has its place, as long as it's not negation. If you're in an argument, a letigimate, constructive (and hopefully funny) argument, there is an implied sense of contrariness. You can do this by disagreeing with observations, but not out and out negation. Think of the improviser's Most Holy Yes And. Replace that, only hypothetically at first with "yes, but," or "Yes...Or..." You can creatively adjust the parameters of a creation without destroying it, and ruining the creative force of the scene.

Consider also the principle of clarification. I'll never forget a scene I did where we were to play as the A-Team. There were three players, and one was on stage. I came in, hollering, "I pity da foo!", only to have the player on stage say, "Hey, Hannibal, nice BA impersonation. He'll really lke that."

Another player came on stage, saying, "I pity da foo!", only to hear, "Oh, Murdock! You're so crazy!"

Finally, the original player said, "Well, I'll be over here in my Corvette", to which I replied, "I love it when a plan comes together."

Two players created a Mr. T performance, only to have it edited and redefined by the responding player. That's when it's truly becoming something great.

The Underground Comedy Informer Dispatch #1: Statements (and Questions)

Statements

These truly are the building blocks of scenework. Without statements, declarative statements, the scene does not go forward. This may seem counter-intuititve to the way that normal conversation goes, and that's probably true. We, however, improvisers, are not having normal conversations, so different guidelines are followed.

Statements can also be unspoken. This is something that many forget. Statements are frequently the conveyance for emotional states. An emotional response is just as valid a statement as a description of surroundings. Make statements. If you get nothing else from this, get that.

How Questions Can Be Statements

Hold on, you say. We make statements, we don't ask questions!

Yes, and no. Questions can be effective statements, if they are creative or vivid enough. For example, ask: "Why, again, have you sucked all the blood out of my pet goat?", not "So, what are you doing?" See, one is interesting, and involves many possibilities, where the other is far too open-ended.

Consider the popular handle (improv game) 'Questions Only'. This game requires questions be asked instead of making statements. I, and fellow iCu player Larry, played once for three hours as we drove through Connecticut. Not one statement made. And we were not allowed to ride with that group of friends ever again.