When you take improvisation acting classes, there are rules. This was news to me.
"Rules for improvisation." Sounds a little silly, right?
There are not only rules, but there's also a #1 rule. A rule that most people have actually heard of...apparently. Yours truly was late to the parade until a few days ago.
That rule is the "Yes, and..."
Meaning, you take whatever the situation is, and you roll with it. It's the definition of improv.
For example.
Say there are two people on the stage. The first says, "Hey mom, ready to go to the beach?"
Person #1 has established two facts. One, that person #2 is mom. And two, that there are plans to go to the beach.
In that moment, person #2 needs to make something out of that situation.
"Yes (I'm your mom and we're going to the beach), and..."
"Yup, I'm ready to go to the beach! Did you pack the machetes?"
And then, it's the other person's turn to roll with it. Even if it's a bit ridiculous.
But what if person #2 didn't roll with it? What if it were more like:
Person #1: "Hey mom, ready to go to the beach?"
Person #2: "I'm not your mom, I'm your brother."
Things would get awkward. Person #1 would be thrown off. The audience wouldn't be able to make sense of the scene.
This is often referred to as the "yeah, but." The antithesis of the "yes, and."
We could learn a lot from this. We don't really live in a "yes, and" kind of culture. We're in more of a "yeah, but" kind of place.
You're caught in traffic on the way to work.
"Yes (there's traffic), and I'll make the most of the extra time in the car with my audiobook. And I'll come to work with a stronger case for my boss to get me a commuter rail pass."
Or...
"Yeah, but I'm late and I hate being late. I'm going to honk, swear, and middle finger my way through this mess."
You can turn almost any disaster into an improv worth talking it. Long as you stick with the "yes, and" approach.