Understanding Yes, And

Yes, And is one of the tenets of improvisation that has been traced back to Viola Spolin, a pioneer of improvisation who furthered the work of Neva Boyd, a sociologist who used games to stimulate creative expression.

In recent years there has been some controversy around the use of Yes, And. There is only controversy because people either misunderstand the concept or misuse it. Yes, And is not to be taken literally. Rather it is a phrase that encapsulates the spirit of improvisation in that we are here to co-create together.

What’s the spirit of improv in Yes, And?

The ‘Yes’ part of the phrase is an affirmation; it affirms the other person. It shows that you’re going to accept their idea. Your partner knows that you’re going to support them. Nothing grows in negativity so the Yes is an understanding that we’re going to move forward together.

The ‘And’ tells your scene partner that you’re going to generate something; either use their idea or build on it in some way. This is the essence of co-creation. The spirit of Yes, And shows that we’re in this moment together.

There’s the assumption in Yes, And that people are performing with their fellow performers best intentions at heart. If people make offers and put forward ideas that belittle, disrespect or are inappropriate to their fellow actors and/or audience, then they’re not really performing in the true spirit of improv and are simply serving their own needs, whether that be fear, insecurity, narcissism or an intention to manipulate.     

What Yes, And is not.

It doesn’t mean you have to say Yes to everything your partner says, let alone have to say Yes, And. The actor’s job is to re-create the human experience on stage. Nowhere in life do we literally say Yes, And to everything. Literally saying yes to everything our partner says will actually kill scenes and create theatre no-one wants to watch.

 Example:

“Let’s watch TV”

“Yes, and we can have some drinks.

“Yes, and we can eat some chips.”

“Yes, and we can invite the neighbours over.”

Now we have a scene with two people standing around talking about what they could do. They’re building on ideas but they’re boring their audience and probably themselves.

Remember with Yes, And you’re saying Yes to your partner in spirit, not literally to the character they’re playing. You can say no their character while also saying yes in spirit to the actor.

Example: Your scene partner points a gun at you and says “Give me all your money.” You can put your hands up and say “No.” The act of putting your hands up shows that you’re accepting the offer of being mugged – you’re not blocking. Blocking would be more like when being mugged you respond, “Oh, Timmy, put away your finger guns and go home for dinner.”  

Putting your hands up and saying “No” means you’re making the choice that your character is not just going to roll over and hand over the money.

And like all improvised scenes it can go anywhere:

a)    The mugger finds out you’ve got seven children to feed and they start giving you some money.  

b)    The money is the only way to get out of this dead-end town and you’d rather die than hand it over.

c)    You find out why the mugger needs money (heart transplant? To buy a puppy?) and you do hand it over.

So if Yes, And not meant to be literal then why is it taught that way? The answer in a word is: Fear. When people start improvising they usually try and control what’s happening and the easiest way of doing that is to say no to ideas. Yes, And is a simple training exercise to get people to accept other people’s ideas. Yes, And then is like training wheels for beginners learning to ride. Once you overcome your fear of stepping into the unknown and get the hang of accepting other people’s ideas and creating together; then you can take the training wheels off.

Literally using Yes, And

Where else could you use Yes, And literally? You can use it off-stage if you’re wanting to build on ideas. It can be a great tool for idea generation as it gets people on the same page and they can explore an idea by constantly building on it. Yes, And is taught at the Stanford University Design School for this very purpose. It creates a positive energy, encourages participation and takes the pressure of trying to have a ‘good’ idea. Creativity is a numbers game – you need lots of ideas to play the game so Yes, And is very useful in this regard.      

Of course, you have to use Yes, And in performance if you’re playing Yes, And Experts. An improv game where two people sit and play experts in a topic usually given by the audience. Every sentence after the very first one must start with Yes, And.

A.    “Welcome to the show as we discuss penguins.”

B.    “Yes, and penguins are flightless aquatic birds”

A.     “Yes, and penguins have flippers to help their swimming.”

B.    “Yes, and…” etc.

When Yes, And is understand to be symbolic of accepting and generating ideas together then it helps create a supportive environment where people feel safe because they know their idea will be accepted.

So, the only times really you would literally say Yes, And are:

• If you’re practicing building on ideas in a workshop or an idea generating session.

• If you’re playing Yes, And Experts.

• If you’re a parent in real life and your child discovers your ice-cream in the freezer that you’ve hidden away for yourself and the child remarks, “There’s an ice-cream in the freezer.” Then it’s okay to respond “Yes, And…?” in a tone that makes it clear they’re not getting it.

And that’s it!  

When do you say Yes, And to your partner in spirit?

Every time you walk on stage; in every show, in every workshop, in every moment.