Level 1 Recap – Reflex Improv: Make a Scene – Washington DC Area Improv Classes

YES AND

Whenever your scene partner presents something to you within a scene, you should agree with it and then add your own piece to it. You can dislike what they say, but you should agree that it is the truth of the scene.

Yes-and means ‘I’ve heard you and I will honor what you brought by adding to it.’

Avoid saying “No” in scenes or negating information. “Yes, but…” is also problematic since it often deflects or negates.

Listen, Agree, Honor

A lot of times people start an improv class putting a lot of pressure on themselves to say something funny, but actually improv is about listening to what the other person has said, agreeing with it, and then honoring it by then adding on to it in an honest way.

Using this Listen > Agree > Honor > Add process, fun and funny things will emerge all on their own, often effortlessly!

GOT YOUR BACK

Your number one job on an improv stage is to make your scene partner look great. Their job is to make YOU look great. Everyone lifts everyone else up. We signify this with a ritual called ‘Got Your Back’ before shows where we gently tap our teammates on the back and say ‘Got your back…’ I’m going to make you look great, you’re going to make me look great!

OBJECT WORK (DO)

On an improv stage we usually only have each other and a few chairs. Everything else we make up. We want to treat objects like they are real, with weight size, and volume, use them and put them away like we would real things. Phones aren’t two fingers because that’s not how we hold a real phone. When sweeping with a broom or mopping with a mop, try and keep the handle straight. And try not to let your improv objects disappear into thin air. If you’re holding an improv bottle of beer, you’re holding that beer until you set it down.

The more realistic we treat the object, the more the audience will buy into the illusion. Even if you have real things like phones on your person, still use improv objects. Pay with an improv wallet, take off improv clothes, tie improv shoes, etc. The only real objects you should interact with on an improv stage are the chairs, which can be used for couches, chairs and cars.

Make Object Work about the Relationships, not the Objects

Object work can clearly establish WHERE the scene is taking place, and does a great job of filling in the scene. However, be careful to let scenes be about the people and their relationships more than the objects.

If a dad is working on his improv car while chatting with his son, it would be really easy to get into a scene where he’s teaching car maintenance. But that’s a boring teaching scene. The better option is while showing Jimmy how to change spark plugs, dad confesses “Hey buddy, I’ve got some news for you – your mom and I are splitting up.” while turning a improv ratchet. That is far more interesting!

EMOTIONS (FEEL)

When starting your object work, you can now add in an EMOTION to go along with it. Happy Sad, Angry, Scared, or any offshoot of those will work.

Characters should have a strong opinion and/or a strong emotion towards each other. On a scale of 1 to 10, we recommend starting at a 6 or 7 so it’s super clear to your scene mate and to the audience. Strong emotions also play better on an improv stage because they tend to project more.

As you start your object work, think about ‘how does my character feel right now?’ and go with that. The supporting player should do the same, but it doesn’t have to be the same emotion. It’s great to mirror the emotion, but can also be an interesting dynamic to make a completely different or opposing choice in emotions.

RELATIONSHIPS (KNOW)

STARTING SCENES WITH SENTENCES (SAY)

Over the course of this class we are going to learn a handful of ways to start a scene: with a sentence, with object work, with relationship, and with emotions. Then we will combine all four into one opening at the end. For Week 2 we’re focusing on starting with Sentences, or, to put it another way, Gifting Information.

We want to gift our scene partner with information and that is best done with sentences. Any normal sentence will do. You don’t have to say something crazy or funny – in fact, doing that will derail you more often than it will help, because it can come across very forced. Trust the yes-anding to lead you to the funny stuff together organically.

The initiation is easy. Two people enter the stage and one person starts with a sentence. The other person agrees and adds on, then the first person agrees and adds on, and so forth. Remember not to negate or deny, and try to avoid asking questions.