Saying yes may be the most fundamental “principle” in improv. In beginning classes students are often taught to always say yes, suggesting that to say no is to keep a scene from moving forward. As with many “rules” in any art form, that isn’t strictly true, but saying “yes” is an excellent practice. After doing [More]
We ask, therefore we are. Is that true? Does it even make sense? Questions seem pretty fundamental to being human. They express our wondering, our yearning to know. They’re also useful in the creation of story. Maybe the most basic story question is, “What if?” What if a short man-like being finds a magic ring [More]
Maybe you’ve heard the idea that knowing the name of something gives power over the thing. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but there is power in the naming of things. In a creation like a story or improv scene, naming things lends specificity and that specificity can be a foundation on which [More]
I thought of justify for today’s word not because of the TV series “Justified” (though I do like the show), but because it’s a term that comes up often in improv. I think justification often implies some action that needs to be justified. In other words, there seems to be an element of guilt, wrongdoing [More]
The sound of H is the sound of the breath. I’m not talking about the name of the letter, Aitch. I’m talking about the actual sound of the letter when spoken alone. It’s the sound you make when you breathe out to fog a window so you can write your name on it. When by [More]
In writing, we start with a blank page. Even if we already have a story in mind, that story started with an internal blank page constrained only by our imagination. With the Freedom to bring anything into being, it can be daunting to choose which of those seemingly infinite things to actually create. No wonder [More]