Want To Be a Better Improviser? These Are The 5 Most Important Improv Rules

Performing for an improv troupe? Running an impromptu company meeting? Or just ribbing with friends?

It’s time to improvise!

But where to start?

Improv is more art than science.

Unlike science, improv has more than one right answer. Improvisers have many options with what to say or do next.

In fact, improv can feel overwhelming for precisely this reason. You feel choice overload and hesitate because you don’t want to say or do the wrong thing.

But you are right to feel this way because there are absolutely some things you can do or say to kill an improv scene dead in its tracks.

Specifically, not adhering to some of the following rules will spell death for your improv scenes.

But good news for you, I’m here to help! Just follow these rules and you’ll be good to go!

So without further ado, here are the 5 most important improv rules:

1) “Yes And..”

“Duh,” says everyone who has ever taken an improv class. Do you think I could create an improv list, and not include this one?

“Yes and…” is the most important rule to have a functional scene. It essentially means accepting all information presented to you by your fellow improvisers, and adding to it. Your scene may not be funny, emotional, or entertaining if this is the only rule you follow, but at least you will have a certifiable improv scene.

“Yes and…” is more than literally saying, “Yes and…” to your scene partners. You can do it figuratively too. In fact, sometimes that is the preferred method.

Take the following example:

Improviser 1: “The king has arrived at the party” (while boasting grandiosely to indicate he is the king)

Improviser 2: “Yes, and I’ll grab the jungle juice for us!”

The following response would be equally valid:

Improviser 2: “Great! I’ll grab the jungle juice for us!”

In each case, improviser 2 has accepted the presented information, a king at a party, and added that there is jungle juice. Improviser 1 would then need to respond appropriately by “yes anding” the jungle juice.

Another valid response to improviser 1’s comment:

Improviser 2: “Lebron James! What a 3-point shot today!”

In this case, improviser 2 has accepted the presented information, a king at a party, and added that “the king” is actually Lebron James (“the king” is Lebron’s nickname). Improviser 1 must now deal with the fact he has been endowed as Lebron James, the basketball player.

When improvisers break the “Yes and…” rule, scenes die immediately or don’t progress. Breaking the “Yes and…” rule is called denial, and it is probably the greatest sin of improv.

Here are some denial examples:

• Telling your partner she is a doctor, when she announced that she is your accountant doing your taxes (you deny her as an accountant)
• Walking through a pretend table that your partner is doing his homework on as if it doesn’t exist (you deny that a table existed)

Denial typically happens when you want to over-control a scene. You have a great idea and want to make sure it happens in the scene at the expense of any information presented by your scene partners.

Complete control is the antithesis of improv. Go do stand-up comedy or scripted acting if you want complete control.

In improv, you are building a metaphorical house with your improv partners. You can only bring one brick to an improv scene at a time, and must be ready, at any moment, to let go of any bricks you haven’t brought in yet and aren’t in line with information presented by your partners.

Cede control and listen to your improv partners when you are not speaking. It can be frustrating to let go of a good idea that is no longer applicable to the scene, but it is the right improv move.

Finally, while not outright denials, and therefore not as severe, the following actions are minor violations of the “Yes and…” rule that will slow down your scenes:

• Asking questions (You just put the responsibility back on your partner to “Yes and…” his own information)
• “Yes’ing, without and’ing” (The scene doesn’t progress and the improvisers stare at each other not sure what to do next because no one is adding any information)
• “And’ing, without yes’ing” (You present tangential information that doesn’t immediately acknowledge or conflict with any information presented, but your scene partner wonders if she needs to repeat key information because she wants to lead the scene somewhere and is not sure if you heard her information. Now there could be confusion about where to go next)

Questions should give more information than they take.

This is a bad improv question:

Improviser 1: “The king has arrived at the party” (while boasting grandiosely to indicate he is the king)

Improviser 2: “Why are you here?”

This is a better question:

Improviser 2: “Why aren’t you wearing your bronze-laced crown with wolf fangs?”

Now we can explore why this king prefers bronze to gold and likes wolf fangs in his crown. You see?

Don’t mess up the “Yes and..” rule in improv! It is by far the most important!

2a) “If This Is True, What Else Is True?” and 2b) “Why Is This True?”

Ok. You understand the “Yes and..” rule and won’t deny fellow improvisers…now what?

As you “Yes and…” one another, your improv scenes can branch in many directions.

Although improv is primarily known as comedy, improv can pass as other genres. When relationships and characters are well defined, improv can appear more drama than comedy. You can watch and enjoy it without feeling the need to laugh.

With that said, most people enjoy improv for its comedic value. So often times, improvisers try to discover the game, or the first unusual or funny thing of a scene. Playing with the game well leads to laughter.

In my experience, I’ve noticed the game can either arise accidentally or on purpose. Accidental game is spontaneous and the audience can tell it’s an accident and they enjoy the fun along with the improvisers.

Accidental game usually results from:

• an improviser mistake
• the juxtaposition of two or more otherwise normal things
• an accidentally formed character or idea

“There are no mistakes, only opportunities” — Tina Fey

For example, let’s say an improviser meant to say, “I am a green leprechaun”, something fairly normal given that leprechauns usually wear green, but instead slipped and said, “I am a mean leprechaun”. They have accidentally used “Yes and..” to add something funny to the scene. The improvisers can now play a mean leprechaun who, for example, gives petty insults to others while searching for his pot of gold. A funny concept.

Game can also be introduced intentionally via one of the following methods:

• Initiations. The initiation is the opening of an improv scene. Improvisers can create the game from the start by opening with a weird idea or character, e.g. “Welcome to the AMC Movie Theatre, we only show Vin Diesel movies now.”
• “Yes and..”. Improvisers can create game with “Yes and..” by adding a weird piece of information, e.g. “Excited to be at AMC with you, honey.” “Likewise, hey wait, they are only showing Vin Diesel movies”.
• “If this is true, what else is true?”. Similar to “Yes and..” but provides more focus. Improvisers hone in on the unusual thing that has come up either organically or intentionally, and brainstorm other things that could be true, given that the unusual thing was true, e.g. “Man, as Vin Diesel, I miss the days where I could watch someone else’s movies at the AMC Movie Theatre.”
• “Why is this true?”. Also known as justification. Improvisers must explain unusual occurrences because, unless otherwise explained, the audience expects the improv world to mirror the real world, e.g. “Apparently the owner of the AMC Movie Theatre has a crush on Vin Diesel and wanted to grab his attention by only showing his movies.”

Sometimes I have seen improvisers not explain the unusual thing, but they at least draw the audience’s attention to it, e.g. “Welcome to the AMC Movie Theatre, we only show Vin Diesel movies now.” “Hmm, nothing weird there. I’ll get 2 for Fast and Furious, please.”

“If this is true, what else is true?” also incorporates the concept of callbacks, which is when improvisers reference things, likely the game, from prior scenes or moments. The games were funny before, and everyone laughed then, so improvisers bring them back in a new context later on in the show, and, since they are still true and likely have been temporarily forgotten, they get a laugh again when they are revisited, e.g. “Welcome to the AMC Movie Theatre, we only show Vin Diesel movies now.”“The king has arrived to party”. “Lebron James?”.

Typically, game is played in 3s, meaning you would first identify the game, introduced either on purpose or accidentally, and then create 2 additional scenes sequentially using “If this is true, what else is true?” and “Why is this true?”. The scenes should escalate the stakes each time (take the idea to the most extreme point) to get the most out of the game.

Make sure not to skip over unusual things without justifying them. In addition to missing out on the funny, you will confuse the audience, and they will think the improv world is normally this unusual.

3) Who, What, Who, Where, and Relationships

As mentioned, improv doesn’t need to be funny. It can be dramatic and still be entertaining. Either way, improv scenes should be grounded.

The best way to ground improv scenes is to provide specificity, particularly surrounding the who, what, who, and where. Define all the characters, including what they are doing, where they are, and their relationships.

As a quick aside, if you are improvising in the real world, i.e. away from the stage, all of this information is likely implied. At a house party with friends, you are most likely playing yourself, although you could theoretically do impressions of other people too, and guess how those people would react in certain situations.

Grounding scenes is especially important to do for scenes that contain fictional elements or elements very different from the real world, e.g. “a scene with aliens on Pluto in 2200”, as it’s possible each audience member has his or her own idea of what that scenario might look like. Get everyone on the same page and be specific.

You have a lot of options with the who, i.e. the characters you play. Giving your characters a philosophy or goal when they enter scenes is a great way to add specifics and direction for a character.

Define the relationship between characters, not just the individual characters. For example, if you have a scene with a fireman and police officer, how do they know each other? From college? Do they love or hate each other? In the best improve scenes, the audience almost always knows how the characters feel about one another.

4) Show, Don’t Tell

This rule applies more to on-stage improv, since real world improv will likely be verbal only.

Essentially, in improv, never tell the audience something you could show them.

Why say, “I’m really sad”…when you could lose your sh*t and start crying.

Why say, “my dog, Bones, is back home”…when you can have Bones on a leash in front of you.

This is where you get to show off your actor or actress skills. Use the stage.

Big emotions and high energy win out. Characters with physical quirks win out. Showing character status through body language wins out.

Don’t have too many scenes, particularly in a row, with the improvisers just standing still.

Mime activities during scenes, also known as object work. Object work is a great way to be physical in the space while others are talking. It is also a great way to “Yes and..” the scene with details about the environment and character activities by showing instead of telling.

5) Why Are These Characters In This Scene, Here And Right Now?

It’s ok if you can’t answer this question right away. But, in order to have a memorable scene, you should find an answer to this question as the scene progresses.

Some great reasons to have a scene:

• Play a game
• Explore a relationship
• Explore a dynamic character
• Put established characters into an interesting situation
• Tell a story about the characters

This rule took me a while to realize, but essentially it boils down to this: “Why is the audience watching this scene?”

The following are common improv mistakes which make things harder for you to answer this question:

• Talking about the past or future
• Talking about characters not in the scene, especially interesting characters
• Doing object work for an activity, and then only talking about the activity during the scene (hard to multi-task, I know)
• Not giving yourself enough character or relationship information to play with
• Weak initiations
• Not wiping the scene well

New improvisers tend to scramble to add any information to scenes, and feel good when they have done so (I did it! I followed “yes and..”!), even if that information is about the past, the future, or characters not in the scene. It is not until they realize…“now what?”… that they wish they could try again.

A scene should not be a conversation between two characters talking about how they just escaped a bear attack or how they are worried about the bear-filled woods. Start the scene in the middle of the action! I want to see the characters escape the bear attack! Make your scene about NOW.

Don’t reference interesting characters not in the scene. If you talk about how Scotty-2-Hotty is picking up all the college ladies in his Volvo, and Scotty-2-Hotty is not in the scene, I am going to wonder why and want to see him. When I hear an interesting character referenced as an audience member, my next thought is, “ok, now which person from the back-line is going to enter to play this character?”

The initiation is a great opportunity to provide direction for a scene. The first 3 scene lines can help drive a scene to success. You are still part of the show on the back-line. You should be paying attention and your mind should be pocketing potential initiations throughout the show.

It is also critical to wipe, or end, scenes appropriately. Give your fellow improvisers enough time to find the answer to “Why this scene?” and wipe before the scene goes on too long. The best time to wipe is on a high note when the audience is really laughing. The next best time to wipe is when you can tell your improvisers are stuck and the scene is starting to drag. You can always bring back cool characters later on in the show. Err on the side of wiping too early rather than letting cool characters get stale.

A quick note on plot — When I first started improv, I wanted to inject a cool plot into every one of my scenes like a movie. Unfortunately improv is not conducive to plots. As soon as you start a scene, you need to let go of your plot expectations and listen to your scene partners rather than force your desired plot. With that said, if you are really insistent on carrying a character’s story-arch forward across scenes of a show, like I was, you should know that your two best points of plot control are initiations and wipes. You can initiate with the same character at a future point in time in a specific environment which will inform your fellow improvisers that you would like to explore a certain scenario with the character. Once the scene starts though, you need to let go of expectations and improvise!

That’s it! Go practice at your local theatre or with your friends! Now that you know the 5 key improv rules you should be well-equipped to make decisive, bold improv choices!

Good luck!

Thanks for reading :P