Learning to Yes…And your scene partner is one of the first lessons you learn if you take an Improv class. It is the foundation upon which any improv scene is built. This might seem like an easy trick. I mean, improv scenes are generally short, maybe 2 to 3 minutes unless you’re doing a longer mono-scene, and improv is a hobby, right? It’s not REAL life. It should be easy to do the little, inconsequential Yes…And trick while playing make-believe. Uh-huh. Guess what. It’s not.
Saying, “yes…and” rather than “no” and “but” can help you open your life to more juiciness, but it takes practice. For most of us, “no” and “but” are autopilot responses, and we need to be very conscious to counteract the habit.