I recently
watched a great movie called Liberal Arts.
If you haven’t seen it, watch it right now. Whatever I have to say here can wait. If you have seen it, keep reading. In the beginning scenes, we meet Zibby, a
sophomore in college who is older in her heart and mind than she is in
years. We quickly learn that she’s in
love with learning and she’s in love with the school’s improv team. And she says she loves improv so
much because of the “yes-and” philosophy that’s promoted. “There are no bad ideas” she says. “You always have to say yes.”
The concept
that she’s talking about it is what many call the first rule of improv. The idea is simple. Accept everything people
give you and add to it. It’s used so
that scenes keep moving. So there’s no
dead space. Always be flexible and
adaptable enough so you can take whatever the scene gives you and add more to
it.
The
“yes-and” philosophy is very popular these days. Zibby is not the first character in a movie
that’s talked about it. Nor is she the
first person to gush over how beautiful of a philosophy it is to instill in
everyday life. Tina Fey talks about it
in Bossy Pants. Colleges (such as Calvin
College) has made it its tagline in promotional materials. I can recall at least 5 speakers who have
mentioned it. The Yes-And philosophy is on a rampage. There is one major problem with it
though. Improvisers who only say “Yes, and”
tend to be bad improvisers. And more
importantly, people who only say “Yes, and” tend to be pretty bad people.
Let me first
start with the improv world because I know more about that world than I do the
real life world. When someone starts
learning improv, they are taught to always say “Yes, and...” And they’re taught this because improv is
really hard. It’s something that
requires a lot of thinking and a lot of really fast thinking. For this reason, even good improvisers are
sometimes really bad improvisers. But
when people are starting out, the goal is to make it as easy as possible for
them. So if you can enter a scene with
the mentality that all you’re going to do is agree or accept whatever is thrown
your way, there’s a whole side of your brain that you’re able to turn off. There are no wrong answers. All you have to do is add to whatever’s given
you.
You can
probably already see the major issue with this.
Applying this philosophy to real life is essentially saying bad ideas
don’t exist. And that’s just silly. There are a lot of bad ideas. And quite frankly, there are a lot of really
bad ideas in improv as well. That’s why
when improvisers have been doing improv long enough, they stop listening to
just one side of their brain and allow both sides to function. Doing this well makes for great improv. Characters start to have depth. They start to have desires and wants. Conflict arises and then demands resolution. Scenes become really interesting to watch because
there are struggles and goals and sometimes confusion. And the best improvisers can keep all of this
information in the forefront of their minds whilst simultaneously moving other
plot points. It’s like Beethoven but
funny.
Now before
moving on, it’s important to note that when I say improvisers should use both
sides of their brain, that doesn’t give consent to just deny other people’s
ideas. Instead, they need to learn how
to say “No, because…” This point is very
significant. Saying “no” without a
reason is stubbornness. And stubbornness
is hard to work with- both in improv and real life. But saying “No, because” keeps the scene
moving. It keeps ideas flowing. And good improv is all about movement. Each scene should ebb and flow. And those ebbs and flows should be
unpredictable. Saying “Yes, and…” doesn't necessarily mean the scene will be predictable. But it most often time means that the scene
will be random and not rooted in something deeper. Allowing your character to say “no, because…”
allows him or her to have morals, values, wants, desires, internal struggles,
doubt, conflict, standards, whatever. It
gives the character an opportunity to be true to him or herself. And it forces them to have reasoning behind
their actions and thoughts. It creates
accountability.
This is all
why the “Yes, and…” philosophy is a dangerous one. I know there’s a better analogy than this but
when I imagine applying this concept to real life, I think back to sex-ed in
Junior High. The speaker that day, God
bless him, held up a stick figure. That
stick figure, he said, just had sex with another stick figure. And each of those stick figures apparently
had relations with other stick figures.
And those stick figures, well they got it on with other stick figures,
and so on. Eventually, the point was
made that because many of the stick figures shared the same stick figure
partners and one of those stick figures had an STD (along with some “six
degrees of Kevin Bacon” logic), every stick figure now had gonorrhea. I look at that scenario and think it's a shame those stick figures kept saying “Yes, and.” Had
one of them said “No, because,” who knows how many stick figures would have been saved
from the clap. Again, I know there’s a
better example but you know what I’m getting at.
Okay, if
there is a better way to say it, maybe it’s this: I want to be a person who has the right
intentions of saying “Yes, and…” and “No, because…” I want to be a person of affirmation and
encouragement. I want to be a person who
can be flexible and adaptable when life throws me the ever proverbial curve ball. But I also want to be a person of standards. I want to someone who stands up for their
morals and values and has good reasoning behind them. I want to be someone who can not only say
“No” to people, but can also give a sound reason why.
Don’t get me
wrong, saying “Yes, and…” is a great concept.
And although you wouldn’t guess it, I’m a huge advocate for it. But it’s only great if you don’t have a
greater “No, because.” Saying yes when
you should say no is the cause to a lot of people’s problems- and not just in
regards to STDs.
May we all learn
how to use both “Yes, and..” and “No, because…” better this year.
…and may we
all especially say “No, because…” to stick figures we’re not married to.
