Find yes and in a real conversation

Watch out for improv patterns in the real world. We want our scenes to be believable and what better way than listening to real, honest-to-dog conversations in the streets.

Yes And naturally occurs in most conversations all of the time.

The next time you are on public transportation, in a restaurant alone, or at a crowded party, try to zero in on a conversation and listen for Yes And-ing. Are these people Yes And-ing each other? Is their ability to Yes And each other having an effect on the conversation? In good conversations, you will notice that people are constantly Yes And-ing without being conscious of doing so.

Also try to look for conversations in which an absence of Yes And ruins the conversation. These will be conversations in which one speaker changes topics without segue, doesn’t listen, or only talks about themselves. These behaviors are to be avoided in conversation and should also be avoided in scene work.