Don't (Just) Say Yes!

As I mentioned in one of my recent articles, the first rule of improvisation is “Say ‘Yes And.’” But why not just say “Yes”? What does the “And” add?

Perhaps we can gain some insight here from that noted Daily Improviser, former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

In his highly entertaining book about Khrushchev’s 1959 visit to the United States, K Blows Top, Peter Carlson relates an anecdote which involved Khrushchev’s “insistently promoting” the transfer of Soviet agricultural schools from Moscow to the countryside. The idea rankled the schools’ professors and students, who preferred the amenities of city life. Carlson continues:

"Of course, neither the professors nor the students argued with the dictator…. ‘Everyone nodded their heads and agreed,’ Khrushchev recalled. Yet somehow they just never got around to executing the premier’s plan.


“Khrushchev had discovered the secret method that … people have used to defy princes, presidents, dictators, and CEOs for innumerable centuries: ‘The most dangerous form of resistance,’ he said, ‘is when they yes you to death.’”

Khrushchev had stumbled, I believe, on the same discovery made by improv guru Del Close regarding the blocking effect of just saying “yes” without any follow-through or follow-up.

In improv, a performer must of course agree with the reality asserted by his onstage partners. But as Charna Halpern points out in the book Truth in Comedy, Close’s concept of Yes And goes further:

“The Yes And rule simply means that whenever two actors are on stage, they agree with each other to the Nth degree. If one asks the other a question, the other must respond positively, and then provide additional information, no matter how small: ‘Yes, you’re right, and I also think we should …’” [emphasis added]

Clearly, just saying “yes” without the “and” can block a scene as much as saying “yes but" or “no” (or "nyet") since it puts the onus on the other performer to have all the ideas and indicates a lack of commitment to the scene on the part of the “yes” man.

Similarly, for the Daily Improviser, moving forward involves first saying “yes” to another’s idea and then building upon that “yes” by taking such actions as contributing additional ideas, exploring the best aspects of each idea, suggesting ways to implement the ideas, and committing time to making the effort work.

For the Daily Improviser as leader, the "Yes And" concept can remind you that when you receive a flat “yes” response without the “and,” the speaker might really mean “I’m not sure,” “I don’t know,” or even “Noooo way!” If you sense that a different message is flowing beneath the surface “yes,” be prepared to take a deeper dive to test the source of that seeming agreement.