YES, YES I AM – Form lay-up lines on either side of the stage. The player on stage left endows the player on stage right with a strong emotional perspective (“You think Ringo is the best Beatle”). The player from stage right accepts the perspective (“Yes, I do’) and commits through several lines of dialogue (“He voices Thomas the Tank Engine” / “I own every Thomas trinket there is”).
Lessons:
• “Yes” is funny – there’s a surprise unique to improvisation in watching a player accept a perspective thrust upon him/her. The “Yes” of acceptance stands to be funnier than anything else even the cleverest person might have responded with.
• Specificity heightens the funny of acceptance – “Have you ever eaten a train, piece by piece, after you derailed it with your penis?” “Yes – for charity.”* When we negotiate the bizarre, we (and the audience) get bogged down trying to make sense. When we accept the bizarre, we (and the audience) explore and heighten fun worlds where the bizarre is “real.” [* thank you Mr. Show]
For this exercise the wording is confusing- “The player from stage right accepts the perspective (“Yes, I do’) and commits through several lines of dialogue” – does this mean player on SL who gave the endowment is also talking about how Ringo is the best or is it just player on SR talking about how much they love Ringo?
Thanks for the comment. With these being lay up exercises, the SL player who initiates with the endowment does not have any additional lines of dialogue. They Offer the endowment and the SR player accepts the perspective through a line or two, then the next two improvisers are up for the exercise.
Should you desire to make the exercise go in longer, I’d say the SL player is free to decide their own Personal and/or Scenic games at that point. Personal – “I personally prefer John,” or “Ringo rules.” Scenic – “You’ve convinced me,” or “I’ve always admired your controversial takes.”
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