What is Blocking in Improv?

Video Transcript

"JAYNE ENTWISTLE: So we're talking about the rules and structure of improv. We've talked about offers, and Andrew briefly mentioned the idea of 'blocking'. Now, what does that mean, blocking? Blocking is anytime a person blocks the forward motion of the scene. It could either be by denying, saying, "My name is not Jayne. My name is Hillary." It could be by just clearly saying, "No, no. I don't want to do that." Or-- ANDREW STUBBLEFIELD: Or something even more vague is the infamous "but." It's basically a block, it's someone suggesting something and that person says, "Yes, but," and it kinda doesn't move the scene along either. JAYNE ENTWISTLE: So we're going to give an example of what blocking looks like and why you would want to try and avoid that on stage. ANDREW STUBBLEFIELD: "Ah, good morning Hillary." JAYNE ENTWISTLE: "Its, it's not morning, it's night time." ANDREW STUBBLEFIELD: Well, that was uncomfortable. As you can see the scene automatically stopped, it completely destroyed my offer which was--it was morning. And she, maybe, isn't going to laugh, but it doesn't really help anything. It destroys the scene and it makes everything on stage uncomfortable. Now, as a good improviser, of course, I could have reworked it to make sense, but as a better improviser, you want to make sure that you take care of your partners, and that's why it's important to always "Yes, and" and not block the scene. JAYNE ENTWISTLE: That was an example of blocking."