Giving & Taking in Improv

Video Transcript

"ANDREW STUBBLEFIELD: So we're going to talk about the concept of giving and taking. What that means in every improv scene, it's a group of people that are performing. So you want to learn how to let the others partake in the fun. You don't want to be completely railroading the entire scene by just talking and not letting other people partake in the fun. That's the concept of giving and taking. So, an example of this, Jayne and I are just going to kinda like do a little scene, and you're going to see how Jayne is completely take, take, taking the entire scene and letting me do anything in it. JAYNE ENTWISTLE: "So I was thinking that this morning I would go to the store and I would buy some flowers, because I really love... ANDREW STUBBLEFIELD: "Oh." JAYNE ENTWISTLE: ... flowers. You know what? I really love roses. Roses are the best thing in the world. Don't you love roses? They smell great. I love roses." ANDREW STUBBLEFIELD: So, as you can see, Jayne completely went through that scene talking and it gave me no ability to, you know, interject, maybe some furthering of the story, and it really was just a talking head. I mean, she didn't really add anything to it, you know, just like a story she was telling, where improv is not necessarily just a story, but more about a scene, a day that happened, a moment that happened in that person's life. And that's why give and take is so important to any improv scene."