The Importance of Questions in Improv

Video Transcript

"JANE ENTWISTLE: We're covering the rules and structures of improv. So far, we've learned about yes-and, we've learned about offers, we've learned about blocking, how important it is not to say no. That doesn't mean that you can't ever say "no" on stage, or you always have to say the words yes-and. These are concepts to help us get our minds around the idea of communicating and sharing on stage. We learned about offers and now another important rule in improv is the idea of questions. Does this mean that we can never ask a question in improv? No. But what it means is that, asking questions when we're just starting out is usually a way of handling our fear. We don't know how to do improv. We don't know where to go with the scene. So instead of giving an offer, a bold statement, we're just going to ask questions, and that makes things very tricky on stage. It puts all of the onus, or the pressure, on the person you're playing with when you ask a question like, "Well, what're we going to do?" The person has suddenly has to scramble. "Um, I don't what we're going to do. Uh, maybe we're going to go to the store," where as if we had made a nice, succinct offer like, "Let's go to the store!" How is the other person going to respond? With a strong and yes-and. "Yes! Let's go to the store! And while we're there, let's buy some finger paints." So asking questions, again, it's not like you can't ever questions in improv, but it's just a really a good rule to get your mind around to help you build the confidence you need to do great improv."