Improvisation is a tool. It’s also a learned skill. We don’t need to be funny or even any good to start with, but we do need to say “YES.”

Keith Johnson writes in Improv, “There are people who prefer to say “Yes” and there are people who prefer to say “No.” Those who say “Yes” are rewarded by the adventures they have and those who say “No” are rewarded by the safety they attain. There are far more “No” sayers around than “Yes” sayers, but you can train one type to behave like the other.”

If you have spent your life colouring between the lines, just maybe, it’s time to take a blank sheet of paper and trust yourself to create. 

First Maxim: Say “Yes”

Say “yes” to everything for a world of possibility and adventure. Saying yes is an act of courage and optimism not the act of a “yes-man” that’s mindless pandering. 

When we are willing to say yes more often we can see our attempts to block – an attempt to control a situation instead of accepting it.

No, I have a better idea.

No, let’s talk about something else.

No, you have got that wrong. 

No, I’m not interested. 

We are not listening. 

“Yes, but,” is for the critic; “Yes and” is for those interested in adventure.

The “yes” invites us to find out what is right about the situation, what is good about the offer, and what is worthy of the proposal. 

Second Maxim: Don’t Prepare. 

Forget the future, and focus on the present. Show up cheerful, alert, and ready to receive unexpected gifts. 

A preoccupied mind is missing the present. 

We don’t listen well when it’s our turn to talk next. 

Don’t avoid speaking because you are unprepared; trust that you will find the words. Fear is a matter of misplaced attention. Focus on redirecting. 

Third Maxim: Just Show Up

Just show up where are making a difference.

Move in the direction of your purpose

The issue of punctuality is critical when the activity is a shared one – latecomers rob the group of time together. You are part of a greater picture that includes everyone with whom you share a purpose. Showing up on time is the first big step towards becoming an improviser.

The importance of rituals: At the beginning of a session has the effect of creating order and harmony. We knew what we had to do when we entered the space. Rituals were simple ways to show up; they provided stability. Ironically, stability is a vital element when we improvise.

Move: Use movement to take advantage of the environment AND refresh your perspective, which could be as simple as sitting where there is shade, a new spot in the room, or changing what you look at – change your vantage point and refresh your mind.

Fourth Maxim: Start Anywhere

All starting points are equally valid; when you don’t know where to start, start with what’s in front of you – continue doing what comes next.

Be inside the problem, not on the outside looking in.

Try writing questions as prompts rather than a memorised lecture or talk.

Fifth Maxim: Be average

Have nothing to lose, be average, take the pressure off. 

Trying hard to be original or perfect is getting in the way of being uniquely you – own that instead. 

We need to trust that our vantage point is worthy. 

Obvious to you might not be obvious to anyone else; don’t try to be smart – make sense.  

Sixth Maxim: Pay attention

What are you paying attention to? What we notice becomes our world. Improvisers are trained to pay attention  – remembering names is a good example. 

Be present. Attend to one thing at a time. This moment happens only once – treasure it. 

Seventh Maxim: Face the Facts

To work effectively together, improvisers agree to accept things as they are – they work with what they have been given. What are the facts? You are probably not noticing all of them.

Eighth Maxim: Stay on Course

What do I fancy doing can be replaced with “What is my purpose now?” Improvisation has a point; we create on purpose. A switch from our emotions, which change and are unreliable to conscious intention. 

What would not get done if I were not here?

Ninth Maxim: Wake up to the gifts

Everything is interdependent – “What have I received from others during my life? What have I given back to them? What trouble or bother had I caused them?”

When we see ourselves as rich, having received much, it is natural to want to give back.

Look around at all the things others do from which you benefit. What are they doing well? What are they doing that is diɽcult or thankless? Give credit. 

In Lewis Hyde’s anthropological study The Gift, he describes the nature of a gift as something that must keep on moving and moving away from us. It is less important that we return something directly to the one who gave it to us than it is that we keep the energy of the gift alive, in motion, and moving forward.

If you need reminding; the next time you read a book, notice what is around you to afford you the opportunity. From who taught you to read, to the chair you sit on, we are interdependent.

Tenth Maxim: Make mistakes, Please:

The hardest thing to learn is not how to juggle, but how to let the balls drop – Anthony Frost, Improvisation in Drama

Turtles only make progress when they stick their necks out. 

After making a mistake, ask “ What comes next?” “What can I make of this?” Notice it, acknowledge it, and if possible, use it. 

If things are not going your way, which way are they going?

When a clown makes a mistake they own it with a Ta-dah! As if it was simply part of the routine. Then look around, and think. What next?

Deal with what is already there. 

Eleventh Maxim: Act now

Improvisation is action – we act to discover what comes next. 

If you can’t get out of it, get into it.

Twelfth Maxim; Take care of each other.

Make your partner look good – be alongside them, even in distress. 

The improv stage can be seen as a permanent crisis zone where players give their best to one another, make sacrifices, fall down together, pull one another up, and if all else fails, jump into the abyss as fellow sufferers.

Learning to work with each other – moment to moment. 

Doing what needs to be done becomes the guiding principle.

Thirteenth Maxim; Enjoy the ride

Self explanatory.