The Power of The Reluctant Yes

Move the story along without dropping your character

Improv comedy is a type of storytelling. Every story needs conflict. Often, the conflict is that the characters are trying to solve a problem or overcome some obstacle. But sometimes you find yourself in an onstage conflict that seems to go against the very nature of improv. I’m talking about disagreements and arguments between characters.

It can be fun to discover that a couple of characters completely disagree on something. For example, perhaps we start a scene with a happy married couple, Anita and Sammy, sitting on the porch at sunset. They talk about how happy they are together and how much they love their home and little yard. Then Anita says, “I really want to spend more time out here. Sammy, I’ve been thinking and I’ve decided I want to quit my job and start a turnip farm in our yard.”

Sammy is horrified. “What are you talking about? Money is already tight! And you’ve never grown a turnip in your life.”

So far, so good. The improviser playing Anita surprised the audience by making the bold choice of declaring this harebrained plan. The improviser playing Sammy is filling the role of straight man, grounding the scene with a bit of reality and giving the audience a fun emotional reaction. Having established their existing…