"Yes and.... "

For those of you who are completely clueless about improv, improv is a form of theater, where the actors on stage perform scenes spontaneously.  Oftentimes, the actors or improvisers will obtain a suggestion of some word (person, place, scenario, etc.), and then have to immediately act out a scene.

One of the first lessons that one is taught in an improv class is to always agree with your fellow improviser or partner on stage.  If he or she presents some piece of information, then it becomes your job to treat that piece of information as reality.  One simple way to do that is to simply say "Yes" and then add another piece of information to help support that reality.

Example #1 (what to do)

• Person 1:  "Jerry, tonight we're going to have the time of our lives at this party!"
• Person 2: "Yes... and it was a great idea for us to join the Alpha Gamma fraternity!"

Person 2 immediately agreed with Person 1 and helped to move the scene forward by adding the information that it's going to be a frat party and likely that the two of them are in college.

What we don't want to do is to deny the reality that your partner has created.  When we do this, it puts pressure to create a new reality.  It also may cause confusion and it generally makes the audience uncomfortable.  For example (of what not to do):

Example #2 (what not to do)

• Person 1: "Doctor Smith, I really question that diagnosis of Chlamydia you gave Jerry.  I've been practicing for 30 years and I'm pretty sure it's Herpes."
• Person 2: "I'm not a doctor."
• Person 1: "Uhh... Oh sorry, you must be the new secretary then..."

Example #3 (what not to do)

• Person 1: "This is my brand new car." (as he points towards an empty area)
• Person 2: (walks through the car as if it were nonexistent) "I don't see a car... but this is beautiful flying rug that you have here"
• Person 1: "Ohh.. my bad... I really need to have these glasses changed."

These scenes can still work.  However, it becomes much more difficult and the audience is less convinced that this is a scene that is worth watching.  So the lesson here is to always say yes to your partner so that the scene can quickly move forward to the meat of the scene (usually regarding the feelings that the people on stage have towards one another), rather than the audience spending some extra time seeing two actors having a difficult time agreeing on the facts of the scene.