Improv Nonsense

When people are new to improv, all they notice are the ANDs. “Did you hear that line?” “What a great move!” “How did they think to say X?”

But once you’ve done it a while, you appreciate much more people who can just say YES: “He re-states the most important part,” “She keeps the idea alive,” “He understands everything that everyone is saying,” “She listens.”

Your little indie group of people who are all new — the ones who will be doing this in 3 years will not be the flashy ones, but the ones who take care of the ground under your feet.

UNNECESSARY BASEBALL ANALOGY

There’s two components of hitting — On Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage. On-Base Percentage is how often you reach base, whether it’s through a hit or a walk. Slugging is how many bases you make once you do get a hit.

To me, that’s the YES and AND of hitting — YES (getting on base) and AND (slugging). In baseball, amateur fans talk about the home runs, but people who make trades look for the guys with on-base percentage.

In fact, a common measure of a hitter’s worth is to multiply the on-base percentage by a factor of 115% and then add it to the existing slugging percentage. They both matter but ON BASE matters more.

Say yes, say yes, say yes.