🎭Improv Yourself

Make "Yes, And…" Your Creative Partner

Every episode of Into the Storymaze = writing ideas or writing-in-progress; something creative I’m excited to share; a highlight from my comic book writing; and a quote that’s worth a think.

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Why & What is Improv?

Improvisation — or improv — may be the original storymaze. Or at least a useful way to navigate a largely unknown place that’s all about discovering what’s around the next corner. 

If you’re like many, you may hear “improv” and think of the comedy or performance troupes that take a prompt from an audience — “Marine biologists in a candy factory!” — and then build on those characters and situation to bring it all to life, for laughs or to surreal effect.

So unless I’m handing out tickets, your next thought is probably “What’s in it for me?” Well, while that definition and application is certainly true, there’s more to  improv — and more ways you can put it to work in your everyday.

“All the world’s a stage…” some clever Brit is said to have said — meaning you’ve got a chance to improv from the boardroom to the living room.

I’ve taught small classes in improv to groups of professional speakers, financial executives, ad agency creatives, and “ordinary folk” — and the defining benefit is that improvisation is a powerful tool to help us all become faster, more creative thinkers in every aspect of writing, work and life.

(In fact, this write up is based on a recorded presentation I did last summer — which, despite numerous emails, no one will send me a copy of. Said recording would have made this prep much easier…proving once more the need for improvisation itself!)

Improv in Daily Life?

The truth we’d like to believe is that we’ve all got “it” all worked out. We try and script our lives: how we’ll perform in that meeting, how we’ll handle that first date, how we’ll counter that social insult. But as either Helmuth von Moltke or Dwight Eisenhower observed, “No battle plan survives first encounter with the enemy.”

If your boss doesn’t dig your Powerpoint, if the client changes dates, if the opening line doesn’t land or your date isn’t into BBQ — how will you handle the fact that life rarely follows a script?

Even more than that, when we plan too much — we overthink and overanalyze. Together, this neural compounding leads to brain freeze, and a lack of action in the moment that matters.

Isn’t “Improvisation” Just “Lack of Planning”?

Only if you believe planning is perfect — which it can never be. (See examples above…and fill in your own 😱🤯😰🙀 experiences.) 

While the “improvised approach” is typically seen as (at best) a “back-up plan” — the Latin etymology of the word is “provisos.” This means “to see ahead.” (It also means, “Dan knows how to Google his references…” But that’s another turn in the storymaze.)

With its power to “see ahead” improvisation is really about dealing with the unforeseen — not so much in having it all mapped out, but in your ability to react to change, to build on it, and to live (and come to life) in those moments.

Choose “Yes, And…”

Improvisation is the process of taking information from your immediate environment and then responding to it in a creative way. The anchor of the improv experience is the phrase, “Yes, and…” No matter what life or the situation that simulates life throws at you — don’t resist.

Don’t counter it. Accept it and build on it to something new. “We’re cutting two weeks out of the schedule!” can result in, “Yes, but that means we won’t make the release!” Or you can reclaim the moment with, “Yes, and we’ll launch with a limited feature set and make up the difference two weeks later.”

Try this exercise: Get together with a group of 4 (or more) and each of you describe a view on an upcoming vacation. “We’re all going to Florida…” The first time around everyone has to start their description with “Yes, but…” Then repeat the circuit, but this time everyone describes the getaway with a “Yes, and…”

Choose Active Listening

When you’re in a dialogue with someone — even yourself! — how often are you really listening? And how often are you just preparing the answer? There’s power in being present, whether it’s in the daily business “hot sheet” or in a heated argument with your romantic partner.

Don’t think ahead. Notice and respond to what is actually being said, and what is actually there in those words: the real motivation, the real desire. That’s what you want to respond to with your “Yes, and…”

Try this exercise: Two or more participants have a back and forth dialogue, with each going one at a time. The guiding rule is that each response has to start using the last word the other person used. (For example, Person 1: “I wish there were more playgrounds in my neighborhood.” Persona 2: “Neighborhood watches keep us safe from crime.” Person 1: “Crime is on the rise and I’m feeling scared.” Etc.)

Choose to Accept What’s Offered

Improvisers treat everything as an offer — even the screw ups. In a performance, if the first person offers, “We’re in a fish store…” the second doesn’t counter, “No, we said this was going to be a toy store…” That second performer instead rolls with it.

Surrendering your ideas of how the “performance” — at home, at work — should go can lead to something better. If something goes “wrong” — or you’re simply presented with the unexpected — access the offer and ask, “How can we use this?”

Try this exercise: In a group of 3 to 4 people, each person adds one word to tell a story — even just a bridge word like “and”. Accept the offer of the word and keep the story going.

Choose to Make A Choice

When given the opportunity to make a choice — commit. Your POV (point of view) is unique, so use it to establish a clear idea or setting that others can respond to. Don’t use wimp words or safety nets (“could be” “might be”).

If you’re creating a customer relationship management program at your company, don’t call it “a CRM program” — name it “ServiceStar+”. If you’re making plans for dinner, avoid the table at “I Don’t Know, What Do You Feel Like?” and express an interest in “Caesar’s Garlic Wars, that new spaghetti and wine dealership next to the Singer Sewing Center, across from the Cinema Cineplex.” 

You’re giving your partners and collaborators concrete ideas to respond to. And their comeback will in turn be a more concrete offer and chance at “Yes, And…”

Choose to Fail Loudly

Trust in yourself and your team: your work team, your team of friends, your personal partnership with a significant other. If you’re accepting each other’s offers and building on those — then in essence there are no mistakes. Even the moments that are half wrong are also half right.

Try this exercise: The “Panel of Experts” needs at least 3 people. Ask Person 1 for the topic of a new talk show. Ask Person 2 for the name of that show. Person 3 plays the host and Person 1 and Person 2 become the show’s Experts — Expert 1 and Expert 2. The host asks an opening questions Expert 1 answers the question. Then Expert 2 builds on that, starting out with the phrase, “That’s right!” Then over to Expert 2 who also starts her/his response with “That’s right!” Continue on…

Choose Everyday Improv

Ready for more? There’s plenty of improvisation activities in your everyday to spark creativity and just start to build these muscles.

• Walk around a place naming things the wrong name.

• Listen to a random TV show on mute and speak for each character.

• Brush your teeth with the wrong hand.

• Watch your pet and practice speaking as its inner voice.

• Take the wrong route home.

• Dance around to your favorite song completely unleashed, free of inhibition. This is best to do somewhere where it is entirely possible you will be caught.

Improv 4 Life

Living with improv forces you to stop thinking, to relax, and just be present. You walk on stage or stare into the screen with nothing in mind —  and as long as you trust that something will happen, something will! 

Whether you’re storytelling, presenting, or just finding yourself in new waters…we can all use a little improv to be confident and present; to communicate; to listen; to collaborate better; and create new relationships.

The fact is, our brains have pathways. Good for much, but sometimes too set in their ways. Unless we find ways to get off those pathways — we’ll rarely have a new thought. See how you can use improv to surprise yourself today.

A bonus? For me? 

Here’s a handy one-sheet of these top points, and some improv-friendly resources, too. I originally prepped these for that presentation I mentioned earlier…but now they’re yours. (That’ll teach ‘em to not send me my recording!)

Steven Rhodes’ art is, by his own description, “nostalgia with a twist of darkness.” It’s like something you’d remember picking up from the school book fair or the bookstore kid’s section. Except it’s after midnight and you’re the only one there and as you reach for your purchase — something reaches back and cackles. 

Eerie as the sound is, you’re likely to find yourself laughing along. His “My Little Occult Book Club” is a delightful intro to his deviant sense of humor and sly sense of style, with macabre and marvelous entries like “Tag You’re It from Death”, “Eat Your Greens for Sasquatch” and the ever popular “Talk to Ghosts: Activities for Kids.”

I’d gladly write more, but I’m pushing the limits on newsletter length for email delivery — so grab a copy and let Mr. Rhodes win you over on his own. (Along with his ghouls and fiends and cryptids, natch!)

One of the infernal pinups of Hellraiser, this one by Kevin O’Neill

In the late 1980s, I was spearheading the launch of a new horror comic anthology based on Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. At this point in time there was only Clive’s original novella (The Hellbound Heart), the first Hellraiser movie, and the screenplay and screener for the sequel, Hellbound.

To provide the bigger answers that the comic would need regarding the mysteries of hell, Clive got together with me, Epic Comics’ editor in chief Archie Goodwin, and writers Erik Saltzgaber and Phil Nutman. These idea sessions added flesh to Clive’s world — or peeled the flesh away! These were incredibly creative sessions, with Clive generously sharing his time and imagination with the goal of seeing his concepts get set loose and evolve in ways he had yet to conceive.

As the comics original editor, it was then on me to author a “series bible” — the very same document I’m now offering to new subscribers of Into the Storymaze. (If you’re a current subscriber and would like a copy of this new “premium”, please hit me up!)

This “creator’s guide to hell” was sent out to comic book writers and artists well in advance of the launch to interest them in contributing to the anthology, and lay out the editorial expectations and ground rules involving the mythology of Clive’s Cenobites and puzzle boxes — aka, a Lament Configuration. I’m gratified to say that my work helped earn me and Archie the title of “godfathers of Hellraiser” according to no less an authority than Mr. Barker himself. (Thanks to my friends at the Ten Cent Takes podcast for this ego-boost reminder!)

I’m even more proud to say that the many incredible writers and artists who joined us along the way would go on to add considerably to the mythology of Clive’s hell, as evidenced by the numerous comic book references you will find across the interweb's many Hellraiser wikis.

“What’s your pleasure, sir?” is the classic opening line from that first Hellraiser movie, a “careful what you wish for” invitation for explorers of the unknown who dare to open one of hell’s puzzle boxes. I hope you find your own pleasure in this behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this groundbreaking comic.

“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.” —John Cleese

Amazing Times

I’m D.G. Chichester. If that looks pretentious, feel free to just call me “Dan.”

I earned my storytelling cred writing comic book titles like Daredevil, Terror Inc., Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, along with digital widgets in the world wide web of advertising. I like weird tales, so if things here bend that way — now you know why!

Folks seem to like the comic book adventures I’ve written, so if you haven’t checked one out — please do. Many are now available in fab collected editions.

For the eager moments between newsletters…

@dgchichester — 280 characters from the Twitterverse

@dgchichester — images via Instagramland