No Questions: Part 2
More reasons to make statements
I revisited my No Questions post this morning and realized I have even more thoughts on the subject. Here are more reasons to statements.
By and large, a question in an improv scene slows things down. A question says either “Hey, Scene Partner, I want you to add the next piece of information.” or “Hey Scene Partner, if you agree, then this will be the next piece of information in this scene.” Questions often happen because improvisors are new to each other and being polite. They can also happen because a player is off their game or not as front footed as they could be.
If the scene is a blank canvas, each statement is one stroke of paint. A question has a painter walking up to the canvas and saying “We need something here.” instead of “Here’s a swoosh of blue.”
Statements add concrete information about a scene. They may contain part of the base reality or added details. A statement can share how a character feels or give someone a gift. Statements keep scenes moving forward. Statements expand and explore the imagined reality of the scene.
In every day conversation, follow up questions are natural. You ask someone about their vacation. They tell you where they went. Very naturally, you’ll ask them why they were there or who they went with or how they liked it. In life, follow up questions express a natural curiosity. They’re polite. Because of this natural dynamic, one question in an improv scene can set a player in a question spiral, putting them in a position to ask a series of follow ups. If we’re asking someone about their vacation in an improv scene and playing at the top of our emotional intelligence, then it’s natural and polite to ask them follow up questions. That dynamic mimics real conversation, but it doesn’t make for very good improv.
Likewise, any perfectly good scene can become a teaching scene if one person starts asking questions. Two people working in an office is great. As soon as one asks the other how to use the copier, that will likely take over the scene with a series of technical questions. Conversely, a tutoring scene is actually a perfectly good base reality if the players find an unrelated game. Let’s say, for example, you have two improvisors who are both actual LSAT instructors. In the scene, one is tutoring the other on an upcoming LSAT test. Both players can add heaps of specific information about the test. That will be interesting and impressive to watch. Additionally, once they find an unrelated game that yanks them in a different direction every once in a while, they’re off to the races. Likewise, a group game with a teacher and a class of students, is a common, often very successful dynamic because the unusual thing keeps stopping the teacher from teaching or forces them to teach something silly. Any scene can be a teaching scene if one person doesn’t know what they’re doing. A teaching scene can be a perfectly good base reality if everyone knows what they’re doing and the game is unrelated to what’s being taught. “No teaching scenes” really means both “Make statements.” and “Know what you’re doing.”
If a scene is a couch that needs to get moved down a flight of stairs. A question sets one person, arms crossed, looking at the couch, while the other person stands, waiting, holding their end of the couch. One person may be able to drag the couch down the stairs while the other follows along asking questions, but it’s not the best way to move that couch.
One common cure for asking questions is to say how your character feels. Very often, asking a question is an obtuse way for one player to show that they think the other person is unusual ex. “Interesting, why do you think that’s a good way to do that?” Instead of “It really irks me that you’re picking your teeth with my phone charger.” If you find yourself getting ready to ask a question. Instead, try stating how you feel about what is happening. This is another instance where “playing it real” is at odds with good improv. There are many times in life when we subvert our own feelings in order to keep a social interaction going. There are plenty of times when I don’t tell a coworker or a family member how I feel. It would slow down or derail the interaction. Conversely, in an improv scene, saying how you feel, even and especially when you don’t like something, helps move things forward.
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