For almost two-and-a-half decades I made a comfortable living making audiences laugh until they soiled furniture.
During that time, I had a mostly legal blast. I also learned three key tactics that help to flex your Funny Muscle.
These strategies opened my mind to all the creative possibilities I’d been overlooking as a civilian.
This trio of ‘secret weapons’ unlocked my creative and humorous potential as a comedian and improvisor, and they still do as a writer today.
I’ll share all three with you right now.
Funny Muscle Flex #1: Yes-And-ing
The first creative ‘secret weapon’ I learned was the idea of “Yes-And-ing.”
Good improvisation involves the acceptance of the contributions added by others.
With every idea I hear, using this strategy I never say, “But…” or “No, how about…” or “That’s weird…”
When I begin to “yes-and,” I not only agree with that person’s idea, but then I also take it one fun step further.
This heightens what’s being talked about and helps me to find the ‘game,’ which we’ll talk more about later in this post.
My Second City and iO improv instructors knew all this, of course, so they had us practice yes-and-ing until it became muscle memory to “accept and expand.”
For instance, if the other actor onstage says, “These watermelons sure look ripe.”
The scene would go nowhere if you responded with, “Actually, those are televisions.”
Or, “What do you mean, you idiot, those are rotten as hell.”
You might get a cheap laugh, but then what?
It becomes two people battling for separate realities and the potential for ‘funny’ is lost.
On the other hand, when someone says, “These watermelons sure look ripe…”
A Yes-And-er might respond, “Good eye, just picked ‘em. Now help me fill ‘em with this grain alcohol.”
Or, “Dang right they’re ripe, that’s thanks to the Fruit Picker’s Union you’re trying to abolish.”
Or, “Hey officer, that’s my wife. Write me the ticket and leave her ripe melons out of it.”
Three totally different scenes with lots of ‘funny’ potential.
Yes-and-ing sparks original choices and heightens them. Plus it prevents the downward creative spiral that typically follows the disagreement that comes with No-But-ing.
Which brings us to number two…
Funny Muscle Flex #2: Find and heighten the ‘game’
The second key Funny Muscle flex I learned was how to find and heighten what’s called the ‘game‘ of the scene.
By definition, a scene’s game is “a repeated pattern of funny behavior with escalating emotion.”
The simplest example of ‘the game’ is when a group of dudes get together and bust Bob’s balls for saying something dumb. The game becomes “How dumb is Bob?” and everybody takes a turn.
It’s the same thing in an improv scene.
As the scene begins, the actors find a funny thing happening and they turn it into a game by taking turns exploring and heightening it. We do this by yes-and-ing what the others brought to the game, taking it to newer and higher levels using a group mind.
A basic example might involve that guy who was filling his ripe watermelons with grain alcohol.
One game that might evolve in that scene is that we discover he’s a functioning alcoholic who fills other ripe items in his world with grain alcohol – the fresh tuna fish sandwich in his lunch, his new hat, his new tense employee, his crying infant son…
Another game, albeit a touchy one, could involve that rude, sexist cop, where other “ripe food” gets used to continue sexually harassing that speeder’s wife – her fresh cucumber legs, her tender macaroni lips, those newly baked buns…you get the idea.
When the game is afoot and played well, it typically heightens into places previously unknown, and that can unlock some unique ideas and scenarios that can be gloriously humorous or dark or dramatic (or in the best of cases, all the above).
Finally comes the third secret weapon that often gets the funny ball rolling.
Funny Muscle Flex #3: What-If-ing
The third key Funny Muscle flex I learned as a comedian is a simple way to unleash my creative muse at will. I was taught to do this by always asking, “What if…?” about the normal parts of my world.
Asking “What if?” forces me to look at common things I may take for granted and twist them in a unique way that shakes up that normalcy big time.
For example, say there is a long line at the bank.
Bored, I start playing “What If?”
What if one of the people waiting in line was wearing a ski mask?
Or, what if one of the tellers is dying to be a famous actress?
Or, what if instead of money, this bank dealt in clam chowder and seashells?
Once I consciously begin what-if-ing the mundane parts of my world, it opens up and fuels an ability to be surprising and creative.
Put these three secret weapons together and you’ve got a powerful trio of creative tools at your disposal.
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