Improv connects ideas and feelings to create momentum.

Momentum is something we can choose to increase or decrease, and we have skills and tools for that.

Yes helps to create momentum. It can take some effort to keep on connecting ideas and feelings with ‘Yes, and’ x 100 but the payoff is exponential. You get to places that wouldn’t have got to on your own. Stories and narratives take shape bit by bit as we support each other’s ideas and feelings.

When we really commit to saying yes is accelerates our momentum, but there’s only so much we acceleration we can take. We can keep an eye on the improv-speedometer and slow down by adding more colour, texture and emotion to our scenes.

This might mean taking a breath, using punctuation in our dialogue or allowing silence underneath the words. It typically means noticing and responding to what’s happening now – not what’s happening in our heads. The classic game ‘colour/advance’ is a great drill for shifting between acceleration – moving the story forward and deceleration developing the world by exploring environment and relationships.

And we can also say “No.” to change the momentum.

What? Doesn’t that break the cardinal rule of improv? Nope. Saying no is powerful. You can agree the reality and say no to clarify your point of view and express what you want or need. If it’s just the improviser resisting or blocking then saying no is counter-productive, but if it helps us understand what the character wants then it’s totally fine.

Think of the hero’s journey – the hero initially resists the call, but the flow of the journey carries them on into adventure, discovery, growth and return. In the resistance we get to know what holds them back and what they have to overcome.

Improvising in flow

A good guide to whether a scene or a show has momentum is whether you find yourself in a flow state.

Flow is a state of rapt attention where action and awareness merge. Time speeds up or slows down. You feel and perform your best. You are present in the moment without referring to a separate sense of self. In flow you are are totally involved in the here and now, trusting your impulses to navigate the challenge of each moment as it arises.

Flow is a spectrum, not just a binary yes/no.

So how do you improvise in flow?

If you want more flow then it helps to know that flow states have triggers that can help you drop into flow. Steven Kotler at the Flow Research Group has done a lot to figure out which of the characteristics of flow that were identified by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi actually give rise to a state of flow (remember it’s a spectrum).

The four ‘flow triggers’ identified by Kotler are:

1. Complete concentration in the present moment

2. Immediate feedback

3. Clear goals

4. The challenge-skills balance (the challenge of the task at hand stretches our skills.)

In improv we can help these triggers to come into play by

1. engaging in whole-body emotional listening, saying ‘yes’ by default (with ‘no’ in your back pocket)
2. paying close attention to our bodies, our audience and our scene partner for immediate feedback
3. holding sound intentions like being incredibly supportive to make your partner look good
4. working on specific skills like initiations, object work, naming the who, what, where

So if your looking for more momentum in improv try to see what brings you into flow and what kicks you out of it. Then set some clear goals of what to work on and find your way back to flow! Simple 😉

Photo by Indira Tjokordaon on Unsplash