The Space Between 'Yes' & 'And'

[AI generated subheading #1]

"Field trip highlight: watching an improv vet weaponize hesitation so hard that it became the entire plot."

There was about 10 of us from the 'March-April Annex Improv Monday Night Class' that went to Comedy Bar to see 'Nice Time' on a Wednesday night. The show title was accurate.

This is the local show that I most often organize as a class field-trip; it's $10 bucks, 60 minutes, and on the Bloor subway line. The Improv is usually very good by Toronto standards, which are among the highest in the world.

'Nice Time' takes the form of a montage or 'long-form' Improv show. Four or five actors and a keyboard player take four or five suggestions at the top of the hour, and improvise willy-nilly/helter skelter through a series of scenes that connect to those audience 'asks' or themes.

• Actors magically transition from one @ 4 or 5 minute scene to the next.

• Scene premises are spontaneously co-created, and sometimes discarded (when something comedically shiny catches their eye).

• Characters and conflicts are co-discovered and hilariously smashed against each other.

• Callbacks, side-bars, time-jumps and other Improv techniques are skillfully executed with a smirk directed at the 4th wall.

• And it's all fueled by the magic of authentic, telepathic spontaneity and the balls-out courage that comes from 10,000 hours on stage.

[AI generated subheading #2]

"Toronto Improv: come for the seamless agreement, stay for the existential mime-checklist of vehicular doom."

On this night the cast worked quite well together, despite the fact that they are a mix and match who's available on the night, rather than a tight-knit ensemble like The Second City (those SC guys perform 8 shows a week together for months, sometimes years on end).

The actual specific content of the scenes is fairly forgettable, at least for me. I just happily drink my beer and snicker as the improvisers play off each other and exploit the comedy opportunities that occur. Which brings me to the point of this blog: Following 'The Moment', or The Space Between 'Yes' & 'And'.

PowerPoint Improv Intensive - 4 Wednesdays in May, 2-4pm at 720 Bathurst, $197.75

Get your boss to pay for this; it's classic HR skills upgrade. https://www.anneximprov.ca/courses/powerpoint-improv

Kushal, who's one of our brainier students in the class, is always interested in the theory and techniques of Improv and asks wonderful questions. In the bar after the show he said "So when that guy was supposed to be rushing to help his friends, but he kept finding reasons to not start the car; was he blocking?" ('Blocking' in Improv is when you deny or say 'no' to another's offer, which is taboo, if you believe your Improv teacher. Which you should. And sign up for more classes. ASAP).

The actor who had been the car driver in that scene was drinking two tables over from us, so I got him to come over and god-damn explain himself to our class.

Roger Bainbridge is a Second City main stage veteran, who drops in and out of various improv casts/shows around town any night of the week. He understood immediately what Kushal was asking, and delivered an excellent little lesson on 'The Space Between 'Yes' & 'And' (I believe Roger attributed this concept title to an improv colleague).

Normally when another improvisor makes an 'offer', one is obliged to immediately agree with, and move that offer forward (Yes, And). Roger's character in that particular scene at that particular moment was supposed to race across town in his car to...(Help some friends? Save the world? Don't matter).

As the 'car beat' began, another actor (Nicole Passmore) jumped on the side-stage mic to deliver breathless narration, starting with something like "Phil took off in his car, desperate to save his friends!". Which for Bainbridge was an invitation to stall. Roger took some time to play around in the space between accepting the offer (getting in a mimed car) and moving the scene forward (racing across town).

Subheading #3

"It wasn’t blocking — it was deep, soulful stalling, which in improv is the difference between getting side-eyed and getting a standing ovation."

Instead of yes and-ing the offer, Roger chose to get comically caught up in making sure the car was safe (and comfortable). He adjusted each of the mirrors in turn, clicked and reclicked his seat belt, and then the coup de grace: after starting the car, he said "I don't like the looks of that windshield washer fluid level!" So he got fluid from the trunk and fumbled for the latch to the hood, all while we were killing ourselves laughing. "And when do you know it's time to stop all that and actually drive the car?" we asked. "When they stop laughing" he said.

When he did finally start the car and put it in gear, somebody dashed across the stage (sweep edit) to indicate that scene was over and another, fresh scene would begin.

So it turned out the whole scene was about him not saving his friends because of his OCD road trip prep. Or more accurately, that's what the comedy gods decided the scene should 'become about'. And Roger does not thwart the will of the Comedy Gods.

"Somewhere between ‘Yes’ and ‘And’ lies a mystical portal where time bends, logic collapses, and all that matters is the correct tire pressure."

'Nice Time' plays every Wednesday night at Comedy Bar Bloor St, just west of Ossington. Tix are available in advance for $10 at https://comedybar.ca/shows/nice-time

Best,

Brian

AnnexImprov.ca

SPEAK WELL, LISTEN BETTER.