Daily Idea #243: Yes/No

One of the first rules of improv is to say yes. We learn that in order for a story to develop there needs to be a yes to whatever idea is thrown out there. Imagine if, on the flip side, every time a new idea came about there was a no.

My family will play this game often in simple situations. The funniest example was when Frozen came out; my daughter would not only sing the songs but quote the movie CONSTANTLY! Well, my middle child, her younger, brother finally got so annoyed when she began the scene for the thousandth time of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” that his answer was flat out— NO! End scene.

So to play off that for today’s daily idea, we are going to practice saying yes and no. Start with some basic questions— Can you get dressed by yourself? Can you brush your teeth? Can you eat breakfast? Then move into some funnier questions— Can you fly? Can we paint the sky? And practice saying yes to things that sound crazy and saying no to things that are an obvious yes. It’ll make it easier when you get bombarded with questions all day to take a step back and find the answer without just having an auto response.