you.
(A’s chair collapses.)
B: My God! It’s spreading to the furniture!
Here are the same two people, with the same level of skill,
playing exactly the same roles, and beginning almost exactly the
same way. However, in the first case, the scene comes to a
premature end, and in the second case, the scene is full of
possibility. By following a simple rule, A and B became funny.
“Good improvisers seem telepathic; everything looks pre-
arranged,” Johnstone writes. “This is because they accept all
offers made — which is something no ‘normal’ person would
do.”
Here’s one more example, from a workshop conducted by
Del Close, another of the fathers of improv. One actor is
playing a police officer, the other a robber he’s chasing.
Cop: (Panting) Hey — I’m 50 years old and a little overweight.
Can we stop and rest for a minute?
Robber: (Panting) You’re not gonna grab me if we rest?
Cop: Promise. Just for a few seconds — on the count of three.
One, Two, Three.