YES, AND: AN INTERVIEW WITH AN IMPROV HISTORIAN
An interview with Barry Wexler, performer, historian, and author of Accept the Premise: Improv Comedy from Commedia dell’Arte to Corporate Retreats.
INTERVIEWER: I understand that you’re not only an improv performer but also a historian of improv.
WEXLER: Yes, and it’s not my first profession. My first job was wrestling alligators at a theme park in Florida.
INTERVIEWER: Wrestling alligators?
WEXLER: Yes, and also manatees, Burmese pythons, and, briefly, a giant squid.
INTERVIEWER: There was a giant squid at a Florida theme park?
WEXLER: Yes, and she was shop steward for the aquatic performers.
INTERVIEWER: I’m not sure giant squid can—
WEXLER: That’s a classic improv mistake.
INTERVIEWER: What is?
WEXLER: Denying the reality your scene partner has established.
INTERVIEWER: So improv is basically “Yes, and.”
WEXLER: Yes, and you don’t literally have to say “Yes, and.”
INTERVIEWER: Of course.
WEXLER: You just did.
INTERVIEWER: Let’s talk history. How far back does improv go?
WEXLER: At least to ancient Greece. Socrates was essentially an improviser.
INTERVIEWER: Socrates?
WEXLER: Yes, and Plato was the guy in the audience writing everything down and later claiming it was philosophy.
INTERVIEWER: That’s a somewhat unorthodox interpretation.
WEXLER: Yes, and Aristotle founded the first training center, the Lyceum.
INTERVIEWER: The Lyceum wasn’t an improv school.
WEXLER: You’re fighting the scene very hard.
INTERVIEWER: Most people associate modern improv with Chicago.
WEXLER: Yes, and Chicago itself began as an improv exercise. One settler said, “What if we build a city here?” Another said, “Yes, and make the winters punitive.”
INTERVIEWER: And then?
WEXLER: A third said, “Yes, and put the airport forty-seven miles from everything.”
INTERVIEWER: What actually makes someone good at improv?
WEXLER: Listening. Beginners think it’s about being funny. It’s really about hearing what the other person gives you and building on it.
INTERVIEWER: That sounds almost profound.
WEXLER: Yes, and I charge corporations four thousand dollars an hour to tell them that.
INTERVIEWER: Corporations hire you?
WEXLER: Constantly. Last month I taught senior executives at a pharmaceutical company to embrace uncertainty.
INTERVIEWER: How did that go?
WEXLER: They raised the price of insulin.
INTERVIEWER: I’m not sure that demonstrates—
WEXLER: They committed to the choice.
INTERVIEWER: Is there anything you shouldn’t agree to in improv?
WEXLER: Certainly. Improv requires judgment, boundaries, and trust. For example, if someone says, “You are the King of Belgium,” you should accept that.
INTERVIEWER: I’m not the King of Belgium.
WEXLER: Your Majesty, we talked about this.
INTERVIEWER: There is no Belgium in this scene.
WEXLER: That explains your approval rating.
INTERVIEWER: Do you ever say no?
WEXLER: No.
INTERVIEWER: You just did.
WEXLER: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: That wasn’t “Yes, and.”
WEXLER: And?
INTERVIEWER: Oh, God.
WEXLER: Now you understand the deeper level.
INTERVIEWER: I think we should finish.
WEXLER: Yes, and before we do, my new book comes out Tuesday.
INTERVIEWER: Of course it does.
WEXLER: Yes, And Then What? How Improvisation Can Transform Your Career, Your Relationships, and NATO.
INTERVIEWER: NATO?
WEXLER: Yes, and the foreword is by the giant squid.
INTERVIEWER: The one you wrestled?
WEXLER: We prefer the term “scene partner.”
INTERVIEWER: Are we done now?
WEXLER: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Thank God.
WEXLER: And—
