Kids Improv Podcast: Yes Because, Building the Tower, and Why You Repeat Every Word

This is the Dearing Acting Studio Kids Podcast, where we discuss the connection between life and acting. All right, all right. Hello, everybody. Yeah, hello, everybody. Hello, hello. I'm here with my acting coach, my dad, and Brian, my uncle, also an acting coach. Yes, sir. And dude, we are so excited to be on the kids Dearing Acting Studio Podcast. Absolutely, Jack. You did such an awesome job there with your intro.

I just want to talk really quick. It was so cool watching you do more takes of it. So we did a couple takes, and we had a good one. We did have a good one. We had a good one. It was really nice, and he kind of listened to it back, and Matt gave him a choice. He goes, you know, what do you think? Do you want to keep that one, or do you want to go for another one and try and make it even better?

And you were like, yeah, I want to make it better. Better. Yeah. And you know what we did this week? So what we did as a studio is we turned our attention, and we said, hey, why don't we take our classes so we don't have to stop them and put them online? Online. And you were a part of that, a part of the online script class, remember?

Yep. What did you think about that? I loved it. Yeah? What was your favorite part? Ooh. Like, I remember you, I saw a video of you that your mom put up where you and Rosalyn were watching the other kids perform, and you were totally laughing and enjoying it. Yeah. Was that fun? Very. That's amazing. Very, very. And our hope was that all the kids were going to sort of feel famous.

And did you feel like you were famous and that they were kind of famous because they would come on and it was their turn? Yeah, so. That's amazing. And you got to do your monologue too, right? Yes. So that was pretty cool. We got to kind of work feedback, and I think the cool part for me was we found a way to just make it feel as normal as we possibly can amongst the craziness.

Yeah. And then I felt like it was even cooler. Yeah. It was. In some ways, there's something even cooler about it. And then after that, Jack, and I know you got to see a little bit of this, but you weren't in the whole thing, we also figured out how to teach improvisation over video, which is a hard thing because in improv, you usually go back and forth with somebody.

So we essentially did scene work through video. It was so cool. Yeah. Awesome. And so today, I think we're going to be talking a little bit about improv because we told the improv kids we were going to do a podcast specifically for them to help them understand this concept called Yes Because. And so, Jack, since you're not in the improv class right now, we can actually use this as an advantage because we can help explain Yes Because to you.

We'll remind you of what it is, and then you understanding it and asking us good questions will help the kids understand more about it. Okay. Sound good? Mm-hmm. All right. So let's start with this idea, Brian, of Yes Because. Why do we do Yes Because? Do you know, Jack? It's okay if you don't because we're going to explain it. Yeah. You don't really know it. Brian, tell us part of the reason of why we do Yes Because.

Well, there are so many different levels to Yes Because. That's what I love about it. It gets used for so many different things. But one of the main things is it teaches you first to say yes to your partner and completely support their idea without bringing in your idea yet. So we really like to just go and talk right away and throw out our idea, and this forces you to slow down and listen.

Interesting. To slow down and like really process everything that the person before you gave you before you formulate your response. So we're saying yes. We are agreeing to the idea. So a scene, an improv scene, or just a conversation in life, usually begins with an idea. So one person's got the idea. And basically what you're saying to your improv partner is you're saying, I say yes. I agree that I'm going to decide that your idea is a good idea.

That's why we begin with yes. And then you just do because and add another idea. That's right. But before you do because, you repeat everything the other person said in this exercise. Why do you think you repeat everything the other person says? Do you have any idea? Is it supporting? Yes, definitely supporting. Yep, that's a great idea. And look at that word in the back of the wall there.

It's, oh, it's making it, it's listening. Yeah, making sure that you're listening and making sure that not only are you listening, but you're hearing everything they said. Because sometimes there's like little words in there that you might skip over. And those little words could be a really important thing. Totally. Absolutely. Those small, teeny, tiny details can make the biggest change in a conversation if you're really listening for them.

And what we talked about with kids, two parts. One was in that sometimes it's really listening to the voice and the subtext behind each of those words. And then also it's just the small, teeny, tiny things. So like if somebody said, somebody said like, I really, I follow you a lot in life. Like the word a lot changes things. Like a lot is so much more. Yeah.

And sometimes that gets skipped. And then I follow you as you change in life. That's, it's so much different than adding that big a lot. Yeah. And so, I mean, there's so many other examples of that. But the kids, it was cool, really started to understand that idea. Yeah. So, um, so Jack, I'm going to teach you some things also that I taught a couple of the kids that we did private lessons with.

Okay. Okay. So first of all, um, we're going to do some, some vocab words. Ooh. Ooh. All right. So have you ever heard of the word specific? Uh, yeah. Like detail. Like detail. That's exactly right. Detail. Cool. So when you, because somebody, after you've said yes and repeated and you say because the thing you want to add is going to be some sort of a specific that connects to their idea.

It's not a new idea. It's a specific that adds to their idea. Okay. Like building a tower. Yes. Exactly. Like building a tower. Boom. Exactly. That's perfect. So that brings me to my next two vocabulary words. Have you ever heard of the word vertical? Uh, yeah. Like, uh, is that up and down? Yes. Up and down. That's right. So that's like a tower going up. Okay. Horizontal is which way?

Down. Like sideways, like this way. Oh, right. Right. So vertical is up and down. Horizontal is sideways like this. Okay. So the idea being when we're doing yes, because we're building on that tower, we're building up, we're building vertically on someone else's idea. What we want to do is keep getting more specific, more specific, using really interesting, specific, detailed responses that can help the other person continue to build up with us.

Whenever we run out of an idea, what do we do, Uncle Brian? We take our time and we allow ourselves to go away from the main idea we had. Which would be an and idea. Mm-hmm. So, so, so we go yes, because, yes, because, which goes up vertically, we build up, and then we might say and and add a new idea. Horizontally. Horizontally, right, that we could then build up from there.

The problem, if we try to build too many things horizontally, too many things off to the sides, it's like, you might have a good idea, and then I've got a good idea, and then you have another good idea, and then I've got another good idea. All of a sudden, we have all these ideas, and we don't know what to build on. So that's why we start with yes, because, because we want to teach everybody to build up first, then build side, and then keep going up, so we can build this really interesting thing.

Does that all make sense to you? Yeah. All right, cool. Does that make sense to you, Uncle Brian? Yes, it does. All right, so we did this example, and I wanted to share with everybody else who didn't get to hear this example, and it goes like this. The opening is, I didn't have to go to school today. I didn't have to go to school today. So then you would say, yes.

Yes, because. No, you'd say, yes, you didn't. Right. Yes, you didn't go to school today, because you were sick. Great, great. So you added a detail of, I was sick, right? See if you can get even more detailed. So, yes, you didn't have to go to school today, because. Yes, you didn't have to go to school today, because you threw up. That's right. Very good. Very good.

So now saying I'm sick, or saying I threw up, threw up is a little more specific type of sick. Yeah. Which is interesting to me, because then I'm going, okay, there's a lot of reasons I might throw up. Being sick is one of them, or I could go a totally different direction. I could say, like, I ate bad food, or something like that, right? So we can keep building on that idea.

Now, to go back to what we were saying earlier about repeating all the words, why is the word today important? Uncle Brian, what's the difference between, I didn't have to go to school, and I didn't have to go to school today? Today, again, goes into the idea of specifics, gives us a very specific detail about, that's right now that that happened. Yeah, it deals with time. All of a sudden, time is important.

Because if you repeated back to me, if I said, I didn't have to go to school today, and you said, yes, you didn't have to go to school, because now all of a sudden, today is not important. You left out the word today, and you could say, you didn't have to go to school, because you don't go to school. But that's not true. I do go to school.

I just didn't go to school today. So that's why it's so important to repeat every word that's said, so that you're really listening and deciding which word is it that I want to build on. Which word inside of this sentence is the most important detail? Yeah. Like, what is the thing that stands out? Because it also is going to stand out for your audience. Yeah. They're going to hear that, and they're wondering, that's the word they want to build on, too.

Because now they're wondering, why today? Yeah. Okay, and so then this is a great exercise that kids can do with their friends, with their brother or sister at home, with their parents. And so we highly recommend that everyone listening out there, whether you're in our program or not, but especially if you're in our program, that you practice before our next class, and you work on this with somebody so that you get better in the classroom, and we can help you progress from there.

So why don't we do a quick practice among ourselves here, and then we'll just sort of show everyone how that works. And it's okay if we fail, because failure helps us grow. So Brian, will you maybe lead this as a coach, and then Jack and I can maybe do the example? Absolutely. All right. So Jack, why don't you, why don't we both have some kind of an emotion, all right?

And we'll just sort of look at each other and have an emotion, and then one of us will be inspired for that first idea that we see off of each other, all right? You got in trouble today. Yes, I got in trouble today because, because I punched, because I punched a bully. Yes, you did punch a bully because he was making fun of another kid in your class.

Yes, he was making fun of another kid in your class because he got a bad grade. Yes, that kid did get a bad grade because his mom and dad were gone the night before. Yes, his mom and dad were gone the night before because they had to go and work. Yes, they did have to go and work because they are both doctors. Yes, they are both doctors because they like to help people.

Boom. Good. Very good. Awesome. Okay. I'd like to do another one. And this is just another example. That was great, guys. Really, really good. So, that's a great foundation to start on. I'd like to try another one. And this is another exercise you guys can do at home. It can be really fun to take ourselves out of our normal and go into the full imagination of being able to play any type of character in the world.

Any type of character in the world. So, Jack, I want you to imagine you're not your age at all. You could be any age at all. You just can't be a kid. Okay. And you can have any job in the world. Any job in the world. Be any type of person. And Matt is somebody in your life that you care about from that character place. Okay. So, I want you to look at him.

I want you to even sit a certain way. We still need to speak into the mic, but sit a little differently than you normally would. With the mouth up to the mic, but sit different. Yep. Good. Find it. I like that. I like the armrest. That's awesome. I like the squinting. Now, look over at your dad and look at the way he's squinting. Look at the way his eyes are.

Who is he to you in your mind based on your character? And I want you to say a statement to him that you think your character might say to that character. You are sad. Yes. I am sad. Because I miss my son. Because I miss my son. Yes, you miss your son. Because he is on vacation. Yes. He is on vacation. Because he needed some time with his family.

Yes. He needed some time with his family because they've never gone to the beach. Good. So, Jack, who do you imagine that he is? What do you imagine, in your mind, that dad is? What kind of character? Based on the voice and the movement. Like a grandma, maybe? Yeah, grandma or grandpa. So, who are you in your mind? What did you imagine? Uh, I'm like a, I'm like a grown up who like, is like not, I'm like a business worker sort of.

Okay, I want you to change your voice to become a business worker. Okay. Good. There we go. There we go. Okay. Okay. And I want you to look at grandma. And now, um, let's rephrase. Because I never see you. We're going to take it from grandma going. Or can we, can we, can I be somebody new too? Oh yeah, you can totally be someone new. Absolutely. Okay.

So take on that boss mentality, Jack. Take on that different voice. Look over, look over at him. Connect. Keep that character. You wanted to see me, sir? Yes, I wanted to see you, sir. Because you have to fill in a paper. Yes, I have to fill in a paper. Because we've got a big deadline. Keep that power voice, Jack. Yes, we've got a big deadline because we've got work to do.

Yes, we do have work to do because somebody needs us to finish their project. Yes, someone needs us to finish our project. Their project? Their project because they need, they need someone to do the papers. That was fun. Yay! That was fun. Yeah. So it can be challenging. And like we said, we're going to keep growing and keep getting better at it. But it's so fun to take ourselves, especially right now, outside of our normal world.

Outside of just our normal, in our house, being us. It's like just to imagine and be creative. And so the idea of just imagining and closing your eyes and seeing something totally different, becoming someone different, will add so much joy to your life and just change. Yeah, and remember, this is an exercise. So right now, it's not even meant to be all that funny. It's just meant to train your brain to start thinking of ideas.

I hear your idea. How do I build on your idea? I hear your idea. How do I build on your idea? And as you get good at the yes because, it's called a foundational principle, we will then build on that principle and help you to understand how to make comedy, how to be funny, and how to be funny really easily. So remember at home, just to keep practicing, don't worry about being funny, just worry about trying to get the fundamental principle correct.

So let's review today, right as we wrap up here, the concepts that we learned. Okay. All right. So first, we started talking about improvisation. Yes. Specifically, we went into the detailing of the exercise, yes because. Yeah. We talked about why we do yes because. Uncle Brian talked about the idea of agreement, saying yes to somebody's idea. Their idea is what starts a scene. We discussed because being the way that we build a tower up, the way we go vertically, and then eventually we'll learn how to build on each other's ideas until we run out of ideas, and then we're going to do an and or a horizontal move so that we can keep building up from there.

Yeah. One of those vocab words. One of those vocab words. So we have, and then, how do we build up? The best way to build up is to add more specifics. The more specific you can be to help the other person's idea be a good idea, the more that their job becomes easier when they're trying to respond to you. Yeah. All right, that is our podcast, right, Jack?

Yep. Wonderful job. Uncle Brian, thanks for being here. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Amazing job again, Jack, with the intro and with the podcast. So excited to do so many more. Thank you, and thank you for coming. You're welcome.