C H A P T E R   2

Getting Started

This chapter will introduce the two most essential tools for building an improvised narrative: Cause and Effect and Raising the Dramatic Stakes.

Cause and Effect

The first thing to think about is Cause and Effect. What just happened? Mary entered the room. Now, what can happen as a result of that? She startles Bob. What can happen as a result of that? Bob drops a vase. And there it is, Cause and Effect. This causes that, that causes this, and this causes that.

Mary entered the room.
Because Mary entered the room, she startled Bob.
Because she startled Bob, Bob dropped the vase.

Exercise #1: Because . . .

This is an effective exercise for practicing Cause and Effect. The group improvises a story with each player contributing the next line. Each line begins with the word because, reiterates the previous offer, and then contributes the next. Do it fast and have fun! Here’s an example:

Player 1:	Mary took flying lessons.
Player 2:	Because Mary took flying lessons, she earned her pilot’s license.
Player 3:	Because she earned her pilot’s license, her father allowed her to fly the family airplane.
Player 4:	Because her father allowed her to fly the family airplane, she flew it across the Atlantic Ocean.
Player 5:	Because she flew it across the Atlantic Ocean, she was caught in a horrible sea storm.
Player 1:	Because she was caught in a horrible sea storm, her airplane was struck by lightning!
Player 2:	Because her airplane was struck by lightning, her engines exploded.
Player 3:	Because her engines exploded, she grabbed her parachute and leapt for her life. (Etc.)

A TIP FOR SUCCESS:

Be spontaneous! Shout out your offer before you know how it’s going to end. Imagine that the first part of your offer, the repetitive part, is a diving board, and the second part of your offer, the new material, is the dive. Close your eyes, race across the diving board, and leap into the air!

Exercise #2: The Causal Carousel

To practice making Cause and Effect offers in the context of a scene, try the Causal Carousel. Every scene is thirty seconds in length. Player 1 and player 2 perform scene A. Player 2 and player 3 perform scene B. Scene B must be caused directly by scene A. Player 3 and player 4 perform scene C. Scene C must be caused directly by scene B. Player 4 and player 5 perform scene D. Scene D must be caused directly by scene C. And, finally, player 5 and player 1 perform scene E. Scene E must be caused directly by scene D. Here’s an example:

SCENE A

Player 1:	Hello, Blanch, please sit down.
Player 2:	Thank you, Ms. Rodgers.
Player 1:	Blanch, I’m promoting you to management.
Player 2:	Finally! Thank you, Ms. Rodgers, thank you!
Player 1:	You’re welcome. Now, Blanch, I need you to fire Ned Pumply.
Player 2:	Ned Pumply! But, he’s been here longer than I have.
Player 1:	Blanch, are you suited for management or not?
Player 2:	Oh, I am, Ms. Rodgers, I am!
Player 1:	All right, then. Fire Ned Pumply.

SCENE B

Player 2:	Hello, Ned. May I step into your office?
Player 3:	Certainly, Blanch. Come in. Sit down.
Player 2:	Ned, Ms. Rodgers just promoted me to management.
Player 3:	Oh, god! Please don’t fire me!
Player 2:	I’m sorry, Ned, I have no choice.
Player 3:	But, Blanch. I have a wife. I have a kid.
Player 2:	I’m sorry, Ned. You’re fired.

SCENE C

Player 3:	Honey, I’m home.
Player 4:	Ned? What are you doing home? It’s only 3:00.
Player 3:	Well—
Player 4:	They fired you, didn’t they?
Player 3:	Well—
Player 4:	I knew it! Those ingrates! And after you’ve given them the best years of your life. Well, we’re not going to let them get away with it!
Player 3:	But, honey, what can we do?
Player 4:	Oh, we’ll do something all right. We’ll do something!

SCENE D

Player 4:	Excuse me, is this where they broadcast the evening news?
Player 5:	Yes, it is. And I’m Ben Bradley, the tenacious, investigative television news reporter. Can I help you?
Player 4:	Yes, my husband was fired from his job after twenty-seven years of dedicated service. It’s age discrimination, I tell you, age discrimination! And I want justice!
Player 5:	Age discrimination, is it?
Player 4:	Yes, will you help?
Player 5:	You bet I will. Now, you just go back home and turn on your television at six o’clock sharp!

SCENE E

Player 5:	Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Ben Bradley, and this is the Six O’clock News. Tonight I am broadcasting live from the office of Abigail Rodgers, in the corporate headquarters of Rodgers, Fitzpatrick, and Mulch, where the filth of age discrimination has settled its slimy dust upon a once most venerable reputation. Abigail Rodgers, was Ned Pumply fired because he was simply too old?
Player 1:	Ben, that’s ridiculous. Mr. Pumply was fired because . . .
Player 5:	Yes, Ms. Rodgers? America is waiting.
Player 1:	Because I love him! I love him! I love him! I love him! And I just couldn’t take it anymore. Looking at him every day. Knowing that, at night, he went home to another. Oh, Ned. Oh, my little Neddy-Weddy. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.
Player 5:	And there you have it, folks. I’m Ben Bradley, and this is the Six O’clock News.

A TIP FOR SUCCESS:

Tip the domino! Make an offer that guarantees a consequence in the following scene. For example, when player 1 orders player 2 to fire Ned Pumply, she is “tipping the domino” by purposely causing a specific event that has to take place in the following scene. This is a great gift to players 2 and 3 because they don’t have to worry about setting up a scene. All they have to do is allow their domino to be knocked over by accepting the offer from player 1.

A good way to test the success of your Causal Carousel is to see whether the major beats can be related in the form of a Because . . . exercise. Let’s put our example, above, to the test:

Ms. Rodgers promotes Mary and orders her to fire Ned Pumply.
Because Ms. Rodgers promotes Mary and orders her to fire Ned Pumply, Mary fires Ned Pumply.
Because Mary fires Ned Pumply, Ned goes home early. Because Ned goes home early, his wife discovers that he has been fired.
Because his wife discovers that he has been fired, she vows to do something about it.
Because she vows to do something about it, she goes to the local news station and accuses Ned’s firm of age discrimination.
Because she goes to the local news station and accuses Ned’s firm of age discrimination, Ben Bradley exposes Ms. Rodgers on the Six O’clock News.
Because Ben Bradley exposes Ms. Rodgers on the Six O’clock News, Ms. Rodgers breaks down and admits that she’s in love with Ned.

Improvising with a Cause and Effect mindset makes for great improvisation because:

•  You ensure that you are focusing on your partner.

•  You ensure that you are accepting, or saying, “Yes!” to your partner’s offer.

•  You ensure that you are not only accepting but also building upon, or saying, “Yes, and . . . !” to your partner’s offer.

•  You ensure that you are making your partner’s offer an essential part of the story.

•  You ensure that you are serving the story by making the next most logical and spontaneous offer.

Finally, Cause and Effect is an essential ingredient for a satisfying story and a well-constructed play. It is the engine that drives the narrative and propels the characters, inexorably, toward their eventual destinies. It is the fabric of the unique reality that binds these particular characters and these particular events into a cohesive and identifiable whole. It is the primary law. It is the physics, the logic, and the justice system by which the world of the drama is governed. In the world of the drama, actions have consequences, and the fate of the characters is determined, unalterably, by the choices they make and the actions they take. It is inescapable. This causes that, that causes this, and this causes that.

Now, of course, not every single, solitary event that happens in a play or a story is a direct result of the event that precedes it. There are times when it is necessary to put the sequence of Cause and Effect on hold for a moment. This is usually done in order to introduce some necessary expository information such as a new character or a new beat of action. In those instances, however, the new addition to the story must eventually be incorporated into the whole—like a foreign object being drawn into the center of a vortex—and take its inevitable place in the clockwork mechanism of the plot. Otherwise, the new addition will be superfluous to the story and a distraction to the audience.

Raising the Dramatic Stakes

The next thing to think about is raising the dramatic stakes. To raise the dramatic stakes is to get our characters into danger by increasing the risk of a given situation. There are two different ways of increasing the risk:

1. By increasing the amount that is at risk

2. By increasing the odds of it all being lost

For example, if Jennifer is nervous about her first date with Robert, we can raise the dramatic stakes by increasing the amount at risk. We can make Robert the most popular boy in school. We can also raise the dramatic stakes by increasing the odds of it all being lost. We can smite poor Jennifer with a sudden outbreak of scabby, red hives.

Exercise #3: Combination Stake

This is a quick, little drill to become familiar with the two methods of raising the dramatic stakes: increasing the amount at risk and increasing the odds of it all being lost. Player 1 makes an opening offer, player 2 raises the stakes by increasing the amount at risk, and player 3 raises the stakes, again, by increasing the odds of it all being lost. For example:

Player 1:	Jasmine was walking through the woods.
Player 2:	Her infant child was sleeping in her arms.
Player 3:	The wolves began to howl.

Notice how player 2 increases the amount that Jasmine has at risk by introducing her vulnerable infant and how player 3 increases the odds of it all being lost by introducing the threat of the wolves. Here’s another example:

Player 1:	Renee joined the army.
Player 2:	Succeeding in the military was the only way to win the approval of her mother, Lieutenant Colonel Marjorie Mack.
Player 3:	Renee hated the military.

Again, player 1 increases the amount at risk by adding the approval of Renee’s mother as something that stands to be lost, and player 3 increases the odds of it all being lost by endowing Renee with a hatred of the military. Here’s a final example:

Player 1:	Cynthia bought a gourmet coffee shop.
Player 2:	To do so, she sacrificed her lucrative career as a stockbroker.
Player 3:	The state in which she owned her business became a no-caffeine state.

See if you can analyze the final example, as I’ve done for the previous two.

A TIP FOR SUCCESS:

Fast, fun, and . . . fast! Improvise first and analyze later!

Notice how exciting it is when the dramatic stakes are raised in successive offers. The tension mounts, and the audience is gripped.

Exercise #4: As If That Wasn’t Enough . . .

This is a fun way to practice raising the dramatic stakes in a series of successive offers. Player 1 makes a simple statement that introduces a character and a situation. Each successive offer starts with the phrase, “And, as if that wasn’t enough . . . ” and raises the dramatic stakes of all that came before it.

Here are a few examples:

Player 1:	Allison was late for work.
Player 2:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, she was supposed to be there early for an important meeting with her boss.
Player 3:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, she had already been late for work three times that week.
Player 4:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, her boss has already threatened to fire her if she showed up late for work just one more time.
Player 5:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, she was a single mom with three kids, and she really, really, really needed her job.

Notice how each new offer raises the dramatic stakes by increasing the risk that is connected with being late. In this example, the first three offers, from players 2, 3, and 4, are examples of increasing the odds that all will be lost, and the final offer, from player 5, is an example of increasing the amount at risk. Either approach is perfectly acceptable at any time.

Notice that each new offer is born logically and naturally from the offer before. As always, the best offers are those that are built directly upon the previous one.

Notice, also, that in the example above, the result is not a narrative. It is, instead, an exploration of a single moment in time. It’s helpful, at first, to impose that restriction upon the exercise in order to ensure that each new offer is raising the dramatic stakes of the original sentence.

Another version of the exercise would ask each offer to both raise the stakes and advance the narrative. Here’s an example of that:

Player 1:	Margaret invested her family’s life savings in a start-up business proposition.
Player 2:	As if that wasn’t enough, Fred, her husband, became angry because she did not consult with him first.
Player 3:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, Fred went on to tell Margaret that he was sick and tired of her irresponsible get-rich-quick schemes, and he reminded her of the last three times that she lost the family’s life savings.
Player 4:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, their daughter, Judy, came home and announced that she had been accepted to a really prestigious Ivy League college at the cost of a hundred thousand dollars a year.
Player 5:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, Fred told Margaret that if she loses their money, and they cannot afford to send Judy to school, he would have no choice but to consider a divorce.
Player 1:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, when Judy realized that her mother had invested all of their money in another one of her irresponsible get-rich-quick schemes and that she might not be able to go to the prestigious Ivy League college, she broke out into tears and ran upstairs to her bedroom screaming, “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!!”
Player 2:	And, as if that wasn’t enough, when Margaret arrived at her new office she discovered that Brenda, her business partner, had embezzled all the money and skipped out of the country. (Etc.)

So, in this example, each offer not only increases the risk of Margaret’s business decision but also advances the narrative by moving the story through time.

We spoke at the end of our section on Cause and Effect about instances during which the sequence of Cause and Effect might be put on hold in order to introduce a new character. In the example above, we do exactly that when we bring Judy into the scene. Notice that Judy’s entrance is not caused by the fight that her mother and father are having about the investment. However, by coming in at that time with the news that she has been accepted to an expensive college, she is making a great dramatic decision because she is raising the dramatic stakes of the situation on stage. She is increasing the amount that Margaret has at risk by adding her prestigious education to the pot.

Then, as required, the sequence of Cause and Effect resumes, and Judy is folded in:

Because Judy came home and made her announcement, she learned that her mother had invested the family’s savings in another one of her irresponsible get-rich-quick schemes.
Because she learned that her mother had invested the family’s savings in another one of her irresponsible get-rich-quick schemes, she became infuriated with her mother.
Because she became infuriated with her mother, she broke out into tears and ran upstairs to her bedroom screaming, “I hate you! I hate you!
I hate you!!”

Like improvising with a Cause and Effect mindset, making offers that raise the dramatic stakes is an exceptional way to ensure that you are improvising well, by focusing on your partners, building upon their offers, and making your partners look good by taking what might have been a rather ordinary offer and making it tremendously important to the story.

Here’s another exercise to practice making improvisational offers that raise the dramatic stakes:

Exercise #5: Ah, but There’s So Much at Risk!

Player 1 makes a simple offer that establishes the relationship and introduces a situation. Player 2 responds with a monologue that must include the phrase, “Ah, but there is so much at risk!” Here are some examples:

Player 1:	Okay, lady, where do you want the couch?
Player 2:	Over there. No, over there! No, I mean. . . ! Ah, but there is so much at risk! If I place it incorrectly and Madame Brulé is displeased, I shall be fired as her interior decorator! I shall be ruined! Disgraced! Disgraced! All right, put it there. Put it right . . . over . . . there.
Player 1:	Your Highness, I have returned from France.
Player 2:	Rudolph, We did not expect you for another week. Quick, then, tell us her response. Ah, but there is so much at risk! Do we dare to hear it? Do we dare to learn whether we shall ever know true happiness? Do we dare to learn whether we are loved where we are bold enough to love? Do we dare to learn whether she shall have us as her husband? Out with it, Rudolph. How did she respond?
Player 1:	Here’s that report you asked for, Ms. Feinbloom.
Player 2:	Thank you, Peter. Ah, but there is so much at risk! By analyzing this report, I shall know for certain whether Ms. Apex is guilty of embezzlement. And if she is, Peter, I’ll have no other choice but to turn her in and destroy the woman who has given me everything.

Tips for Success:

Player 2 should be careful to raise the dramatic stakes without making player 1 look bad, wrong, or stupid. For example, if Ms. Feinbloom responded to Peter by saying, “Yes, but I needed it by nine o’clock! You’re twenty minutes late. Jesus, why can’t you ever do anything right? Ah, but there’s so much at risk! If I don’t get the results of this report to Ms. Apex by 11:30, we’ll lose the deal, you idiot!!!” The stakes would be raised, but there would now be an extremely negative energy between player 1 and player 2, and this frequently leads to poor improvisation. As we have seen from the three examples above, that type of negativity just simply isn’t necessary. Also, be spontaneous! Launch into the monologue without having any idea how the phrase “Ah, but there’s so much at risk!” will find a way in. Just trust that it will.

Exercise #6: Raising the Stakes by Entering a Scene

Player 1 and player 2 improvise a thirty-second scene. Player 3 enters and brings in an offer that raises the stakes of the scene. Here’s an example:

Player 1:	Mother, I have come to a decision.
Player 2:	Yes, Masha. What have you decided?
Player 1:	I am leaving Russia. I am going to America.
Player 2:	Masha! What type of nonsense is this?
Player 1:	Mother, there is nothing here for me! I have talent, Mother, and I wish to dance on Broadway!

(Enter, player 3)

Player 3:	(Shouting outside, as he enters.) Agh! I spit upon your house, Boris Notnakov!
Player 1:	Papa!
Player 2:	Ivan, what is it?
Player 3:	Our neighbor, Boris Notnakov! He is a traitor to the motherland! He is taking his family, and he is leaving Russia! From this minute on, he is dead to us!

Player 3 (the father) has raised the dramatic stakes by increasing the amount at risk for player 1 (Masha). She is now risking incurring her father’s wrath and losing his love and protection.

A TIP FOR SUCCESS:

Focus on your partner! Player 3, be sure that you’re watching the scene on stage rather than trying to think of “creative” and “interesting” ways to raise the dramatic stakes. Just focus on your partners, watch what they’re doing, and build upon that. Remember, your job is to make them look good by raising the dramatic stakes of their situation, not to make yourself look good by entering the action and stealing the scene.

In exercise #6, you practiced raising the dramatic stakes by entering a scene in progress and quickly increasing the risk. Now, you’ll practice raising the dramatic stakes by establishing an entirely new scene.

Exercise #7: Raising the Stakes in a Successive Scene

Players 1 and 2 improvise scene A. They exit. Players 3 and 4 enter and improvise scene B, in which they raise the dramatic stakes for the characters in scene A. Here’s an example:

SCENE A

Player 1:	It’s beautiful, Andrew. Everything in this charming, old cottage is just as you’ve described it.
Player 2:	Thank you, Millicent. I want you to be comfortable. And please, stay as long you like.
Player 1:	Oh, Andrew. Are you certain that your aunt won’t mind? It is her cottage, after all, and I’d hate to keep her from enjoying it.
Player 2:	Nonsense, Aunt Agatha never comes east to Connecticut during this time of the year. She won’t even know that you’re using it.
Player 1:	Andrew, you haven’t even told her!?
Player 2:	There isn’t any need. She knows I have the key, and she trusts me implicitly.
Player 1:	Andrew, I don’t know how to thank you. Without a peaceful retreat such as this, I don’t think I’d ever be able to finish writing my book.
Player 2:	Nonsense, Millicent. Anything at all I can ever do to help. Besides, you know, my motivation is not completely altruistic. You said, in November, that once you have completed your manuscript, you’d be ready to consider my marriage proposal.
Player 1:	Andrew, I . . . I said that I could not even think of such things . . .
Player 2:	Until after the book.
Player 1:	And you promised . . .
Player 2:	Yes, that I’d let the matter drop.
Player 1:	Yes, exactly.
Player 2:	And I have. And I will.
Player 1:	Andrew . . .
Player 2:	Nonsense, forget that I mentioned it. Please, just finish the book.
Player 1:	Andrew, I enjoy our relationship very much. But I’m not at all sure that I want to get married. Ever. To anyone.
Player 2:	I know, Millicent. And I know that you aren’t in love with me as I am with you.
Player 1:	Andrew . . .
Player 2:	But I do think you love me a little. And I think that in time, that love will grow and blossom. And I just want to stick around long enough to see if I’m right. Now, please. Just enjoy the cottage. And—
Player 1:	I know. Finish the book.

(Pause.)

Player 2:

Come, I’ll show you the view from the patio.

(They exit. Enter players 3 and 4.)

SCENE B

Player 3:	Well, this is it.
Player 4:	Nice. Really nice. Agatha Trimble, I am very impressed.
Player 3:	Well, thank you, Jonathan.
Player 4:	And nobody else gets the run of this place?
Player 3:	Oh, my nephew has a key, but he hardly makes use of it. Gosh. What would he say if he knew that his old Aunt Agatha was being romanced, right here in the cabin, by a boy his own age?
Player 4:	Twenty-nine, and I’m still a boy?
Player 3:	Jonathan, sweetie, I’m fifty-three.
Player 4:	Well, I hope I don’t remind you too much of your nephew. I’d hate for you to be thinking about him instead of me.
Player 3:	Oh, no. He’s really nothing like you. He’s wonderful, of course, but . . . Oh, you know. He’s kind of plain looking, and never had much luck with the ladies. They tend to like him as a friend and never very much more. He surely never swept ‘em off their feet the way that you seem to do.
Player 4:	Me? Look, I hate to disappoint you, but I’m no Casanova. I just really like you.
Player 3:	Sweetie, you’re a very bad liar. I’m the fourth lady this week that you’ve picked up at the country club. We girls tend to talk, you know. Now, I’ll admit that the others were all under thirty, and so you probably think I have a whole bunch of money someplace. But, that’s why I brought you here. So, you wouldn’t use that bad-boy sex-appeal of yours to dive back into the young and pretty set before you figured out your mistake.
Player 4:	Hey, you really believe all that?
Player 3:	What? That you’re probably after some money? That if a beautiful, young girl were running around here, you’d drop me like a hot potato? Yes, dear boy, I really do. Which is why we are secluded in the mountains. Now, shall we go upstairs?
Player 4:	You’re wrong, you know. You’re wrong about everything.
Player 3:	Yeah. We’ll see. Come on.

So, player 3 and player 4 have raised the dramatic stakes for players 1 and 2 by increasing their risk. First, they increase the odds of Andrew losing it all, regarding his love for Millicent, by endowing him as “kind of plain looking,” as someone who “never had much luck with the ladies,” and as the type of guy that women tend to “like . . . as a friend and never very much more.” Then, they further increase the odds of Andrew losing it all by introducing a new guy who has all of the sex appeal and success that Andrew lacks with women. For Millicent, they increase her risk by introducing a character, with dubious intentions, who is likely to seduce her.

A TIP FOR SUCCESS:

Let scene B develop at a natural and comfortable pace. Don’t feel the need to raise the stakes of scene A in the first few offers of scene B or to know before you even begin scene B exactly how the task is to be accomplished. Rather, just relax into the scene, have one or two thoughts in the back of your mind, and discover the rest together with your partner on stage.

Along with Cause and Effect, raising the dramatic stakes is a critical skill for improvising a full-length play.