That's the idea behind "Yes, and..." It overcomes these two obstacles.

• By saying "Yes," you are acknowledging an offering that your scene partner has made. They've introduced it into the scene, and you are accepting that it is now the reality of whatever world you're about to create.
• By saying "and..." you are adding to that world, complementing whatever your scene partner offered and giving them even more to work with.

Let's redo that first scene:
A: Let's go to the store.
B: Yeah! And remember, you got to pick the ice cream last time, so now it's my turn!

Much better, B! Not only is B agreeing to go to the store, but they're offering more details about the scene: what they're going to get, even something about the relationship between these two characters.

Keeping the "Yes, and..." rule in mind helps you stay in the mindset of collaborating with your scene partners, and making sure that everyone is adding to the scene.

Billy Merritt has been an improv teacher and performer for years, working mostly with the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) out of New York City. He maintains a blog called Improv Party, and many years ago he posted a great three-part analogy for what type of improvisor you might be. Here it is:

Sail along side of the scene then at the right time swing aboard. Land on the deck of the scene giving a harty "YARRRrrrrr." Pull out your sword and initiate. Hack away at denial with vicious positivity. Bathe yourself in the blood of good scenework. Look a “transaction” scene in the eye and watch it quake in it’s boots, then run it through. Plunder* an “argument” scene, and pillage a “teaching” scene. Then when it is all done collect your booty. Look for your next victim.
*Billy Merrick used a different word sometimes attributed to the actions of pirates; given the audience, I thought it prudent to edit it.

You are Robot. You are machine. You maintain system integrity. You look for the unusual in the situation given you. You lock onto what is different in the situation. You process. You apply the IF-THAT-THEN-WHAT-ELSE program. You build. You create. You move on to the next situation. You go from situation to situation adding and deleting what is needed to make the system run smoothly. When complete you collect booty.

You are one with the wall. No one can see you. You are silent. You are death. You watch from your perch waiting for your victim.Your victim is the scene. In order for you to kill the scene, you must understand the scene. Become one with the scene. When the scene least expects it, you ride in on the winds of change. Silently cutting the throats of all in the scene. Before the scene knows what happened, they all fall away. Without the death of that scene a new scene can never grow, you must do what you do so that all may benefit. You must keep the balance. Without you there would be chaos. You wait silently for your next victim. You collect your booty.

Not only are the analogies fun, but they are amusing images for performers on stage. You might even decide who you are, and envision yourself entering, playing, and exiting the scene as such. Here's some help summarizing each type:

No matter what type of improvisor you are, make sure you get in there, play your part, make a great scene...and get your booty.

Brendan Bennetts is an improv performer and teacher in Christchurch, New Zealand, and has a great improv blog, story robot. A while back he posted some learning strategies that he uses when he coaches improv groups. (The original link to the source material is now defunct, but the tenets, I think, are still valid.)

They were initially taken as just strategies for teaching, but as I read through them, it occurred to me that they also relate to improv performing.

Improvisers will tell you that if there were no rules in improv, this would be the only rule. It's a mantra. It's gospel. It's sacred.

Yes, and...

So much of performing improv is encompassed in that simple statement. Saying Yes is acceptance of your partner's offer - what another person says on stage now becomes "true" for the scene, and everyone has to play it that way. It might not have been the choice you would've made, but it's been made, so move forward with it. Saying and is what moves everybody forward. You're making an offer yourself - you're adding to what's been established and giving everyone more to play with. You're not leaving it all up to your scene partners to do the work, but that you're willing to take a risk and contribute to the scene.

It's a tough thing to do, especially for beginning improvisers. There's a lot of fear in performing something that could go in any direction. How are you going to know what to say? Why can't everyone in the scene just do what I want, because then I'll know where I'm going and what I'm saying?

Well, that's what this site is about. Stay tuned... you'll learn how and why.