While I have lived in the greater Washington D.C. area for a decade now, I hit my first anniversary of political work in April. This position replaces my freelance daytime hours as a comedian with production deadlines and counting down to election dates.
In Improv Comedy, the “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” style of my specialty, the foundation of the form is “Yes, and…” This concept has tomes written about it; it helps ease one with conversations, lead to better personal relationships, and solidifies team-building in various workplaces.
Comedy is the side effect of first agreeing with an offer by a scene partner (the “yes”) then adding your own context (the “and”).
Imagine a scene where a performer offers another, “Here is a delicious sandwich.”
For the scene moving forward the second performer should agree and add their own context.
“Yes and this will fortify me as I climb Mt. Everest.”
Both performers have made offers and are collaboratively continuing the scene.
Now imagine the same initial offer but the second performer responds with a “no but” attitude:
“Here is a delicious sandwich.”
“Oh my God! He’s got a gun!”
While that abrupt tonal shift may provoke laughter (mostly in homage to Michael Scott), a denial occurred. The second performer ignored what the first offered, stealing the focus, and leaving the first without solid footing. The scene halts and trust is lost.
The problem with a “no, but” is it denies an offer outright. As Democrats we are the “party of ideas.” We bring ideas to the table and making offers as the first step. Within the party we share more similarities than differences. Using “yes” to figure out the point agreement “and” building from there unifies and propels us forward.
In the current political climate, representing oneself as a genuine character outweighs all. Finding what you can agree with and building from there is tantamount to honest representations. That initial point of agreement also fosters an honest conversation, as you can now expand on a shared, common ground.
So, put more “yes, and” into your campaigns and see how much farther the conversation goes.