3. TIL Marlon Brando was in an acting class that was told to act like chickens and ...

TIL Marlon Brando was in an acting class that was told to act like chickens and that a nuclear bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the class clucked wildly, but Brando sat calmly and pretended to lay an egg. When Stella Adler asked why he said, "I'm a chicken, What do I know about bombs?"

Yes-anding is taught to early students BECAUSE they aren't thinking creatively yet. It's important to hammer down game, get people out of their heads, and make sure everyone is on the same page when students are first starting out. "No" keeps things moving just as much as "Yes" if you're responding like you're in a normal conversation where you aren't being rude. You offer explanations for your answer, just like real life. A common "negation" would be "no, not since..." because that provides background either to your character or to the person you're talking to. As long as you don't make the scene about some past or future event (since then you'll either wind up abandoneding your scene for a time dash or just talking about something that isn't in the present moment, but that's true for yes-anding also).

Example: "I love what you're wearing, sweetie. Did you get that at the mall earlier?" "No, I actually found it at the donation center where I dropped off my engagement ring. I know what you did."

Now obviously this is a bit of front-loading* (depending on the pacing), but you can see that "negating" actually has provided more body for game than the original question. The reason it's taught early to "never say no" is because for a lot of beginners, negating = tension/story, but they have nothing to offer afterwards and it stops momentum.

Same example: "I love what you're wearing, sweetie. Did you get that at the mall earlier?" "No, I found it in the closet."

You are right in the sense that "Yes" is more common (and should be...you don't want a bunch of argument scenes, but "no" doesn't have to lead to an argument). Saying "yes", however, can lead to too many "Pea's in a pod"* scenes- you don't want 15-20 minutes of mutually similar characters exploring their similarities.

*Front-loading: Adding too much, too early. Example: "Please, have a seat" "Thank you! I've really been looking forward to this interview since I lost my limbs at the mill. My 8 children need their father to provide since they lost their mother in The Water Wars."

Yes-anding is taught to early students BECAUSE they aren't thinking creatively yet. It's important to hammer down game, get people out of their heads, and make sure everyone is on the same page when students are first starting out. "No" keeps things moving just as easily as "Yes" if you're responding like you're in a normal conversation where you aren't being rude. You offer explanations for your answer, just like real life. A common "negation" would be "no, not since..." because that provides background either to your character or to the person you're talking to. As long as you don't make the scene about some past or future event (since then you'll either wind up abandoning your scene for a time dash or just talking about something that isn't in the present moment, but that's true for yes-anding also).

Example: "I love what you're wearing, sweetie. Did you get that at the mall earlier?" "No, I actually found it at the donation center where I dropped off my engagement ring. I know what you did."

Now obviously this is a bit of front-loading* (depending on the pacing), but you can see that "negating" actually has provided more body for game than the original question. The reason it's taught early to "never say no" is because for a lot of beginners, negating = tension/story, but they have nothing to offer afterwards and it stops momentum.

Same example: "I love what you're wearing, sweetie. Did you get that at the mall earlier?" "No, I found it in the closet."

You are right in the sense that "Yes" is more common (and should be...you don't want a bunch of argument scenes, but "no" doesn't have to lead to an argument). Saying "yes", however, can lead to too many "Pea's in a pod"* scenes- you don't want 15-20 minutes of mutually similar characters exploring their similarities.

*Front-loading: Adding too much, too early. Example: "Please, have a seat" "Thank you! I've really been looking forward to this interview since I lost my limbs at the mill. My 8 children need their father to provide since they lost their mother in The Water Wars."

*Pea's in a Pod: When both characters share the same traits and outlook on life. The game comes from their point of view or general weirdness. Straight-man walk-ons/tag-outs can often heighten these even further.

Source UCB Advanced, bad indie show host, and probably on one of your 5 improv teams

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TIL Thomas(ine) Hall was declared both a man and a woman in a Virginia court in 1629 and ordered to wear men's clothing with a woman's apron and bonnet. He/She would present as either gender carnally and when working as soldier, lacemaker, field laborer, or maid. Thomasine was physically intersex. TIL that the low cost wine brand "Two Buck Chuck" was created by Fred Franzia, who bought the Charles Shaw name from a bankrupt winery for $27k. Once when asked why his wine was cheaper than water, he replied "They're overcharging for the water. Don't you get it?" TIL that butterflies have 4 wings not 2 (found out on an episode of Benidorm during a pub quiz) TIL Don Quixote, considered one of the first modern novels, is also one of the first stories that uses meta-fiction, as the author plays pretend that his story comes from historical sources and had to search for lost documents and translations to complete it. TIL "Rudy", of Notre Dame football fame, was involved in a pump-and-dump scheme and had a settlement with the SEC for >$380,000. TIL Brazil found incarcerated populations read 9x as much as the general population. They made a new program for prisoners so each written book review took 4 days off a prison sentence. TIL most English speaking countries around the world pronounce “Z” as “zed” but the United States is the only one that does not. Unlike other English speak countries the US pronounces it “zee.” TIL Snoop Dogg was excommunicated by the Rastafari Council after his attempt to rebrand as Rastafarian "Snoop Lion" TIL Some of the reasons people drive aggressively include a sense of anonymity while driving, feeling more empowered driving than in the rest of their lives, and a feeling that other drivers have previously driven aggressively around them. TIL about Nasubi from Japan's (perhaps the entire world's) most controversial TV show ever recorded. Nasubi lived alone in a tiny room for 15 months completely naked and only able to survive based on items he won from sweepstakes. More info in comments. TIL by passing a law requiring pharmacies to be owned by a licensed pharmacist, North Dakota has essentially done away with corporate chain pharmacies. Corporations that own pharmacies must be majority owned by licensed pharmacists. TIL that the Fahrenheit scale was standardized 18 years before Celsius. The world switch due to the British Empire. The United States is actually using the earlier standard. TIL that the famous James Bond theme (first heard in 1962 in Dr. No) was source of a long running dispute between John Barry and Monty Norman. Norman had originally written a song for a musical adaptation of V. S. Naipaul's novel A House for Mr Biswas which was the inspiration. TIL that the parasite H. zschokkei is the only multicellular organism that does not rely on Oxygen for respiration. It relies on a currently undiscovered energy metabolism to sustain itself. TIL, cold or rainy weather cannot make you sick

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