2 Vs. 1

The most common type of three-person scene is what I call a 2 Vs. 1 scene. This is when two similar characters (in status and point of view) are opposed to one different, unique character. These scenes are especially common in unfamiliar improv environments, like at a jam or with mixed teams who don’t know each other well. Usually what happens is one improviser will come forward boldly with an unusual character, and the other two players will instinctively ally against the unusual character. Who knows why this is the most common dynamic of three people improvising? It’s typical to gang up on people who aren’t like the status quo. Strength in numbers and all that jazz. It’s also the way many schools of improv teach: identify the unusual thing right away and respond as the “Straight Man.” Whatever the reason — I see this 2 Vs. 1 dynamic more than any other. And this straight man formula can work to create contrast and comedy successfully. But often, this scene will be the product of a more whimsical or weird improviser making a bold, courageous initiation, followed by two more hesitant improvisers (ironically, usually two “straight, white men”) who back into the scene as the opposing voice of reason, normality, or banality. These scenes tend to immediately vear into arguments, where the unusual player is trying to justify the validity of their unique point of view, and the two “straight men” are there to point out how it is weird or against the status quo. A tug-of-war over the direction of the scene can ensue, where the scene’s forward momentum is stopped because the improvisers are essentially engaging in a power struggle.

(Again: there is nothing inherently wrong with this dynamic— it is the building block on which most sitcoms are written. See Appendix A: Seinfeld vs. Kramer. But sometimes, it can be challenging to manage this scene without it devolving into an argument. It can even feel like a personal attack toward the unusual player sometimes. So…)

I teach two solutions to avoiding an argument. The first is something I learned from Susan Messing at The Annoyance, and it is one of my favorite approaches in all of improv: Protect The Freak. This is where our two straight men, instead of pointing out how unusual the wacko character is, choose to protect the freakish choice by subverting the logical rules of reality. By bending to the freak’s world view. The straight men specifically do NOT call out the freakish character as unusual. They react to the freak as if he/she/it’s completely normal, totally correct in point of view, and perhaps even the paradigm of how one should act in this world! It is fun to subvert the rules of reality like this. The easiest way to achieve this is to elevate the status of the unusual character. For example:

Batshit crazy initiating character charges the stage, screaming, “Burn them all! My enemies shall perish in the fires of feces!”

The other two improvisers respond with, “Mister President, an excellent idea!”

Now we have established that the freak is a high-status genius who is the epitome of how a leader should act. Anything the freak does or says we will protect and elevate.

While this approach may seem like it’s going against the grain of pointing out the unusual thing to find the game of the scene— this is actually creating a unique game in its own right, with our normal world logic turned upside down. This allows the freak to be what it is without fighting to justify its weirdness, and the two straight men can enjoy supporting and protecting the unusual choice, rather than putting baby freak in the corner.

But not many people are going to take this approach without learning of it first. More likely than not, you will find yourself in in a 2 Vs. 1 dynamic where you must protect yourself because the other improvisers will straight man hard against your freak. What I suggest you do in this situation is to not fight back. You win when you lose as the freak. Do not give up your freakish point of view, but do not try to justify the rightness of existence. Avoid using the word “but” in reply. If the other improvisers are shitting on your choices, then ask, “Please sir, can I have more shit?” Say “yes, and” to every criticism they make of your unusual character! Yes, you are an idiot! Yes, you are an imbecile! You are the worst…and you know it! And then keep playing the fool, and making yourself look more and more ridiculous, and lose and lose and lose in the scene. Let them bulldoze you and ask to be buried deeper in the rubble. This inversion of our typical need to “fight back” allows the scene to heighten…and ironically gives the freak the balance of power in the scene despite “losing.”

This can be a bit difficult to describe but here’s a sample dialogue of how this could play out:

Freak: “Oh what a gullumphing, giggly, goody-goody morning! I can’t wait to lick every person I see on the street and pee in the river!”

Straight Man 1: “Your son thinks he’s a dog again, Dan.”

Straight Man 2: “I know, we’ve been taking him to therapy — no use. He still thinks he’s a dog.”

Freak: “Woof, woof, look at me — Yes I da biggest bitch of all! I wrote a rap today! It go, ‘Bow wow wow, yippee kay-yay! Who let the dogs out? I let the dogs out!”

SM1: “Ugh, how is he ever going to get through eighth grade? He’s going to be held back if you don’t do something.”

SM2: “We’ve tried taking him to tutors, but he just humps them instead of studying Shakespeare.”

Freak: “You are right! I hump…therefore I am!”

SM1: “He meant to say, ‘I think therefore I am.’ What a dumb boy.”

Freak: “Yes, I am the biggest boy idiot of all! My tutor tried to tell me which way was up, but I don’t believe in gravity! Only the force of horniness!”

SM2: “I can’t even follow him anymore.”

Freak: “I can not follow myself! I chase my own ass for hours! I’m one horny boy!”

Not a great example scene, but perhaps you get the point. The freak can heighten his or her agenda without fighting back, thereby avoiding an argument and allowing the game of the scene to heighten.

This 2 Vs. 1 dynamic can manifest also as a 1 Vs. 2 scene. It’s really just any situation where an unusual point of view is pitted against a straight man point of view. We can protect the unusual thing so the scene can heighten without devolving into an argument.