You may be familiar with the improv principle, “Yes, and.” This is the idea in improvisation that when a scenario is put before you, you roll with it, embrace it and add to it. For example, in a scene where you’re playing a waiter and your scene partner says there’s a fly in her soup, you replying, “No, there isn’t,” immediately shuts down the scene. But running with that idea and replying, “Oh yes, I forgot to mention that’s part of today’s chef special!” changes the course of the dialogue and keeps things moving forward.