Improv Advance / Expand
A coach watches a scene and calls one of two words. "Advance" means push the plot forward — introduce the next event, make a decision, move time. "Expand" means stay in this moment and deepen it — explore the feeling, the detail, the relationship right here. The players obey instantly, and the coach steers the scene between its two gears. It teaches the two engines of storytelling and, crucially, the difference between them. Improvisers tend to be stuck in one gear — either racing through plot with no depth, or wallowing in a moment that never moves. Feeling both on command, and hearing when a scene needs which, builds the pacing instinct that separates a scene that breathes from one that stalls or sprints.
🎓 Tips
Make the two gears distinct. "Expand" is not stalling and "advance" is not rushing — coach real deepening versus real forward motion. Call against the players' default. If they race, call expand — if they wallow, call advance — the growth is in the uncomfortable gear. Debrief on when each was needed. The goal isn't to obey a coach forever but to internalise the instinct for which gear a scene wants.
Spotted a mistake, a missing variant, a better way to run it? Change it.