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musical pattern exploring the idea of growing up in the Hot Spot!
    As a theme emerges, the game takes on its own pace. The Hot Spot is similar to the Pattern Game, but the music and physical elements of the Hot Spot result in a wilder, more frenetic pace.
    (This is also a good game for a large number of players, and is sometimes played with two or more teams; 10, 15, or even 20 players can create an effective, highly charged "Hot Spot" game.)
    Even if the players don't have a song in mind, they should still be encouraged to push each other off the hot spot, for several reasons.
    Primarily, this is a perfect opportunity for players to exhibit support for their fellow players. The best way to support the teammate on the hot spot is to rudely shove him off that spot.
    The game is at stake here. If one player is stuck on the hot spot for too long, he grows embarrassed; even worse it makes the group look like it isn't working together. And if that playter has to sing more than two lines, it isn't.
    Again, the only way for the group to look good is for each of its members to commit himself to keeping the game moving rapidly. When a player jumps out without an idea, he discovers that a song sung off the top of his head at the spur of the moment usually connects to the theme better than anything devised while waiting on the sidelines.
    The Hot Spot is a great opportunity for a player to put his mind to the test, to see how it kicks in during an emergency situation.
    In the unlikely event that the song doesn't connect, the group makes it work by weaving it into the pattern. This is a chance for the other players to show their confidence in their fellow improviser's idea, trusting that it must be brilliant. If the group treats each of its players as a creative genius, they will be.
    The Hot Spot is a high-energy game that's easy to learn, and as much fun to watch as it is to play.
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KEY POINTS FOR CHAPTER THREE *Respect choices made by others.
    *There are no bad ideas.
    *There are no mistakes. Everything is justified.
    *Treat others as if they are poets, geniuses and artists, and they will be. *The best way to look good is to make your fellow players look good.
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CHAPTER FOUR Agreement
    Conflict is about as necessary as the Mad Scientist's daughter in a science fiction film. It's an arbitrary convention that need not be respected.
    In the early days of improvisation, the molders and shapers of the art discovered very quickly that arguing on stage accomplished little, except to delay the action that would have naturally arisen in the first place.
    "While improvising scenario plays at the Compass Theater, we discovered that when actors would go on stage, given the choice of agreeing or arguing, they would inevitably argue," observes Del. "Consequently, a scenario would last six or seven hours!
    " 'Hand me the wrench.'
    " 'I don't have it.'
    " 'Go get it.'
    " 'I don't know where it is.'
    " It's in the car.'
    " T don't want to go to the car.'
    " 'But I need the wrench.'
    " 'Then go get it.'
    ". . . And on and on. What would happen if we agreed instead of disagreed? Problems would be solved, and there would be more action — 'Here's the wrench, and I'll hold the light for you.'
    "Business is taken care of in a lot less time! Freud, in his essay 'Psychopathic Characters on Stage,' called Hamletthe first truly modern play, because the conflict is not so much between the characters as within the characters.
    "It's too easy to find ways to disagree. It strikes me that t more interesting thing for the art form — and for the planet — is to look for ways to agree, rather than disagree. At the Improv- Olympic, the principle of agreement is taken even further by the 'Yes, & ...' approach."
    This is, in fact, a major difference between improv and scripted material. Much of drama is based on conflict, but when a playwright is devising the script, the arguments do more than delay action. Performers like Laurel and Hardy could probably perform