Here are some things you might hear flown around Baker Hall on a Sunday or Thursday. As a general disclaimer, this is how NPP views these terms. Other places may have other meanings about the same words, or perhaps broader or narrower definitions. Nonetheless. most of these terms are pretty universal overall.

Acceptance: Acceptance is the opposite of denial. Read denial, because I wrote it first. Acceptance is taking something that one of your fellow players offered and accepting it. Acceptance is good.

Blocking: We aren’t talking about how to stand on stage here, but rather how to deal with offers. Blocking is when you want to stay in control of a scene, and therefore you don’t yield to the strongest offer, or any offer by other players. This is bad. Good scenes tend to be ones where there is no blocking, rather, all offers are not only accepted, but have a major impact on the scene. Think of each line being intentionally put their by the “author” of the scene, so every line is important and vital to the way the scene plays out. See the game “Wall of Blocks”

Bridging: This is when a player, who has a good joke or idea for a scene builds too much to the idea/conflict/joke, that its weight is lost. Good improv brings ideas out right away with little or no prelude.

Conflict: Conflict is the struggle a player goes through in a scene, and tends to be the backbone of a scene. It is strongly suggested to establish the conflict within the first few lines. This gives the scene direction, and a purpose.

This struggle could be conflicting wants/goals, oppression of the player, or even just attempting to achieve a goal (to name a few). A character to have a conflict with another player or object, a larger organization/philosophy/religion/idea, or the environment. We like to think of this as a conflict against him, conflict against them, or conflict against the environment.

Character: This is who you are. Well, who you are playing in a scene. Your character can be your name, age, family, status, your job, what makes your person different then everyone else. Maybe you are not even human, possibly a pick-pocketing monkey, or a giant Yeti.

Circle of Expectations: When you establish a scene, there are certain actions, descriptions or events that are expected. It is STRONGLY recommended to stay within these expectations, and not to stray outside. If you are talking to a worm in the middle of a forest, don’t make him suddenly be a book worm.

Denial: One of the amazing things about improv is that it's all made up. Or rather that subsequently, anything you say is true. For example, if I walk on stage and say "Ahh, what a beautiful ocean to be sailing on," then we are not on stage, but on an ocean. I said it, it is true. Therefore, one of the worst things a player can do is deny something a fellow player has established. For example, if in response to the above quote, you said, "It isn't the ocean, it's my library," that would be denial.

Hedging is like bridging, except that instead of postponing a good idea, you waffle in the hope that you might think of one

Joining: Having the same reaction as your partner is a way to avoid tilting the balance. Joining is not working well together.

Long Form: Long form improv is when players do a series of scenes following a construct. This construct could be telling a long story, or starting a new scene based off of a physical position of a player or line of dialogue in a previous scene. See Short Form

Over-Acceptance: Too much of a good thing is a great thing. Over acceptance is taking something you are given, and adding to it in a way that raises the stakes. For example, if I say, "Can I borrow your handkerchief?" and you reply, "I suppose, but my mother swore if it ever left my hands she would know and disown me from the family before killing me," you would have over-accepted.

Pimp(ing): Don't get so excited there, Tiger. In improv, pimping means getting a suggestion. This could be from the audience, such as asking, "Could I have a non-geographic location?" or from each other, like one player saying "Wouldn't it be funny if the phone rang?" obviously pimping for someone to call. This is one of those words that is every part of speech. A pimp can be the person getting the suggestion, the method of getting it, the act of getting it, etc.

Pimping also refers to players hinting to fellow players that they want something to happen. For example, if you've defined yourself as a pickpocket, and I make big gestures indicating a bulging wallet and repeatedly get distracted by the sidewalk while passing by, I'm pimping you to steal my wallet.

Platform: The stability the proceeds chaos. It is one thing to see someone get loaded into an ambulance; it is another to realize you just ate lunch w/ them. The key is a stable relationship between two people. However, most people choose to be 2 couch potatoes rather than 2 priests at an exorcism. A platform can be character A realizing that he and B both like science fiction... noticing a skull, find a commonality.

Level 1 Platform: A course description, blunt, superficial location (a store, a school), superficial character (a doctor, a teacher), superficial relationship (brothers, school mates).

Level 2 Platform: An underlying connection/relationship between the characters and environment. In other words, they both have something in common, or share an experience (whether the know about it ahead of time or it is discovered during the scene).

Level 3 Platform: Like a level 2 platform, but a-typical. Something that is unexpected, or not commonly thought of.

Raising the stakes: Raising the stakes is very good. This is pretty intuitive, it means taking a situation and somehow making it more interesting, putting more at risk. This is often needed when scenes become circular and seem to be going nowhere. See example in over-acceptance.

Setting: This is where and when the scene is taking place. Could be an apartment, or a street corner, in the 1950s, or "the future".

Short Form: Short form improv are games or scenes which last for a (big surprise kiddies) a short time. This is usually around 2 to 6 minutes. In general most non scene games are considered short form, and games which last only one scene are considered short form. See Long Form

Status: Status refers to the difference in power in some respect between a number of characters in a scene. A low status character might be a janitor, or an old man, or a king who happens to be short, stutters, and unable to assert himself. Any number of things can lead to status in a scene, and any good scene has a difference (and possibly a shift) in status. It is difficult to explain, but status is not necessarily dependent on social status, typical stereotypes, etc.

Tilting is all about balance. Bad improv is when balance is always maintained. Good improv shifts balance. The problem is, audiences will laugh at a readjusted tilt, however, it will be 1 laugh in a scene going no where, where as tilting, allows for a lot of laughs in a whole scene.
PROBLEMS WITH TILTS:
1) Anticipate/Negate the tilt. Don’t let balance change.
2) Skipping the platform. Trying to tilt, without a relationship. "I am from the future, take me to Caesar".
3) Letting the platform anticipate the tilt. BAD: Have 2 players discuss a "MAD TATOOIST" then after awhile have a player reveal they are the tattooist. GOOD: Have one player admire another's skin, ask him to strip, the reveal it. The key is that the audience doesn’t know what is going to happen.
GOOD TILTS:
A good tilt is like a boulder into a small pond. However, beginner will drop small stones into the pond, and build up to the large one. ie: Good tilts add mystery or a surprise. IE:
BAD: A weightier is having trouble opening a bottle, and then someone opens it.
GOOD: A weightier is having trouble opening a bottle, and then a daemon opens it.

Level 1 Tilt: Causes some tension.

Level 2 Tilt: There is a change in 2 or more aspects in the scene (status, relationship, value or worth of a goal)

Level 3 Tilt: Causes a change in the platform, or an aspect of the platform is key in the change.

Whimping is when we accept ideas, but refuse to add to them. If you make an offer, make it big, and definitive. IE: If someone offers you a letter, don’t return it and say "I can't read"