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Yes, And

1960s-present (terminology); principle earlier

Also known as Yes-And, Yes And

The foundational agreement principle: accept your partner's offer ('Yes') and build on it with new information ('And').

Known for

Codified (but not invented) in Truth in Comedy (Halpern/Close, 1994); Close and Halpern named their 1980s production company Yes And Productions.
Phrase does not appear in Spolin's Improvisation for the Theater (1963) or Johnstone's Impro (1979), though both books advocate the underlying principle.
Now the single most recognized principle in improv, widely exported to corporate training and applied-improv.
The 'And' half is as load-bearing as the 'Yes' — mere agreement without adding information is known as 'Yes, And-ing the air' or 'weak agreement.'

Connected to

People

Del Close Charna Halpern Viola Spolin Keith Johnstone

Schools & Theaters

iO Theater (ImprovOlympic)

Concepts

Agreement Blocking Denial The Offer Bring a Brick, Not a Cathedral If-Then

Notes

CONTESTED DEFINITION. The four major schools treat Yes, And differently:

Spolin (implicit): framed as “no denial,” with listening/equality as the point.
Johnstone: accepting offers is an act of courage against a defensive impulse to say “no.”
UCB: Yes, And is only how you establish Base Reality; once a first unusual thing appears, shift to “If, Then.”
Napier/Annoyance: rejects Yes, And as a rule — produces polite, weak improv. Take care of yourself first; bold individual choice supports the ensemble better than agreement. Jeffrey Sweet (Something Wonderful Right Away) argues Yes And is a synthesis of Spolin’s core ethic. Attribution of the exact phrase is unsettled.

Sources