An ask-for is a question you ask the audience before a scene begins, to give the performers a seed to begin with or otherwise fill a slot needed by a game. What the audience gives you is called a suggestion.

Some sample ask-fors

Can someone please tell me a word?
Would someone tell me an occupation, like butcher, baker, or candlestick-maker?
What is an activity two people might do together, like playing chess or building a treehouse?
What is a place where two people who know each other might meet?
What is a country where they don't speak English?
What's a reason you were late for work?
What subject did you hate most in junior high school?

Tips on thinking up ask-fors

A good ask-for is one that gets something from the audience that juices you to have fun on stage.

Getting fresh suggestions

To get something fresh nearly every time, ask an open-ended question, not one that has a limited set of possible answers. For example, "Can someone tell me a word?" has an enormous set of possible responses, as does "Can someone tell me the name of a movie that's never been made?" On the other hand, "Can someone tell me a color?" has a relatively small set of possible responses, and all of them are colors. "If your elbow belonged to a political party, which one would it belong to?" will likely get you either of the two typical choices, or a selection from the handful of third parties. These last two ask-fors limit suggestions to a pretty narrow box. Contrast that with "Can someone tell me a political party that doesn't exist?"

Of course, for a particular game, you might want the audience to choose from a small selection. Or you might want something completely unexpected every time. This entire section is to help you be aware of how an ask-for opens up or limits responses.

Setting expectations

If there is concrete information in the ask-for itself, this sets up the audience to expect that the scene will relate to that concrete information--information that you supplied. For example, "Can someone tell me what is the Eleventh Commandment?" leads the audience to expect that the scene will make biblical or religious references.

If you're setting up a game that doesn't go in that direction, then this ask-for might lead the audience to feel disappointed with a genuinely brilliant scene, just because of their expectations. On the other hand, putting concrete information into an ask-for is a great, concise way to set up a game. If the game is about a priest and confessor, then asking for the Eleventh Commandment sets the audience up to love the scene without your having to explain anything.

Two ask-fors

By asking for two suggestions, you create instant potential for comedy. All the performers have to do is combine them. For example, asking "What is the Eleventh Commandment?" and "What is a job that someone might quit in order to join the priesthood?" can set up a priest & confessor game with no need for explanation. You don't need to explain that the priest will give the confessor a penance related to his old job. When the priest gives the penance and it connects the suggestions and other material from the scene, this will catch the audience by surprise even though it's the most natural development--always a joy to see, and it sets up a Closer.

Getting two ask-fors can help reduce the performers' temptation to try to force laughs. When given two unrelated things, pretty much the first thing that comes to mind for connecting them will be unconsciously funny.

Leave something open

Asking for all three elements of the Platform blocks the players' potential to add those elements. It limits the Platform to the audience's imagination, and setting up the Platform is one of the main improvisational skills that makes a huge difference to a scene. The beginning of the scene can drag as the players establish the given Who Where What without adding anything beyond what the audience gave them. So you might want to ask for only one Platform element (if any).

On the other hand, if the performers aren't yet comfortable creating a Platform, an emcee can help them shine by having the audience supply all the elements. This ensures that the players have a Platform to build from. It can also be a good Exercise to give people the experience of building from a solid Platform.

Getting realistic or imaginative suggestions

To get something realistic, you can ask the audience for something that has personally happened to them. For example, "What was the worst piece of advice your mother gave you?" or "What's the largest object in your back yard?"

To encourage the audience to give you something wild and imaginative (unrealistic), you can ask them for something that does not fit a certain criterion. For example, "What's a moral that they'd never try to teach in Sunday School?" or "What's a category that you'd never see on Jeopardy?"

Some groups don't like imaginative suggestions from the audience. Often, if a suggestion gets a laugh, then the scene doesn't, because the suggestion has already used up the potential for humor. The scene then becomes something like continuing a joke after the punch line's been said. Of course, you can also get good at taking a funny suggestion and exploring in a totally new direction and finding unexpectedly funny things.

Helping the audience

It can help the audience if you give an example or two with your question. For example, instead of "A relationship, please," you can ask, "Can someone tell me a relationship between two people, like boss and employee or priest and confessor?" A weird example can inspire the audience to get even weirder. A realistic example often inspires a realistic suggestion.

Avoid using the term "ask-for" on stage. It's Improv Jargon, and most audience members don't understand it. If you absolutely must refer explicitly to what you're asking for in the intro, the word "suggestion" works great, though.

Don't ask for "a non-geographical location" unless you want to confuse the audience. No one except improv people knows what that is. Ask for something more specific, like "a place two people might meet" or "an outdoor location" or "a retail establishment".

Preventing certain suggestions

If there is a response that you do not want, you can include it as one of the examples. For example, if you don't want to do a skit about the oil industry, you can ask, "Can someone tell me an industry, like oil or soy-bean farming?" This is also a great way to exclude boring suggestions like "boss and employee". (Conversely, if you would like a particular suggestion, don't use it as an example.)

Don't feel bound by ask-fors

Don't over-use audience suggestions for the sake of having them. It can feel like ask-fors help legitimise the improv process by proving to the audience that it's really improvised. Even with ask-fors there will be people that won't believe you so instead it is better to focus on making the show the best you can for an audience, it's for them after all.

Also don't be afraid to veto ask-fors. For example if you ask an audience to name 'something that would surprise you' and get several answers that don't inspire the improvisers, don't use them. You may need to modify your question or drop it and change what type of scene you will do entirely, once again it's for the audience and they will enjoy a scene you are inspired by and committed to more than one you feel obligated to do because an idea came from the audience.

The first few Ask For’s you accept will set the tone for your entire show. If you quickly accept plain, everyday suggestions, the audience won’t be afraid to continue offering them. If you insist on Wacky Fun Time Bizarre suggestions, that’s what you’ll get all evening. (Although many people will hold back, thinking their suggestions aren’t funny enough.) If you accept obscenities or sexual suggestions early on, be prepared to get them (and little else) all night long.