If you’re just getting into the world of improv, taking your first classes, or want to solidify your ideas before launching your troupe, you’ll want a book to harden your knowledge. Perhaps the list on this site is a bit overwhelming, and you don’t know where to start. So, let’s put together a quick list of 12 books to check out to lay the foundation for your improv. They’re written for people new to improv, without taking anything for granted. Most are in English, but it’s worth it.
- Truth in comedy / La Verdad en la Comedia (Charna Halpern, Del Close). Essential and basic, by two eminent figures.
- Improvisation For The Theater (Viola Spolin). Spolin, the origin of improv as we know it, is a must-read. This is the book that compiles his teachings.
- Impro (Alfredo Mantovani, Borja Cortés, Encarni Corrales, José Ramón Muñoz Leza, Pablo Pundik)
- Explorando el match de improvisación (Koldobika Vio). One of the first improv books in Spanish, from a pedagogical point of view.
- Improv for Everyone (Greg Tavares). An eminently practical book.
- Improvise: Scene form the Inside Out (Mick Napier). Si empiezas con Napier (The Second City), arranca con este.
- The Complete Improviser (Bill Arnett). With a light tone and a disruptive perspective on the canons, focused on the Chicago Long-form.
- How to be the Greatest Improviser on Earth (Will Hines). Este miembro de UCB
- The Improv Handbook (Tom Salinsky, Deborah Frances-White).
- Improv Comedy (Andy Goldberg)
- Improv Made Easier (Rich Baker)
- And as an extra ball: Jill Bernard’s Small Cute Book of Improv. Like a children’s story, nice and simple. Must-have.
Are you satisfied with the list? Would you add or remove any?
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