After 25 years performing and teaching improv, and 40 plus years of devotion to Star Wars, Mary Carpenter has finally discovered a way to combine the two. Carpenter breaks down the “how-to,” and seeks out the “why” and “what else” to give you the tools to unlock your true Jedi improv powers. This book will not just teach you how to improvise, but how to become your own improviser. Buckle in because these are the droids you’re looking for, I have a good feeling about this, and it’s time to punch it Chewie!

The Triangle of the Scene: A simple, practical, powerful method for approaching improvisation In The Triangle of the Scene, veteran improv teacher and performer Paul Vaillancourt lays out a simple set of tools that enable improvisors old and new to use the three basic elements of a scene to super-charge their work and take it to the next level. In this book, Paul shows you how to better connect with your partner, how to use the ‘where’, and how to find the ever elusive game of the scene. The Triangle of the Scene is also the first improv book to use embedded videos to allow readers to see the book’s exercises and techniques in action. With 30 years of experience performing and teaching improv Paul (the Co-founder of the iO West and member of the legendary improv group Beer, Shark, Mice) shares with you the techniques that he has used to help thousands of students become more fearless, confident, and powerful improvisors.

Alan Alda has been on a decades-long journey to discover new ways to help people communicate and relate to one another more effectively. If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? is the warm, witty, and informative chronicle of how Alda found inspiration in everything from cutting-edge science to classic acting methods. His search began when he was host of PBS’s Scientific American Frontiers, where he interviewed thousands of scientists and developed a knack for helping them communicate complex ideas in ways a wide audience could understand—and Alda wondered if those techniques held a clue to better communication for the rest of us. In his wry and wise voice, Alda reflects on moments of miscommunication in his own life, when an absence of understanding resulted in problems both big and small. He guides us through his discoveries, showing how communication can be improved through learning to relate to the other person: listening with our eyes, looking for clues in another’s face, using the power of a compelling story, avoiding jargon, and reading another person so well that you become “in sync” with them, and know what they are thinking and feeling—especially when you’re talking about the…

Long-form Improvisation & the Art of Zen: A Manual for Advanced Performers If you’re already an improviser, even if you’re just starting out, this is the book for you. This book merges basic improvisation techniques with Zen philosophy in order to create a new way of performing scenes and shows. Based on decades of work with the art form, Jason R. Chin strips away pretense and creates a simple, yet elegant method of improvising longer, more rich scenes and characters. A powerful tool for the advanced improviser and a wonderful book for the beginner, Zen and the Art of Long-form Improvisation is a welcome addition to your improv library.

Jeux et enjeux : La boîte à outils de l’improvisation théâtrale Whether you’re a passionate beginner or a seasoned professional, Games and Challenges: The Improv Theater Toolkit is an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in the art of improvisational theater. Packed with 130 exercises, covering the basics as well as short and longer forms of improvisation, this book is designed as a practical support allowing the theory to come to life. Thanks to a unique blend of European and North American traditions, it offers you a great diversity of approach, and explores areas ranging from spontaneity to narration, from masks to the adaptation for the stage of theories of Travel of Heroes of Joseph Campbell.

An inspiring, hands-on guide to narrative improvisation, by the co-creator and director of the Olivier Award-winning improv show Showstopper! The Improvised Musical. Improvisation is a craft that anyone can learn. When freed from endless rules and rigid approaches and allowed to relax, react instinctively and work seamlessly as a group, improvisers can spontaneously create performances that thrill audiences with their liveness. Drawing on the author’s extensive experience teaching and performing around the world, Improv Beyond Rules is a fresh and exciting re-examination of the whole field of improvisation. Starting with the fundamental principles that work for all forms of improvised performance and the common traps improvisers fall into it goes on to explore the elements of narrative improvisation, where performers create a story without any predetermined structure: * The Moment: How to be authentically in the moment by listening and responding to your fellow performers, accepting their suggestions (not necessarily by always saying yes ) and committing to whatever happens next. * The Scene: How to connect moments together to build a compelling scene and keep it moving forward; why there’s no such thing as a mistake; understanding and working with audiences. * The Story: How to link scenes to…

The Improvisation Book: How to Conduct Successful Improvisation Sessions The “Improvisation Book” takes the teacher step-by-step through a series of graded improvisation exercises. It also contains a unique set of 96 Improvisation Cards. Drawn at random these cards determine Character and Scenario. The endless combinations ensure that the teacher never need run dry!

Explores in the words of those who participated in the growth of this theater hybrid how theatresports sprang to life and has grown into an international league spanning four continents.

Discover how to improvise more effective comedic scenes! Through the “game of the scene” technique, you’ll be able to create memorable comedic moments in an easier, more efficient and more consistent way. Long Form Short Book is a book that goes through the basics of comedy improv from a different approach, to then delve deeper in the technique that has propelled the career of personalities like Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live), Donald Glover (Community, Star Wars), Aziz Ansari (Master of None), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live), Ilana Glazer and Abby Jacobson (Broad City), Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place) among many others. In this book, you’ll learn how to: – Create scenic realities. – Better develop characters. – Perform comedy from truth. – What is and how to play game of the scene. – How to build an improv set and an improv form. Make your improvised scenes so effective the audience will think they’re previously written with Long Form Short Book!

Absolutely Everything** You Need to Know about Teaching and Performing Improv is your personal guide to learning how to perform short-form improvisation consistently and successfully. Every challenge, every activity, and every rule presented in the book is rooted in 20 years of teaching performers from all skill levels. Material has been hand-picked to include only the activities that have consistently proven successful at overcoming the common pitfalls that can plague the improviser-in-training. Utilizing methods that are simple, easy to understand, and very, very fun, you will learn how to develop a program that allows one to maintain high expectations and create a professional looking product while still maintaining the informal revelry of game playing and humor. Simply put, by using this book, one should be able to success- fully mount any kind of short-form improv – be it corporate or student, single-team or festival, pre-professional or veteran – to the sound of riotous laughter and thunderous applause.