Nick Mataragas has opinions on improv. Lots of opinions. You may not agree with them. But then again, you might. Improv: A Rant is Nick’s unfiltered view on the state of improv today, what makes for good scenes, and how you should treat the profession. Whether you agree with the thoughts or not, this book will make you think about what you are doing on stage.

Fifty Key Improv Performers: Actors, Troupes, and Schools from Theatre, Film, and TV Fifty Key Improv Performers highlights the history, development, and impact of improvisational theatre by highlighting not just key performers, but institutions, training centers, and movements to demonstrate the ways improv has shaped contemporary performance both onstage and onscreen. The book features the luminaries of improv, like Viola Spolin, Keith Johnstone, and Mick Napier, while also featuring many of the less well‑known figures in improvisation who have fundamentally changed the way we make and view comedy – people like Susan Messing, Jonathan Pitts, Robert Gravel, and Yvon Leduc. Due to improv’s highly collaborative nature, the book features many of the art form’s most important theatres and groups, such as The Second City, TJ & Dave, and Oui Be Negroes. While the book focuses on the development of improvisation in the United States, it features several entries about the development of improv around the globe. Students of Improvisational Theatre, History of Comedy, and Performance Studies, as well as practitioners of comedy, will benefit from the wide expanse of performers, groups, and institutions throughout the book.

This book is the toolkit to teach, learn, share, practice, and play short form improv comedy. Learn some basics of how improv works and learn over 120 different games and exercises. Along the way there are some anecdotes, stories, and tips about the art of improv that will help the performer and the every day human. Life is improv and improv is life. Learn short form improv comedy for yourself, for fun, for work, and for life. Classic theatre games can offer life skills of how to “yes, and” your every day life. Learn a brief history of GoProv from it’s founder, Steve Freeto while learning how silly games can offer a boost of confidence along with all of the accolades given to improvisers. Go, improv!

Truths, Tales, and How to Improvise The Principles of Comedy Improv is an authoritative handbook for beginners and experts alike. More than just entertainment, improv’s tenets enable you to change every moment of your life. Your guide is Tom Blank, who crystallizes two decades of experience to convey improv in unparalleled scope, depth, and fun.

You already know that there’s no script for effective leadership… That’s why Improv Leadership reveals five skills that will help you unleash your own leadership potential on every unexpected challenge and status quo. Anyone can read books and apply lessons, but only the best can develop what they know to bring out the best in any person or circumstance. These natural leaders understand the key principles of connecting, coaching, and communicating and use these ideas to build strong teams. In Improv Leadership, Stan Endicott and David Miller share five leadership competencies that all great, improvisational leaders have: IMPROV leaders apply these five competencies to initiate powerful conversations, create memorable moments with forward momentum, and craft personal coaching strategies that help people, and teams, grow. The five competencies of IMPROV Leadership are not rigid steps to follow. They are fluid and can be applied to any industry of field. You can’t predict every challenge you’ll face. There’s no playbook that covers every decision. But you can cultivate teams of people who love their work (and each other) and who perform at a high level. And you can lead well in any situation.

Improv is an art form in which participants act and respond in the present, trusting that each thoughtful action will lead to a wonderful outcome–even if it isn’t the intended result. In this book, the principles and practices of unscripted theater are applied to non-theatrical circumstances. This book is based on a highly successful business school course, and aids in the development of communication, teamwork, creativity, confidence, emotional intelligence and other abilities. Each chapter assesses a different component of improv–how it connects to stage success and how it can be used in professional, academic and social settings. This is the only text that lays out an entire course on applied improv, providing activities with detailed instructions and descriptions. With roots in higher education, the book is informal, entertaining, and designed to be beneficial for anybody. Behavioral science, philosophy, art and athletics are all used to inform this discussion of improv and its real-world applications.

When I first saw improv on stage I *wanted* it. I had never seen anything or anyone so powerful. Envy, desire, and lust filled me. I was terrified and delighted by the mere *thought* of going on that stage. And boy oh boy I wanted that stage. I was determined. I was hooked.

The Transformative Journey of Divine Play Improv comedy is known as a challenging comedic performance art, which Keli has been teaching, directing and performing for over a quarter of a century. As Keli expanded her world view by traveling to sacred places and training with master spiritual teachers, she came to understand that improv was not just her art and her job, it was her medicine. Not only was it her practice to sooth her own soul, but it was the way in which she, has been able to be a “hollow bone” and let the healing energy of Divine play move through her and transform the lives of her students. This book is her love letter to improv, and to all the brave souls willing to live in the moment, to accept themselves and others as they are, and to co create with the world by saying YES, and……

“We’re all improvisers,” says MaryAnn McKibben Dana, whether we realize it or not. In this book McKibben Dana blends personal stories, pop culture, and Scripture into a smart, funny, down-to-earth guide to the art of living*.* Offering concrete spiritual wisdom through seven improv principles, she helps readers become more awake, creative, resilient, and ready to play—even (especially) when life doesn’t go according to plan..

The Improv : An Oral History of the Comedy Club that Revolutionized Stand-Up Featured in the New York Times 2017 “Holiday Gift Guide for Hardcover Fans”.. Get an insider’s oral history of the World’s most iconic comedy club, featuring exclusive interviews with today’s most hilarious stars recalling their time on stage (and off) at the Improv. In 1963, 30-year-old Budd Friedman—who had recently quit his job as a Boston advertising executive and returned to New York to become a theatrical producer—opened a coffee house for Broadway performers called the Improvisation. Later shortened to the Improv, its first seedy West 44th Street location initially attracted the likes of Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Albert Finney, and Jason Robards, as well as a couple of then-unknowns named Dustin Hoffman and Bette Midler. While it drew near-capacity crowds almost from day one, it wasn’t until comedians began dropping by to try out new material that the Improv truly hit its stride. The club became the first venue to present live stand-up in a continuous format, and in the process reinvented the art form and created the template for all other comedy clubs that followed. From the microphone to the iconic brick wall, the Improv…