The Big Book of Improv Games: A compendium of performance-based short-form games What would you do with over 500 improv games? Would you like to own the most comprehensive collection ever published? Who do you know that loves improvisation? The product of years of research, The Big Book of Improv Games will amaze you as you flip through it, discovering page after page of performance-based games, many that will be completely new to you! Are you ready to become an Improv Powerhouse? Feed your passion for improv, go beyond the basics, and turn good improv into great improv with The Big Book of Improv Games! You’ll discover over 500 ways to make stuff up, along with full, expert descriptions, tips, and variations so complete anyone from beginner to expert can pick up the book, read through any game, and play it with confidence! Games are divided into convenient categories, making it easy for you to design an entertaining, varied play set for your show, jam, or practice: Scene Games Quirky Games Non-Scene Games Guessing Games Singing Games Step-Out Games Games are cross-referenced with similar games so you can find new favorites to try! Also included are helpful appendices, including: Glossary…

The Art of Making Sh!t Up: Using the Principles of Improv to Become an Unstoppable Powerhouse Work together to up your chances of business success The Art of Making Sh!t Up combines the lessons learned from a personal journey with the teachings derived from years of honing valuable skills through performing and presenting to thousands of people to demonstrate how working together has helped others found and grow several multimillion-dollar companies. By focusing on topics that serve as pain points and detailing the tools and techniques of improv, this book helps people and organizations utilize new skill sets to be more productive, more accepting, and more “all in” to create a stronger teammate and team. Remove the fear of failure Recognize when and how to trust your instincts Celebrate and embrace the ideas of others Listen effectively—to both people and your environment Thinking is hard. Listening is easy—and is most often the springboard to huge ideas. Find out how it can work for you with The Art of Making Sh!t Up.

Improv isn’t just fun and games (though it’s fun and there are a lot of games!). It’s a powerful set of skills that can lift an actor–and indeed, an entire ensemble–to another level. James Thomas Bailey is an experienced classroom teacher, producer of the longest running stage production in Los Angeles (decades) and creator of the largest teen improv program in the United States. In this book, he’s created a practical, humorous guide to teaching improvisation for theatre educators and directors at all levels. Included are sequential lessons and methods for applying them—ten weeks of curriculum if taught in full—complete with a “script” for teaching and debrief questions for greater conversation and even more understanding. Ready to give yourself a shot in the arm and a pat on the back?! Go! Published and performances licensed by YouthPLAYS (https://www.youthplays.com), publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

This book, by award-winning speaker and trainer, John Cremer, provides context for what occurs during an improvisation session and a clear D.I.Y guide to running a basic session yourself. By applying these clear lessons you will be able to: • Bond and inspire a team • Open new neural pathways and overcome reluctance and nervousness in participants • Find different angles for problem solving and brainstorming • Feel confident on your feet in front of people • Have a great laugh Improvisation skills are applicable in all areas of life especially in the professional world where they lend themselves to enhancing creativity, team building, innovation, problem solving, presentation skills, negotiation, self confidence, management, client engagement, humour, laughter and positive thinking. Also known as improv or impro these personal development techniques are powerful and effective.

Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques for Trainers and Managers to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership, and Learning Creating innovative products and game-changing processes and adapting to new cultures and communication styles have all become imperative for life and work in today’s environment. Today’s business and non-profit leaders, from Fortune 500 companies on down, have discovered the value of improvisational theatre techniques to develop creativity and the collaboration skills they need. Since publication of its seminal first edition, the principles and techniques pioneered in Training to Imagine have been widely adopted by organizations around the world, and have given rise to the field of Applied Improvisation. This new edition builds on the characteristics that made it the most comprehensive and most easy to apply resource for using improv in organizations. As before, this book translates the theories and exercises of improv into language that is familiar to organizational culture, and provides guidelines, case studies and exercises intended for use by individuals for self-development, for small groups, and for facilitation by trainers. This revised edition places more emphasis on the development of leadership, in particular adding activities designed for individuals to develop skills on their own, or outside formal training environments….

A Subversive’s Guide to Improvisation: Moving Beyond “Yes, And” Hey, improvisers, you can do whatever you want. In A Subversive’s Guide to Improvisation, Razowsky throws conventional improv wisdom on its head by giving you a unique take on how to create masterful improv scenes. He describes how his life philosophy and improv methodology have evolved on his journey from struggling actor to one of the world’s most respected improvisers and coaches. The challenge for most improvisers is sticking to “the rules” and believing “Yes, and” is the magic formula for a successful scene. Characters meander and travel from a state of fluidity to a mess of frustration and ask, “How did I go wrong?” A Subversive’s Guide to Improvisation provides methods and exercises that teach you to connect to your partner and the scene without worrying about responding with “yes, and.” Over 30 groundbreaking exercises will teach you how to: * Freely express your feelings. * Focus on the present. * Ask questions. * Say “no” to energize your scene. * Start a scene without establishing who, what, and where. David Razowsky studied, performed, taught, and directed at Second City with Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and Michael Keegan-Key, among others….

Improvisation for the Spirit: Live a More Creative, Spontaneous, and Courageous Life Using the Tools of Improv Comedy Wish you could gag your Inner Critic? Feeling blocked creatively? Want to make a big change, but fear taking the leap? Comedy improv requires quick thinking, collaboration, getting out of your own way, and being in the moment without being a perfectionist. Katie Goodman, an internationally touring improv comedian and comedy writer, uses her witty and encouraging style to show you how to acquire the skills of improv comedy and apply them to every aspect of daily life. Along the way Goodman shares hilarious and insightful stories from her experiences onstage, as well as step-by-step exercises from her popular self-discovery workshops and retreats. Packed with creative, original, and, most importantly, fun exercises, Improvisation for the Spirit offers a truly transformational guide for anyone wanting to get more out of life. “A practical, fascinating, and funny guidebook. I’ve already begun applying hints from Improvisation for the Spirit, and I’m hoping that from now on, when people point and laugh at me, it will be for more appropriate reasons. A delightful read, filled with wonderful strategies.” ― Martha Beck, Life Coach Columnist for O,…

Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater, and Television Stephen Book is a top Hollywood acting coach and teacher and a theatre director. His students have won Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Obies, and Grammys. Thirteen of his present or former students are featured in either starring roles or as cast regulars in the current primetime television schedule. This book contains film and television scenes in which Book-coached actors, used his Improvisation Technique to create their performances. These scenes, showing the actors’ performance choices, demonstrate the use of Improvisation Technique in different genres of acting. Well-known theatre and film scenes are included, as well as scenes from such TV shows as ‘Frasier’, ‘Melrose Place’, ‘Star Trek: Voyager’, ‘LA Law’ and ‘The Practice’.

Interactive Acting: Acting, Improvisation, and Interacting for Audience Participatory Theatre A Ground-breaking guide to audience participatory theatre. Interactive acting is a step-by-step handbook that teaches actors how to successfully perform in audience participatory theatre. This book includes: – Descriptions of interactive performances – Methods to draw out good audience participation – Techniques to handle the unexpected – Performance tactics for off-stage environments – A concise review of improvisation skills – And much more

Something Wonderful Right Away: An Oral History of the Second City and the Compass Players Prominent alumni (Mike Nichols, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein, among others) bring theatrical improvisation to life, with all the vitality, the power and the exuberance – the satire and spontaneity – that they made famous and that launched their careers. “An important book about the most important American theatrical endeavor since the Group Theatre. Plus, it’s fun to read”. – David Mamet