Thoughts on the life of an improv performer and now to not go nuts while doing what you love.

First published by curated Italian authors on the subject, carried out by the Improvvvisart cooperative. A text dedicated to the world of Improvvisazione Teatrale, first volume of the collana “I colori dell’Improvvisazione”, realized with the contribution of the greatest Italian teachers and with the support of the Associazione Nazionale Improteatro. The collana intends to offer testimony and give merit to the path of the growth and maturation of the modern concept of Improvvisazione Teatrale in Italia. L’improvvisazione oggi è in fermento, in continual evolution, in crescita. There are always numbers of the school, the company, the spettacoli, the national rade, and the festival in Italy. The first volume goes directly to the “cuore” of the improvised theater: the creative atmosphere, the environment, the persona, the relationship and the rhythm of an improvised story. The authors of this volume are: Mari Rinaldi (Teatribù – Milano), Luca Gnerucci (Teatro a Molla – Bologna), Daniele Marcori (Qfc Teatro – Rome), Tiziano Storti and Susanna Cantelmo (Verba Volant – Rome).

In this richly reported, scene-driven narrative, Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago. We witness the chance meeting between Mike Nichols and Elaine May, hang out at the after-hours bar where Dan Aykroyd hosted friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner, and go behind the scenes of cultural landmarks from The Graduate to The Colbert Report. Along the way, we befriend pioneers such as Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow, and many others. Wasson shows why improv deserves to be considered the great American art form of the last half century.

The Inner Game of Improv: 5 Steps to Getting Bigger in Your Improv Career Do you think that to get a bigger career in improv you have to run off to one more class or one more show? If so, you may be running in the wrong direction. If you want to have a bigger career in improv and you can quite figure out why you’re stuck, you may need to search inside for the answers. In this straight-forward, easy-to-read book, improv teacher Jimmy Carrane, co-author of Improving Better, author of Improv Therapy and host of the Improv Nerd podcast, has identified five things that often prevent improvisers from having a bigger career: perfectionism, resentments (and expectations), low self-esteem, playing small, and not taking care of yourself. Carrane combines real-world advice and practical tools with personal stories from his more than 30 years of teaching and performing at Second City, iO Chicago and The Annoyance Theatre to help you recognize and let go of each of these character traits so you can get more opportunities and make the most out of your improv career.

Improv Therapy: How to get out of your own way to become a better improviser Have you ever wanted to hide or kill yourself after doing a bad improv show? Have you thought you were crazy for feeling fear before, during or after a show? Do you judge your fellow improvisers on stage? Do you want to experience more joy in improvising? Improv Therapy is an honest and insightful book about the things improvisers don’t want to discuss: their feelings. Improvisation is as much about technique as it is what’s inside your head. Improv Therapy takes a look at the improviser’s mind and what blocks improvisers on stage, and gives them practical advice to overcome their issues so they can become the improviser they always dreamed of being. Written by Jimmy Carrane, host of the Improv Nerd podcast and co-author of Improvising Better: A Guide for the Working Improviser. He teaches his award-winning Art Of Slow Comedy improv classes in Chicago.

Long form scenic improv began with the Harold. The comic philosophy of this form started an era of comedy marked by support, trust, and collaboration. This book tells of the Harold, beginning with the development of improv theatre, through the tensions and evolutions that led to its creation at iO, and to its use in contemporary filmmaking.

The Comedy Improv Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to University Improvisational Comedy in Theatre and Performance is a one-stop resource for both improv teachers and students, covering improv history, theory, maxims, exercises, games, and structures. You will learn the necessary skills and techniques needed to become a successful improviser, developing a basic understanding of the history of improvisation and its major influences, structures, and theories. This book also addresses issues associated with being a college improviser – like auditions, rehearsals, performances, and the dynamics of improv groups.

TAKE IT EASY™ isn’t about a new way of doing improv, nor is it meant to replace your own style or approach. Instead it’s a mindset that can inform your performance and approach to improvisation. “Highly recommended for the beginning improvisor or the seasoned pro trying to rediscover the fun.” – Sam Super, The Second City Training Center’s 2017 Teacher of the Year This isn’t an ‘intro to improv’ book, nor is it a how-to manual. Instead, TAKE IT EASY™ is a collection of thoughts and observations designed to give people a different perspective on their craft, and it also includes games and exercises for people to do on their own or to bring to their group to reinforce the book’s teachings. Web: Ryan Millar – Take it Easy

Brisez la glace! 
Organisation d’une ligue d’improvisation Este trabajo se publica en colaboración con la Ligue Nationale d’Improvisation y Éditions Gravel-Leduc Inc. Está especialmente dirigido a profesores, estudiantes de secundaria y estudiantes postsecundarios que deseen crear una liga. ¡Encontrarás ejercicios básicos, valiosos consejos sobre el arte de las justas, recomendaciones informadas para elaborar un presupuesto, establecer tus reglas y sugerencias para promocionarte!

Not all improv is the same. Inside Improvisation explores, compares and clarifies in detail the main methods of theatrical improvisation, from the Chicago method improv and Harold, to Keith Johnstone’s impro and Theatresports, and everything of significance in-between. Referencing modern scientific theory and 100+ research papers, Inside Improvisation uses the science behind improvisation, to explain how it works and how to become a much better improvisor. Topics include: how the brain works while improvising; presence and mindfulness; fear, anxiety and the freedom to succeed; leveraging the unconscious; group mind; how scenes actually work – metapragmatics and scene progression; why and how improvisation is funny; using alcohol, drugs and stimulants; acting and theatre theory applied to improvisation; and much much more.