Innovation At the Speed of Laughter: 8 Secrets to World Class Idea Generation Innovation at the Speed of Laughter explores the unexpected ways in which the tools of improvisational comedy can improve business performance. Combining his insights as a successful businessman with his expertise as a performer, John Sweeney reveals eight secrets to jump-starting workplace creativity and corporate ideation developed from the quirky, spontaneous art form of improvisation. The secrets include ‘Accepting All Ideas,’ ‘Deferring Judgment,’ and ‘Creating a Statusless Environment.’ Sweeney and the Brave New Workshop have used these secrets to help companies like General Mills, 3M Corporation, Hewllett-Packard, and Disney develop wonderfully uncommon ideas. Innovation at the Speed of Laughter will similarly help businesses, leaders, and individuals tap into their innovative potential–for creative expression as well as profitability.

Healing Improv: A Journey Through Grief to Laughter. In 2009 Bart Sumner’s life was shattered when his 10-year-old son, David, suffered a traumatic brain injury at football practice and died in his arms. Finding a way back to the road forward in a world where mourners are told “He’s in a better place” or to “Get over it” is a daunting and painful journey. He came to realize that the twenty-five plus years he spent as a performer and teacher of improvisational comedy was not only the key to his own survival, but also a powerful tool to help others mired in grief. Healing Improv: A Journey Through Grief to Laughter is an emotional and honest recounting of his family’s trek through grief to the founding of a nonprofit that provides no-cost Comedy Improv Grief Workshops for others suffering with loss. Mr. Sumner’s approach is unique in its application of improv comedy exercises to grief treatment. Healing Improv includes many of the improv games used at Healing Improv workshops so that others can also benefit from the curative, life affirming fun. Pairing these techniques with his family’s powerful and touching story of survival makes this book a strong ally to…

The Brain’s Playground: Using Improv Games To Teach Social And Emotional Learning The Brain’s Playground: Using Improv Games to Teach Social and Emotional Learning is a textbook that supports individuals with Social and Emotional Learning using improv games. Social and Emotional Learning ( www.casel.org ) includes five areas: social awareness, relationship skills, self-management, responsible decision-making and self-awareness. Improv games are used to create teachable moments when working with individuals of all abilities. Improv games help individuals to learn and connect while having fun in inclusive settings. The Brain’s Playground: Using Improv Games to Teach Social and Emotional Learning promotes connection through enjoyable activities that build relationships, improves social skills and increases verbal and nonverbal communication. The Brain’s Playground: Using Improv Games to Teach Social and Emotional Learning is a tool to be used by providers in the field of education, special education, psychology and more. Improv is used not only in theater, but in life.

Improv Yourself: Business Spontaneity at the Speed of Thought Discover your improvisational skills for a more productive, more dynamic work life Whether we know it or not, most of us use our improvisational skills every day in the workplace when we deal with clients and colleagues. Improv Yourself shows the reader in clear detail how to use and hone improvisational skills for better business interactions and a more productive work environment. Business expert and all-around funny guy Joe Keefe offers expert guidance on nurturing our improvisational skills to help us think on our feet, deal with customers, interact with team members, present new ideas, and brainstorm. Full of humor, wit, and expert business insight, Improv Yourself is like nothing else on the business shelf (could you tell I just made that up?).

58 1/2 Ways to Improvise in Training: Improvisation Games and Activities for Workshops, Courses and Team Meetings This book is for trainers, facilitators and anyone in need of a swift, energising activity. Each of the activities is improvisational in the sense that it generates what I call impro energy, a current that runs between participants. You recognise impro energy when you see people who are clearly “in themoment”, alert to whatever is going on in the here and now. It is generally characterised by laughter, prompted by people making things up off the cuff. At its best, impro energy results in flow, when the quality of the work is both high and seemingly effortless…

Rainbow of Desire is a handbook of exercises with a difference. It is Augusto Boal’s bold and brilliant statement about the therapeutic ability of theatre to liberate individuals and change lives. Now translated into English and comprehensively updated from the French, Rainbow of Desire sets out the techniques which help us `see’ for the first time the oppressions we have internalised.Boal, a Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician, has been confronting oppression in various forms for over thirty years. His belief that theatre is a means to create the future has inspired hundreds of groups all over the world to use his techniques in a multitude of settings. This, his latest work, includes such exercises as:* The Cops in the Head and their anti-bodies* The screen image* The image of the future we are afraid of* Image and counter-image….and many more.Rainbow of Desire will make fascinating reading for those already familiar with Boal’s work and is also completely accessible

Improvise This!: How to Think on Your Feet so You Don’t Fall on Your Face by Mark Bergen. Businesses are sending their top managers to improvisational classes to learn how to give presentations, how to talk to clients, and how to finesse difficult situations. But those same skills can be mastered with the help of the simple and fun exercises found in this book. The authors explain how improvisation comes into play in our daily lives, and the rewards of taking risks in those situations. Improvise This! is filled with true-to-life business scenarios and offers methods for not only surviving but triumphing in those situations, making this a valuable and entertaining resource.

Some content previously published as Brain Disruption by Bruce & Gail Montgomery. Looking for new ideas? Need your teams to perform at a higher level? Want a healthy corporate culture? Follow along with these two dynamic authors as they take you through The Improv Mindset, one of the most engaging and powerful methods to getting individuals, teams, and organizations to step up, engage, and solve problems. Steeped in the world of improv comedy, this no-nonsense guide provides a window into the neuroscience behind creativity and new ways of thinking. Filled with exercises and activities, you’ll be able immediately apply the lessons in this book.

The Applied Improvisation Mindset: Tools for Transforming Organizations and Communities How can the practice of improvisation become the lens through which we view the world? The Applied Improvisation Mindset takes readers deep into the maturing field of Applied Improvisation (AI), with stories of 18 practitioners from five countries who embrace an improvisation mindset to create a more collaborative, equitable, sustainable, and joyous world. Myriad organizations have discovered how the mindset and skills applied by great improvisers onstage can reveal emergent, generative ways of interacting with others offstage. With case studies on developing presentation skills, reducing anxiety in teens, or preparing climate risk managers across the globe for the challenges ahead, this second volume serves as a valuable resource for both experienced and new AI facilitators. It is a primer for higher education and K-12 faculty combatting traditional teaching limitations and a practical “how to” for theatre practitioners, artists, educators, or anyone seeking to transform their organizations and communities.

Therapeutic Improvisation: How to Stop Winging It and Own It as a Therapist Putting together what you learned in grad school and beyond into a coherent voice that is both personalized and professional. As a new or seasoned therapist, it’s so hard to make transformational moments out of all that’s being thrown at you in sessions. You’re just winging it, but deep down you know there’s a way to make your sessions more dynamic and intentionally responsive. This book shows how to develop a keen ear and sharp eye for the many changes coming your way.        Examples from music, movies, and literature will illustrate how the scientific principles of interpersonal neurobiology can help you claim your artistry as a therapist. This inspiring and informative book will help you find your voice and navigate the complexities and joys of the mysterious relationship that is therapy itself. Supervisors and new clinicians alike will be refreshed by the innovative vision of mental health practice as having a flexible and creative capacity.