Improvising Gender is a book about playing characters of different genders truthfully and convincingly. It’s packed full of exercises to help you construct a wide variety of characters and worlds using different genders. A mix of insights and thought-provoking experiments, this book will also help you to be more understanding of and welcoming to performers of all genders.

Fill Your Performance with Spontaneity and Energy Improvisation is an essential and invaluable technique for the actor’s repertoire: It asks you to think beyond a script–and its memorized lines, movements, and facial expressions–to deliver a performance filled with honesty, insight, nuance, and verisimilitude. Improvisation Starters Revised and Expanded provides more than 1,000 brand-new scene scenarios that will help you: • Depict conflict by focusing on differing beliefs, motivations, and needs • Use contrasts to show the clash of personalities and emotions • Creatively incorporate props and specific lines of dialogue within an improvised scene • Explore character relationships with various locations • Take on the role of inanimate objects and animals From the classroom to the community theater group–and even in business, language, and technology classes–improvisation is the perfect tool for thinking critically, communicating clearly, building self-confidence, and developing interpersonal skills. With this revised edition of Improvisation Starters, you’ll bring new vitality to the stage or set–and have fun in the process!

Teaching Improv Skills: Stories, Games, and Tips to Develop Skills for Improvisational Comedy Troupes Do you want to build your improv troupe’s skills? Or are you looking to develop positive communication skills with a group you work with? Improvisation is all about listening, accepting, reacting, responding, and bringing more to the table in positive ways. Improv comedy troupes—as well as any other groups that want to work better together—need a firm foundation in these skills plus trust and a willingness to take a few “safe risks.” Nancy Meyer’s book Teaching Improv Skills: Stories, Games, and Tips to Develop Skills for Improvisational Comedy Troupes will help all folks who work with humans develop and hone improvisational comedy and positive communication skills through real performers’ stories, analysis, coaching suggestions, and games. And it’s a whole lot of fun. Inside, you will… * Explore the skills of successful improvisational comedy and positive communication * Learn 40 skill-building games using step-by-step instructions * Dive into coaching strategies Modify games to meet the needs and levels of your participants * Use questions for debriefing games and self-reflection * And more… Say “Yes, and…” to Teaching Improv Skills today!

The Extreme Improv Big Book of Improv Games. Do you enjoy having fun? Are you in need of an excuse to act like a fool on a Thursday evening? And have you a hankering for some ridiculous word games in your life? If the answer to any of these questions is YES then this is the book for you! The Extreme Improv Big Book of Improv Games is a fantastic resource of dozens and dozens of fun to play Improv Comedy games. This book will not only teach you the rules of each of the games, but also give you hundreds of pro tips so you can become an improv master! Written by Extreme Improv’s founder and resident supervillain David Pustansky, this book is riddled with ideas, infested with insights and boiling over with more improvised comedy goodness then legs on a centipede! If you want to inject new life into your improv skill set, this book breaks down tons of classic improv games, and explains how to play them successfully, the logic behind the rules, and when you should or shouldn’t break them! In addition to the classics, the book also includes bucket loads of Extreme Improv’s original creations…

The One Minute Improviser: Learn the secrets of being a truly great improviser Would you like to strengthen your approach to improv? Delve deeper into the Three Secrets every improviser learns? Do you want a smooth, quick read you can devour in your spare time? If you want all this (and more!) then you want The One Minute Improviser. This book provides a clear, simple look into the ideas that are basic to improv, while offering insight as to why these Three Secrets are so important. Based lovingly on the format of a well-known self-help book, The One Minute Improviser takes you along on a young man’s journey to find the Improv Guru, who he hopes will teach him the answers behind why The Three Secrets are crucial to the performance of quality improv. Learn the secret behind The Secrets: Be Accepting Be Supportive Be Fearless But wait…There’s more!Not only do you get these Three Secrets, but you also get a Free Fourth Secret! What is it, you ask? Well, we’re not telling because then it wouldn’t be a secret. But if you want to find out, grab yourself a copy of The One Minute Improviser and take your improv…

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.

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….