The Improv Handbook : The Ultimate Guide to Improvising in Comedy, Theatre, and Beyond
by Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White__T____he Improv Handbook__ provides everything someone interested in improvisational comedy needs to know, as written by a husband and wife comedy duo with years of experience and teaching in the field. in addition to providing a comprehensive history of improvisational theater as a backdrop, it also looks at modern theories and practices of improvisation on a global scale, including how the form of comedy has evolved differently in different parts of the world, from Europe to the UK to the Chicago scene. __The Improv Handbook__ also contains an essential performance segment that details different formats of improvisation. Chapter topics include Theatresports, Micetro, Gorilla Theatre, and the inventions of Keith Johnstone and Del Close as well as other popular forms of improv, like those on "Whose Line is it Anyway." The core section of the book is called simply, "How to Improvise" and delves into issues of spontaneity, the fundamentals of storytelling, working together, upping the ante, and character development. The book concludes with sections on how to improvise in front of an audience and- just as crucially- how to attract an audience in the first place.
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Госфонд литературы при Комитете по делам культурно-просветительных учреждений при СНК РСФСР (образован в апреле 1943 г.)
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=245 04 $a The improv handbook : $b the ultimate guide to improvising in comedy, theatre, and beyond / $c by Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White.
=260 \\ $a New York ; $a London $b Continuum, $c 2008.
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=504 \\ $a Includes bibliographical references (p. 413-414) and index.
=541 \\ $a Госфонд литературы при Комитете по делам культурно-просветительных учреждений при СНК РСФСР (образован в апреле 1943 г.)
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=650 \7 $a Искусство. Искусствознание -- Театр -- Драматический театр -- Теория драматического театра -- Творческие компоненты и выразительные средства драматического спектакля -- Искусство актера -- Роль и образ. Работа над образом -- Справочники $2 rubbk
=653 \\ $a импровизация
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Cover 1
Contents 8
Introduction 10
SECTION ONE: “WHAT IS IMPROVISATION?” 12
1.1 What Was Improvisation? 13
1.2 Improvisation in Performance 17
1.3 History of The Spontaneity Shop 28
Intermission: What Should Improvisation Be? 40
#1: “From Innovation to Art Form” 40
#2: “Two Stories” 44
SECTION TWO: “HOW TO IMPROVISE” 48
2.1 How to Use This Section 49
2.2 Teaching and Learning 50
2.3 The Importance of Storytelling 54
2.4 Spontaneity 57
2.5 Saying Yes 65
2.6 What Comes Next 75
2.7 Status 99
2.8 Go Through an Unusual Door 119
2.9 Working Together 135
2.10 Being Changed 154
2.11 Twitching, Topping, and Paperflicking 179
2.12 Playing Characters 186
2.13 You Can’t Learn Mime from a Book 223
2.14 Playing Games 229
2.15 Control Freak 257
2.16 Finding the Game in the Scene 264
2.17 Continue or Thank You 274
2.18 Final Thoughts 279
Intermission: The Rules and Why There Aren’t Any . . . 299
SECTION THREE: “HOW TO IMPROVISE IN PUBLIC” 310
3.1 Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway 311
3.2 Starting a Company 313
3.3 Nuts and Bolts 318
Intermission: The Paradox of Improvisation 330
SECTION FOUR: “MAKING IMPROVISATION PAY” 336
4.1 Performing? 337
4.2 Teaching Workshops 339
4.3 Corporate Entertainment 342
4.4 Corporate Training 343
4.5 Corporate Events 345
4.6 How to Get Corporate Work 347
Intermission: Women in Improv 348
SECTION FIVE: “TALKING TO IMPROVISERS” 352
5.1 Keith Johnstone—The Innovator 353
5.2 Neil Mullarkey—The Comedy Store Player 354
5.3 Randy Dixon—The Synthesizer 358
5.4 Jonathan Pitts—The Impresario 361
5.5 Charna Halpern—The Keeper of the Harold 364
5.6 Mick Napier—Power Improviser 371
5.7 Dan O’Connor—West Coast Legend 374
5.8 Patti Stiles—Our Teacher 378
5.9 David Fenton—Theatresports MC Down Under 385
5.10 Tobias Menzies—The Actor 389
In Conclusion 392
Appendix One: Games 394
Good Games 394
Dumb But Fun 402
Never Play 406
Warm-Up Games 408
Appendix Two: Syllabus 414
Glossary of Terms 416
A 416
B 416
C 416
D 417
E 417
F 417
G 417
H 417
I 418
J 418
L 418
M 418
N 419
O 419
P 419
R 419
S 419
T 420
W 420
Y 420
Thanks 422
Bibliography 424
Index 426
A 426
B 426
C 427
D 428
E 428
F 428
G 429
H 429
I 430
J 430
K 430
L 430
M 431
N 431
O 432
P 432
Q 432
R 433
S 433
T 435
U 435
V 435
W 436
Y 436
From The Improv Handbook :
The problem for improvisers is anxiety. faced with a lot of nameless eyes staring at us, and feeling more than anything else like prey, we are likely to want to display very consistent behavior, so that anyone who looks at us, looks away and then looks back sees the same thing. Thus we become boring, we fade into the background, and we cease to be of interest.
T he Improv Handbook provides everything someone interested in improvisational comedy needs to know, as written by a husband and wife comedy duo with years of experience and teaching in the field. in addition to providing a comprehensive history of improvisational theater as a backdrop, it also looks at modern theories and practices of improvisation on a global scale, including how the form of comedy has evolved differently in different parts of the world, from Europe to the UK to the Chicago scene. The Improv Handbook also contains an essential performance segment that details different formats of improvisation. Chapter topics include Theatresports, Micetro, Gorilla Theatre, and the inventions of Keith Johnstone and Del Close as well as other popular forms of improv, like those on "Whose Line is it Anyway." The core section of the book is called simply, "How to Improvise" and delves into issues of spontaneity, the fundamentals of storytelling, working together, upping the ante, and character development. The book concludes with sections on how to improvise in front of an audience and- just as crucially- how to attract an audience in the first place.
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