 | Impro for Storytellers (Theatre Arts (Routledge Paperback)) by Keith Johnstone
Buy new: $22.58 / Used from: $19.99 Great book, fun to read, profound and practical at the same time. Great for beginners great for pros. Keith Johnstone created Theatresports, which led to ComedySportz, which led to NCT.
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 | Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone
Buy new: $20.84 / Used from: $9.75 Much better known than "Impro for Storytellers" and not nearly as good. Skip the section on masks, unless you're interested in mask work also, it's creepy.
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 | Improvisation for the Theater 3E: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (Drama and Performance Studies) by Viola Spolin
Buy new: $15.61 / Used from: $6.50 Spolin's work is as respected, if not more than the Keith Johnstone stuff. Together they pretty much created improv as we know it. She was at the heart of Second City in Chicago. I find it pretty dry and difficult to get through, she's very theatery, if I may fabricate a word, and writes more with actors in mind than professional improvisers.
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 | Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation by Charna Halpern
Buy new: $12.21 / Used from: $9.00 This is primarily about long form and more specifically the Harold format. It's from the founders of ImprovOlympics. If you're interested in exploring more about longform definitely check it out.
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 | Musical Improv Comedy: Creating Songs in the Moment by Michael Pollock
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $10.55 This is all about singing and it comes with a cd, you'll probably recognize some of the tracks. Some parts were pretty interesting, some were kind of lame. I recommend it if you want to focus on singing.
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 | Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership, and Learning by Kat Koppett
Buy new: $22.45 / Used from: $11.99 This is about using improv techniques as teambuilding tools, similar to what our WITS program does. It's worth reading if you're interested in expanding what you do with improv beyond the stage.
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 | Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up by Patricia Ryan Madson
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $9.82 Takes the philosophies we use to do improv and turns them into sort of a self-help manual for dealing with life as a whole.
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 | The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even If You're Not by John Vorhaus
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $6.99 This is actually about writing comedy but it breaks things down that you probably understand inherently but may have never really thought about. I read it a long time ago and still find myself calling back to it on occasion.
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 | Technical Theater for Nontechnical People by Drew Campbell
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $5.49 Really nothing to do with improv but if you want to learn a lot about stage lighting, sound and other things that most of us don't know much about and should, it's a really good book.
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 | Acting on Impulse: The Art of Making Improv Theater by Carol Hazenfield
Buy new: $24.95 / Used from: $21.45 Haven't read it, looks interesting.
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 | Improvise.: Scene from the Inside Out by Mick Napier
Buy new: $12.80 / Used from: $13.61 Also haven't read it bit it looks interesting, not for beginners.
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