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Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre 1st Edition

by Keith Johnstone (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 540 ratings
#1 Best Seller in Theater
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Keith Johnstone's involvement with the theatre began when George Devine and Tony Richardson, artistic directors of the Royal Court Theatre, commissioned a play from him. This was in 1956. A few years later he was himself Associate Artistic Director, working as a play-reader and director, in particular helping to run the Writers' Group. The improvisatory techniques and exercises evolved there to foster spontaneity and narrative skills were developed further in the actors' studio then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers, called The Theatre Machine. Divided into four sections, 'Status', 'Spontaneity', 'Narrative Skills', and 'Masks and Trance', arranged more or less in the order a group might approach them, the book sets out the specific techniques and exercises which Johnstone has himself found most useful and most stimulating. The result is both an ideas book and a fascinating exploration of the nature of spontaneous creativity.
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  1. ISBN-10
    9780878301171
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0878301171
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Routledge
  5. Publication date
    January 7, 1987
  6. Part of series
    Performance Books
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    5 x 0.5 x 8.1 inches
  9. Print length
    208 pages
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Editorial Reviews

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"Impro ought to be required reading not only for theatre people generally but also for teachers, educators, and students of all kinds and persuassions. Readers of this book are not going to agree with everything in it; but if they are not challenged by it, if they do not ultimately succumb to its wisdom and whimsicality, they are in a very sad state indeed . . . .Johnstone seeks to liberate the imagination, to cultivate in the adult the creative power of the child . . . .Deserves to be widely read and tested in the classroom and rehearsal hall . . .Full of excellent good sense, actual observations and inspired assetions." -- CHOICE: Books for College Libraries

About the Author

Keith Johnstone

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0878301178
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (January 7, 1987)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780878301171
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0878301171
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.5 x 8.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 540 ratings

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4.5 out of 5 stars
540 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides good information about improvisation, offering insights about human nature and helping improve skills. Moreover, they consider it worth multiple reads. However, the writing style receives mixed feedback, with several customers noting its stuffy 60's syntax.

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34 customers mention "Improvisational content"34 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's content on improvisation, finding it full of insights about human nature and helping them improve their skills.

"...Finally, his structural way of seeing theater, comedy, and human interaction in general, involves "status games," which makes a lot of sense...." Read more

"...The vignettes, each and all that I've read, speak deeply to me with meaning and delight, and I wanted to share something from the book to give a..." Read more

"...It had much more new and interesting thought than any other book I've read before. Improv theatre is miles away from my interests...." Read more

"Lots of good information about improvisation, however It's not well written." Read more

22 customers mention "Readability"20 positive2 negative

Customers find the book engaging and worth multiple reads, with one noting it reads like a sociology textbook.

"...each and all that I've read, speak deeply to me with meaning and delight, and I wanted to share something from the book to give a sense of that,..." Read more

"This book is amazing! I heard about this book on Patrick O'Shaughnessy's Invest Like the Best podcast. I bought it and am very glad I did...." Read more

"Impro: Improvisation And The Theatre is a surprisingly helpful book by Keith Johnston...." Read more

"These improvisations and lessons transcend theater. This compelling book reminds me again and again that all art and life are feasts of the..." Read more

8 customers mention "Writing style"4 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style of the book, with some appreciating the prose about the nature of improvisation, while others find the 60's syntax stuffy.

"...There are a few explicit exercises, but the text is mostly prose about the nature of improvisation, and the way that relates to human..." Read more

"Lots of good information about improvisation, however It's not well written." Read more

"...It's well written and the subject is interesting. Yet somehow getting back to it felt a bit like exploring the Uncanny Valley...." Read more

"...Not the case: a lot of weird spelling mistakes (probably made by the automatic conversion to the digital format)...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • mbrock
    5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening book, goes beyond theater
    Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Keith Johnstone has a very interesting worldview. This book is clearly aimed at people who want to either learn about improvisational theater, or even moreso people who want to teach it. There are a few explicit exercises, but the text is mostly prose about the nature of improvisation, and the way that relates to human psychology.

    As an example of an interesting psychological insight, Johnstone discusses trance states. He strongly recommends using theatrical masks for improvisation, and his method for using them—though he references many earlier teachers with the same idea—involves using mirrors and skillful encouragement in order to take the student out of their normative self and get them to really experience being something else. But we are in fact always going in and out of trance states, he explains: it's impossible to always be "in control," and attempting that just leads to frustration and anxiety.

    Another basic point is that imagination is a kind of natural state of the human mind. At one point he says explicitly that imagination is the "true self," which is if nothing else a fascinating hypothesis. His take on school education recalls other writers, especially John Holt, whom he cites several times: basically, modern education tends to discourage spontaneity and imagination.

    Finally, his structural way of seeing theater, comedy, and human interaction in general, involves "status games," which makes a lot of sense. For example, he loves Beckett's way of playing with master-servant dynamics, one-upping, etc. He describes a method of teaching theater that involves getting people to understand their own habits of "status posturing," in order to assume other positions and act naturally. He says that long spontaneous improvisation sessions can grow out of just a simple configuration of status, and gives examples of such games.

    Johnstone's outlook reminds me of life's strange beauty. Life is indeed much like improvisational theater, and it's great to learn from the insights of someone whose life work involves taking this seriously.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • J.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on how to be a better person - and improv.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Ok hear me our. The whole first half of the book is on status games. There was one line that hit me so hard and that totally unpacked years of family drama. It was something like, “good relationships involves being able to play with status roles, the ability to enter and exit them consciously and an acknowledgment that when we choose to take on an uneven status roles.”

    Totally paraphrasing but it made me realize how a great deal of my family history was a constant unaddressed status game. “I really liked this movie I saw…” “oh, I heard it wasn’t very good…”

    On the surface, that’s just two opinions, but when it’s truly constant, it ends up being a fight for frame control.

    Now, in all my friendships and relationships, I work hard to raise other people status, realizing I don’t need to lower mine to do so. Everyone wins.

    Anyway, great book on improv and excellent book on shuffle improvement.
    14 people found this helpful
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  • A.K.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Meaningful stuff, makes you think.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    This was the first improv book that I ever read, and in retrospect I kind of wish I'd read something like Charna Halpern's TRUTH IN COMEDY or Mick Napier's IMPROVISE first. Those books will give you a better introduction to what most of us know of as group improvisation - the "Whose Line is it anyway" sort of thing. They'll give you a better framework to work with.

    Keith Johnstone's book, on the other hand, is kind of like a complete rethinking of the Improv framework ... he writes about things I haven't read about anywhere else. And it really made me think about things in a different way.

    First of all, I have to admit that the first couple of sections are pretty dry. I had to struggle to get through the section on "Status" ... I was thinking to myself, why did people give this BORING book a good review?? ... I did consider that maybe it's because the man is British (I think), and so the style of writing and the type of humor is a little different than I'm used to.

    However, when he gets around to talking about the story/narrative, suddenly there is a flash of brilliance and it all started to make sense ... basically he talks about just letting GO of the things that are inhibiting us, how to stop listening to the voice that is telling us NO all the time ... and, I don't know, there's just something very profound in the way that he discusses it - little insights here and there that are just, for lack of a better word, very MEANINGUL.

    For example, he says, of parents and teachers who scold their children, to keep their undesirable 'creativeness' under wraps: "... when these children grow up, and perhaps crack up, then they'll find themselves in therapy groups where they'll be encouraged to say all the things that the teacher would have forbidden during school." SO TRUE. This is what all the group therapies in Psych hospitals do - try to bring back the creativeness of the child. Why do we limit it in the first place??

    Basically he stresses that EVERYONE has "weird" thoughts and an "artistic" nature that many of us have learned to say NO to, because they are forbidden or at least not encouraged. He says, "In one moment I knew that the valuing of men by their intelligence is crazy, that the peasants watching the night sky might feel more than I feel, that the man who dances might be superior to myself - word-bound and unable to dance. From then on I noticed how warped many people of great intelligence are, and I began to value people for their actions, rather than their thoughts."

    And that's not EVEN getting into the last chapter, on MASKS - at first I was thinking, "OK, this is weird, why is there a huge chapter on MASKS in a book about IMPROV"? But the things he describes there are perhaps the most amazing, and disturbing, of the whole book. It almost makes me fear what I would "do" if I were to follow his instructions and suggestions ... but it's an excited sort of 'fear' - actually I wish I had readier access to instructors who are comfortable in these methods ... well, I can't really describe it much better than that.
    60 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Ashley
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great overview of improvisational theatre and related exercises
    Reviewed in Canada on October 3, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This is a great overview of improvisational theatre and related exercises. Highly recommend this book. Copy received from Amazon was of good quality.
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  • Javier Alba de Alba
    5.0 out of 5 stars Obra maestra. Imprescindible.
    Reviewed in Spain on January 12, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Una obra maestra de su disciplina. Imprescindible. Es el mejor libro que he leído sobre improvisación de todos los que he leído. Es como leer los descubrimientos del maestro. Espectacular en todos los sentidos.
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  • Ferdinand
    5.0 out of 5 stars As expected
    Reviewed in Germany on February 26, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Great book, in good shape, can recommend
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  • Deep
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good one
    Reviewed in India on August 30, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Book came on time in a good condition. Though it's a guide mostly for actors it also allows buzzing directors to understand certain levels of acting. Language is simple and precise.
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  • K F
    5.0 out of 5 stars Every actor should have this book.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I found out about this book via Ideas Tap and I'm so glad I did. What a fascinating read. It's really opened my mind. I think this book is vaulable to any performer - it's not only about improvisation but about being a truthful and imaginative performer. I'll read it again and again.
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