Bloomsbury Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre

I was in two minds whether to give this 5 stars rather than 4. The only reason I didn't give 5 was because one section of the book wrote out unbroken thoughts created by a group of some of his students. It was showing how they were freely without inhibition reaching inside and bringing forth subconscious thoughts...all very interesting but after a couple of paragraphs I started to get bored and it went on for pages and pagesThis book is brilliant however, and I laughed out aloud on many occasions. I'm not interested acting, but read this on recommendation by a well respected magician nonetheless.You will enjoy this book if you have any interest in seeing how people interact with each other, acting, comedy or creativity in any form. It shows clearly where some of the things by Slattery, McShane and all those other Whose line is it anyway? folk stem from.Fascinating and a brilliant book

Johnstone was clearly writing from the perspective - and for the benefit - of theatrical improvisation. But he makes a ton of sense from a personal, managerial, leadership and teamworking perspective as well. His breadth of thinking and range of references are stunning. His arguments are elegant and appealing. I got little from the fourth section on Masks and Trance - great for actors and directors I'm sure but not so much use to me and the business people I work with - but the first three sections, on Status, Spontaneity and Narrative Skills, are worth more than the price of admission by themselves. Marvellous.

I am not an actor or an aspiring actor but I am in interested in writing and I have found many of the techniques in this book to be very useful.It is fascinating to read even if some of it is pretty strange, especially the chapter on mask work.I am making use of many of the games that he details and I think that it has improved my writing.In particular the "status games" were brilliant. I am much more aware of people's body language after reading this book.

This book was higly recommended by a friend who is heavily into psychology (both of us are engineers by our degree courses). I am not at all into acting or theatre work but found the book to be very interesting and after having read it, I did notice a change in me - in terms of how I observe people - I was very surprised by the change and how aware of my own body language I had become! The only reason it gets 4 stars is because - as I said before - I am not into theatre and the bits in the book which are higly specific to theatre work (of which there are many - mask work, acting exercises etc.) tend to get slightly boring.

A great guide of games and activities for actors or theatre practitioners who regularly work with groups. Improv is fun for all ages and these games can be adapted for children too!