The Second City Almanac of Improvisation

The Second City Almanac of Improvisation

Author: Anne Libera

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13:

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Libera walks the reader through this collection of essays by providing a road map for understanding how the Second City method of improv-based comedy--studied by the likes of John Belushi and Mike Myers--has become the industry standard.


Book Synopsis The Second City Almanac of Improvisation by : Anne Libera

Download or read book The Second City Almanac of Improvisation written by Anne Libera and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Libera walks the reader through this collection of essays by providing a road map for understanding how the Second City method of improv-based comedy--studied by the likes of John Belushi and Mike Myers--has become the industry standard.


Ditch the Pitch

Ditch the Pitch

Author: Steve Yastrow

Publisher: SelectBooks, Inc.

Published: 2014-01-14

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1590791371

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"Founder of business strategy consulting firm argues that customers are more persuaded by improvised conversations than scripted sales pitches. Presents techniques and practices for six habits people can learn to enable spontaneous conversations that persuade customers to say 'yes'"--


Book Synopsis Ditch the Pitch by : Steve Yastrow

Download or read book Ditch the Pitch written by Steve Yastrow and published by SelectBooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Founder of business strategy consulting firm argues that customers are more persuaded by improvised conversations than scripted sales pitches. Presents techniques and practices for six habits people can learn to enable spontaneous conversations that persuade customers to say 'yes'"--


The Comedy Improv Handbook

The Comedy Improv Handbook

Author: Matt Fotis

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2015-10-14

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1317390172

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The Comedy Improv Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to University Improvisational Comedy in Theatre and Performance is a one-stop resource for both improv teachers and students, covering improv history, theory, maxims, exercises, games, and structures. You will learn the necessary skills and techniques needed to become a successful improviser, developing a basic understanding of the history of improvisation and its major influences, structures, and theories. This book also addresses issues associated with being a college improviser – like auditions, rehearsals, performances, and the dynamics of improv groups.


Book Synopsis The Comedy Improv Handbook by : Matt Fotis

Download or read book The Comedy Improv Handbook written by Matt Fotis and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2015-10-14 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Comedy Improv Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to University Improvisational Comedy in Theatre and Performance is a one-stop resource for both improv teachers and students, covering improv history, theory, maxims, exercises, games, and structures. You will learn the necessary skills and techniques needed to become a successful improviser, developing a basic understanding of the history of improvisation and its major influences, structures, and theories. This book also addresses issues associated with being a college improviser – like auditions, rehearsals, performances, and the dynamics of improv groups.


Whose Improv Is It Anyway?

Whose Improv Is It Anyway?

Author: Amy E. Seham

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published: 2009-10-20

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1496802020

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On both sides of the stage improv-comedy's popularity has increased exponentially throughout the 1980s and '90s and into the new millennium. Presto! An original song is created out of thin air. With nothing but a suggestion from the audience, daring young improvisers working without a net or a script create hilarious characters, sketches, and songs. Thrilled by the danger, the immediacy, and the virtuosity of improv-comedy, spectators laugh and cheer. American improv-comedy burst onto the scene in the 1950s with Chicago's the Compass Players (best known for the brilliant comedy duo Mike Nichols and Elaine May) and the Second City, which launched the careers of many popular comedians, including Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Mike Myers. Chicago continues to be a mecca for young performers who travel from faraway places to study improv. At the same time, the techniques of Chicago improv have infiltrated classrooms, workshops, rehearsals, and comedy clubs across North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Improv's influence is increasingly evident in contemporary films and in interactive entertainment on the internet. Drawing on the experiences of working improvisers, Whose Improv Is It Anyway? provides a never-before-published account of developments beyond Second City's mainstream approach to the genre. This fascinating history chronicles the origins of "the Harold," a sophisticated new "long-form" style of improv developed in the '80s at ImprovOlympic and details the importance and pitfalls of ComedySports. Here also is a backstage glimpse at the Annoyance Theatre, best known on the national scene for its production of The Real Live Brady Bunch. Readers will get the scoop on the recent work of players who, feeling excluded by early improv's "white guys in ties," created such independent groups as the Free Associates and the African American troupe Oui Be Negroes. There is far more to the art of improv than may be suggested by the sketches on Saturday Night Live or the games on Whose Line Is It Anyway? This history, an insider's look at the evolution of improv-comedy in Chicago, reveals the struggles, the laughter, and the ideals of mutual support, freedom, and openness that have inspired many performers. It explores the power games, the gender inequities, and the racial tensions that can emerge in improvised performance, and it shares the techniques and strategies veteran players use to combat these problems. Improv art is revealed to be an art of compromise, a fragile negotiation between the poles of process and product. The result, as shown here, can be exciting, shimmering, magical, and not exclusively the property of any troupe or actor.


Book Synopsis Whose Improv Is It Anyway? by : Amy E. Seham

Download or read book Whose Improv Is It Anyway? written by Amy E. Seham and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2009-10-20 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On both sides of the stage improv-comedy's popularity has increased exponentially throughout the 1980s and '90s and into the new millennium. Presto! An original song is created out of thin air. With nothing but a suggestion from the audience, daring young improvisers working without a net or a script create hilarious characters, sketches, and songs. Thrilled by the danger, the immediacy, and the virtuosity of improv-comedy, spectators laugh and cheer. American improv-comedy burst onto the scene in the 1950s with Chicago's the Compass Players (best known for the brilliant comedy duo Mike Nichols and Elaine May) and the Second City, which launched the careers of many popular comedians, including Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Mike Myers. Chicago continues to be a mecca for young performers who travel from faraway places to study improv. At the same time, the techniques of Chicago improv have infiltrated classrooms, workshops, rehearsals, and comedy clubs across North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Improv's influence is increasingly evident in contemporary films and in interactive entertainment on the internet. Drawing on the experiences of working improvisers, Whose Improv Is It Anyway? provides a never-before-published account of developments beyond Second City's mainstream approach to the genre. This fascinating history chronicles the origins of "the Harold," a sophisticated new "long-form" style of improv developed in the '80s at ImprovOlympic and details the importance and pitfalls of ComedySports. Here also is a backstage glimpse at the Annoyance Theatre, best known on the national scene for its production of The Real Live Brady Bunch. Readers will get the scoop on the recent work of players who, feeling excluded by early improv's "white guys in ties," created such independent groups as the Free Associates and the African American troupe Oui Be Negroes. There is far more to the art of improv than may be suggested by the sketches on Saturday Night Live or the games on Whose Line Is It Anyway? This history, an insider's look at the evolution of improv-comedy in Chicago, reveals the struggles, the laughter, and the ideals of mutual support, freedom, and openness that have inspired many performers. It explores the power games, the gender inequities, and the racial tensions that can emerge in improvised performance, and it shares the techniques and strategies veteran players use to combat these problems. Improv art is revealed to be an art of compromise, a fragile negotiation between the poles of process and product. The result, as shown here, can be exciting, shimmering, magical, and not exclusively the property of any troupe or actor.


Theatrical Improvisation

Theatrical Improvisation

Author: J. Leep

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2008-07-01

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 0230612555

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Theatrical Improvisation provides an in-depth analysis of short form, long form, and sketch-based improv - tracing the development of each form and the principles that define and connect the styles of performance. Brimming with original interviews from leaders in the field such as Ron West, Charna Halpern, John Sweeny and Margaret Edwartowski, Theatrical Improvisation presents straightforward improvisational theory, history, and trends. Includes easy-to-follow resources on teaching improvisation, with assessment tools, exercises, games, and classroom assignments to enable instructors to incorporate and assess improv in the classroom. Leep offers a practical, essential, and engaging guide for anyone who wants to better understand the art, teach, or perform improvisation.


Book Synopsis Theatrical Improvisation by : J. Leep

Download or read book Theatrical Improvisation written by J. Leep and published by Springer. This book was released on 2008-07-01 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theatrical Improvisation provides an in-depth analysis of short form, long form, and sketch-based improv - tracing the development of each form and the principles that define and connect the styles of performance. Brimming with original interviews from leaders in the field such as Ron West, Charna Halpern, John Sweeny and Margaret Edwartowski, Theatrical Improvisation presents straightforward improvisational theory, history, and trends. Includes easy-to-follow resources on teaching improvisation, with assessment tools, exercises, games, and classroom assignments to enable instructors to incorporate and assess improv in the classroom. Leep offers a practical, essential, and engaging guide for anyone who wants to better understand the art, teach, or perform improvisation.


Whiteface

Whiteface

Author: Michel Büch

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2022-02-07

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 3110752824

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This study originates in the observation that improv comedy or improvised theater has such a vast majority of white people practicing it, while other improvisational or comedic art forms (jazz, freestyle rap, stand up) are historically grounded in and marked as Black cultural production. What it is about improv that makes it such a white space? Can an absence be an object of study? If so, what is there to study? Where should one look?


Book Synopsis Whiteface by : Michel Büch

Download or read book Whiteface written by Michel Büch and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-02-07 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study originates in the observation that improv comedy or improvised theater has such a vast majority of white people practicing it, while other improvisational or comedic art forms (jazz, freestyle rap, stand up) are historically grounded in and marked as Black cultural production. What it is about improv that makes it such a white space? Can an absence be an object of study? If so, what is there to study? Where should one look?


The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship

The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship

Author: William D. Bygrave

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2015-07-24

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 1118463803

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A totally updated and revised new edition of the most comprehensive, reliable guide to modern entrepreneurship For years, the Portable MBA series has tracked the core curriculum of leading business schools to teach you everything you need to know about business-without the cost of earning a traditional MBA degree. The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship covers all the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, using real-life examples and handy tools to deliver clear, honest, practical advice on starting a successful business. If you're planning to start your own business, you'd best start with the facts. This reliable, information-packed resource shows you how to identify good business opportunities, create a business plan, do financial projections, find financing, and manage taxes. Other topics include marketing, selling, legal issues, intellectual property, franchising, starting a social enterprise, and selling your business. Completely updated with new examples, new topics, and full coverage of topical issues in entrepreneurship Includes customizable, downloadable forms for launching your own business Comes with Portable MBA Online, a new web site that gives readers access to forms, study guides, videos, presentations, and other resources Teaches you virtually everything you'd learn on entrepreneurship in today's best business schools Whether you're thinking of starting your own business or you already have and just need to brush up on entrepreneurial basics, this is the only guide you need.


Book Synopsis The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship by : William D. Bygrave

Download or read book The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship written by William D. Bygrave and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-07-24 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A totally updated and revised new edition of the most comprehensive, reliable guide to modern entrepreneurship For years, the Portable MBA series has tracked the core curriculum of leading business schools to teach you everything you need to know about business-without the cost of earning a traditional MBA degree. The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship covers all the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, using real-life examples and handy tools to deliver clear, honest, practical advice on starting a successful business. If you're planning to start your own business, you'd best start with the facts. This reliable, information-packed resource shows you how to identify good business opportunities, create a business plan, do financial projections, find financing, and manage taxes. Other topics include marketing, selling, legal issues, intellectual property, franchising, starting a social enterprise, and selling your business. Completely updated with new examples, new topics, and full coverage of topical issues in entrepreneurship Includes customizable, downloadable forms for launching your own business Comes with Portable MBA Online, a new web site that gives readers access to forms, study guides, videos, presentations, and other resources Teaches you virtually everything you'd learn on entrepreneurship in today's best business schools Whether you're thinking of starting your own business or you already have and just need to brush up on entrepreneurial basics, this is the only guide you need.


Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy

Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy

Author: M. Fotis

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-02-11

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1137376589

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Long form scenic improv began with the Harold. The comic philosophy of this form started an era of comedy marked by support, trust, and collaboration. This book tells of the Harold, beginning with the development of improv theatre, through the tensions and evolutions that led to its creation at iO, and to its use in contemporary filmmaking.


Book Synopsis Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy by : M. Fotis

Download or read book Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy written by M. Fotis and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-02-11 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long form scenic improv began with the Harold. The comic philosophy of this form started an era of comedy marked by support, trust, and collaboration. This book tells of the Harold, beginning with the development of improv theatre, through the tensions and evolutions that led to its creation at iO, and to its use in contemporary filmmaking.


Makeshift Chicago Stages

Makeshift Chicago Stages

Author: Megan E. Geigner

Publisher: Northwestern University Press

Published: 2021-07-15

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 0810143836

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Since Chicago’s founding, theater has blossomed in the city’s makeshift spaces, from taverns to parks, living rooms to storefronts. Makeshift Chicago Stages brings together leading historians to share the history of theater and performance in the Second City. The essays collected here theorize a regional theater history and aesthetic that are inherently improvisational, rough-and-tumble, and marginal, reflecting the realities of a hypersegregated city and its neighborhoods. Space and place have contributed to Chicago’s reputation for gritty, ensemble-led work, part of a makeshift ethos that exposes the policies of the city and the transgressive possibilities of performance. This book examines the rise and proliferation of Chicago’s performance spaces, which have rooted the city’s dynamic, thriving theater community. Chapters cover well‐known, groundbreaking, and understudied theatrical sites, ensembles, and artists, including the 1893 Columbian Exposition Midway Plaisance, the 57th Street Artist Colony, the Fine Arts Building, the Goodman Theatre, the Federal Theatre Project, the Kingston Mines and Body Politic Theaters, ImprovOlympics (later iO), Teatro Vista, Theaster Gates, and the Chicago Home Theater Festival. By putting space at the center of the city’s theater history, the authors in Makeshift Chicago Stages spotlight the roles of neighborhoods, racial dynamics, atypical venues, and borders as integral to understanding the work and aesthetics of Chicago’s artists, ensembles, and repertoires, which have influenced theater practices worldwide. Featuring rich archival work and oral histories, this anthology will prove a valuable resource for theater historians, as well as anyone interested in Chicago’s cultural heritage.


Book Synopsis Makeshift Chicago Stages by : Megan E. Geigner

Download or read book Makeshift Chicago Stages written by Megan E. Geigner and published by Northwestern University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-15 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since Chicago’s founding, theater has blossomed in the city’s makeshift spaces, from taverns to parks, living rooms to storefronts. Makeshift Chicago Stages brings together leading historians to share the history of theater and performance in the Second City. The essays collected here theorize a regional theater history and aesthetic that are inherently improvisational, rough-and-tumble, and marginal, reflecting the realities of a hypersegregated city and its neighborhoods. Space and place have contributed to Chicago’s reputation for gritty, ensemble-led work, part of a makeshift ethos that exposes the policies of the city and the transgressive possibilities of performance. This book examines the rise and proliferation of Chicago’s performance spaces, which have rooted the city’s dynamic, thriving theater community. Chapters cover well‐known, groundbreaking, and understudied theatrical sites, ensembles, and artists, including the 1893 Columbian Exposition Midway Plaisance, the 57th Street Artist Colony, the Fine Arts Building, the Goodman Theatre, the Federal Theatre Project, the Kingston Mines and Body Politic Theaters, ImprovOlympics (later iO), Teatro Vista, Theaster Gates, and the Chicago Home Theater Festival. By putting space at the center of the city’s theater history, the authors in Makeshift Chicago Stages spotlight the roles of neighborhoods, racial dynamics, atypical venues, and borders as integral to understanding the work and aesthetics of Chicago’s artists, ensembles, and repertoires, which have influenced theater practices worldwide. Featuring rich archival work and oral histories, this anthology will prove a valuable resource for theater historians, as well as anyone interested in Chicago’s cultural heritage.


Something Wonderful Right Away

Something Wonderful Right Away

Author: Jeffrey Sweet

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2023-06-27

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1621538257

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Discover the behind-the-scenes story of how The Second City theater created a generation of world class great actors, directors, and writers. In the late Fifties and Sixties, iconoclastic young rebels in Chicago opened two tiny theaters—The Compass and The Second City—where they satirized politics, religion, and sex. Building scenes by improvising based on audience suggestions turned out to be a fine way to develop great actors, directors, and writers. Alumni went on to create such groundbreaking works as The Graduate, Groundhog Day, and Don’t Look Up. Many of them also became stars on Saturday Night Live. Something Wonderful Right Away features the pioneers of the empire that transformed American comedy. This new edition tells even more of the story. Included for the first time is an interview with Viola Spolin, the genius who invented theater games that were the foundation of improvisational theater. Also included are dozens of follow-up stories about Mike Nichols, Barbara Harris, Del Close, Joan Rivers, Alan Arkin, and Gilda Radner, plus “You Only Shoot the Ones You Love,” the story of how this book’s author, playwright Jeffrey Sweet, became so involved in the community he covered that he was captured by it.


Book Synopsis Something Wonderful Right Away by : Jeffrey Sweet

Download or read book Something Wonderful Right Away written by Jeffrey Sweet and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-06-27 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the behind-the-scenes story of how The Second City theater created a generation of world class great actors, directors, and writers. In the late Fifties and Sixties, iconoclastic young rebels in Chicago opened two tiny theaters—The Compass and The Second City—where they satirized politics, religion, and sex. Building scenes by improvising based on audience suggestions turned out to be a fine way to develop great actors, directors, and writers. Alumni went on to create such groundbreaking works as The Graduate, Groundhog Day, and Don’t Look Up. Many of them also became stars on Saturday Night Live. Something Wonderful Right Away features the pioneers of the empire that transformed American comedy. This new edition tells even more of the story. Included for the first time is an interview with Viola Spolin, the genius who invented theater games that were the foundation of improvisational theater. Also included are dozens of follow-up stories about Mike Nichols, Barbara Harris, Del Close, Joan Rivers, Alan Arkin, and Gilda Radner, plus “You Only Shoot the Ones You Love,” the story of how this book’s author, playwright Jeffrey Sweet, became so involved in the community he covered that he was captured by it.