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Average Customer Rating:

Incredibly Useful

Customer Rating:

This is quite a large book, pretty much entirely made up of a wide variety of games for actors with vivid examples of what students come up with under pressure, and thorough explanations of the goal of each excercise. It's extremely well written and just as good as something to sit down and read, as something to get up and play with. The games range from easy to very hard; many would make excellent fun warm-ups to introduce non-actors to basic acting theory and to interacting with an audience. What makes this book unusual for an acting text is the emphasis on story, and the highly audience-centric approach to performance. I would seriously recommend this book to writers, screenwriters, and story artists. The ultimate goal for Johnstone is to teach his improvisers to hook the audience and keep them hooked by altering tactics, reversing, raising the stakes, setting up expectations. Throughout, his unexpected cry of "Be obvious! Don't be creative!" keeps the story being invented on an engaging emotional level. I bought this because I'm teaching a class involving some acting, but found so many exciting ideas for plotting I want to send a copy to everyone I know in story. First rate.

Essential for the release of the creative spirit in everyone

Customer Rating:

This book is an invaluable development of the work started in Johnstone's "Impro". Here he continues to provide hope to all teachers [whatever their subject] and all theatrical practitioners. In his inimitably jaunty, anecdotal style Keith Johnstone compiles a new testament to his Bible of storytelling wisdom. Whether it is his insights into what audiences want, or the simple release of what actors and writers tie themselves up in, this book is a lexicon of hope and joy.