VISUAL GROUP CREATION: THE INVOCATION Del created an exercise where students invoke a "god" that they create themselves from their own group vision. It's not as frightening as it may sound, and it actually involves the "group mind" state discussed in the previous chapter. This god, and his or her characteristics, then influences the scenes which follow. There are three steps for a group to follow to invoke this god. 66 By 2016, with Stewart off the air, Trump running for president, and the content industry booming, there were comedians for seemingly every demographic in America to trust as a source of news or political commentary. We’ve had shows from Stewart acolytes (including Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Samantha Bee), “funny” pundits on Fox News ( Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters), and podcasters spanning from the Dirtbag Left ( Chapo Trap House) to the Libertarian-ish Joe Rogan Extended Universe ( The Tim Dillon Show and Legion of Skanks). Minhaj himself had a Netflix show, Patriot Act, that ran from 2018-2020, underscoring the argument in Malone’s New Yorker piece that comedians such as him have “become the oddball public intellectuals of our time, and, in informing the public, they assume a certain status as moral arbiters.” That perception, however, leaves Minhaj and his peers caught between opposing realities: As a host, he is an authority expected to speak truth to power and adhere to journalistic standards, and as a comic, he is an artist trying to elicit feelings from his audience on a deeper level than if he were to just provide facts and figures. Part of Burnham understands that stand-ups, also often seen from below, are doing this, too, so to shoot them as if it were otherwise might feel dishonest. Inside is not a literal depiction of what the pandemic was like for Burnham (he, for one, probably slept in his actual house) but a real attempt to capture what he wanted to communicate about it. People shouldn’t take it literally and leave the special worried that he is a suicidal recluse now but rather leave it worried for people generally who might have had a hard time during the pandemic. Opposed to the self-interest of C.K.’s “truth,” Burnham offers a “truth” that can help the viewer better understand themselves. The goal for Burnham, like Shandling, is never personal truth but truth — period.

No list of improv books would be complete without Impro. This work is often considered to be one of the definitive guides to the art of improv. The book consists of four main sections– status, spontaneity, narrative skills, and mask & trance. The tone is at times scholarly and the prose can be dense. However the text contains many insightful reflections on the nature of creativity and the importance of spontaneity as well as advice on how to persuade and captivate audiences. Though aimed at the theatre world, this book has value to the work world as well, particularly in disciplines such as sales, marketing, and advertising. In fact, Daniel Pink makes reference to this guide in his book To Sell is Human, and many of Keith Johnstone’s words of wisdom can also double as tactics to find career success. Impro gives psychological and behavioral context to the world of improv and shows readers how to develop and deepen the discipline as well as how to apply these principles to other areas of life.As intelligent as some of these players are, they can't (or won't) trust in the concept of team players — as a result, no one trusts them. Such players discover that no one is willing to play with them, because they consider themselves more important than the game. When an improviser goes on stage to play Harold, he must be willing to be a saint for the duration of the performance. Their off-stage lives may be radically different, but on stage, the best players must strive for sainthood! The lights fade after the boy sits in silence at the Memorial, and the newscaster closes with a final remark: "That's the news. Tune in at ten for an interview with the winner of the Indy 500." Louis C.K. In the story of comedy’s march to be taken more seriously, C.K. was, for nearly a decade, its avatar. And at the center of this celebration was “truth.” The Los Angeles Review of Books called him “television’s most honest man.” The New Yorker wrote in 2015, in an article about a new C.K. special, “Comedians are seen as honest populists: laughter, we think, not only feels good but teases out universal truths.” This perception didn’t come out of nowhere but was cultivated through work and actions that either were genuine or seemed to be. Notable Quote: “Improvisation thrives at the pivotal intersection where planning and strategy meet execution.” Audiences appreciate a sophisticated game player. When a player listens and uses patterns that have developed in a scene, it can elicit cheers from an audience which are much more intoxicating than the laughs that result from a few jokes.

Burnham, as I see it, is going after the ecstatic truth, an idea put forward by the filmmaker Werner Herzog, who is known for including fictional elements in his documentaries, like staging his subjects or having them perform scripted scenes. Out of a belief that facts are shallow, and rejecting cinema verité, Herzog is after an inner, deeper truth that “is mysterious and elusive and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization.” It is why Michelangelo slapped a big ol’ noggin and large oven-mitt hands on his David, knowing the 17-foot-high sculpture would be looked at from below, understanding that exaggeration was necessary for it to register as realistic, if not more than realistic.

List of improv books

KEY POINTS FOR CHAPTER ONE *Be honest. *Don't go for the jokes. *There's nothing funnier than the truth. Del Close (March 9, 1934 – March 4, 1999) was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century.[1] In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was one of the influences on modern improvisational theater. Improv books are guides that teach readers how to act off-script in improvisational scenes. These guides cover topics such as overcoming self-consciousness and a fear of failure, actively listening and paying attention to body language, and embracing curiosity. While actors tend to read these books most, you can also read these books in the workplace to improve employee’s reaction and problem solving skills and boost team building efforts. This book did not move me emotionally, nor did I necessarily learn a lot of new things from it. Nonetheless, I rate it very highly. The concepts here are both foundational and profound. If you've ever done improv before,you know that improvisers must listen carefully, learn to trust each other, find agreement, play games, tell stories, and respond to the collective group mind. This book talks about all of these ideas, and suggests practical exercises on how to engage with them. I have learned many of these things piece-meal over the years, but it's nice to see them all here, in one place, put together in a thoughtful and systematic way. THE OPENING The opening is the most important part of the Harold, since it is the foundation of the entire piece. You can't build a house starting from the roof down, and an improviser has to use the elements introduced in the opening to build scenes and games. Every bit of information shared by the players in the opening will be remembered and used. Harold is very economical — nothing is lost. Because the laughs in a Harold come from the connections made in the work, the audience has to see where the information originated. In other words, they are involved with the development of the piece right from the very start. The audience feels they are "in" on the 82

One of the best ways to achieve this is by listening — paying attention to what is going on at the moment. It's impossible to think about what to say in advance, because one player can Completely change direction, and a player who thinks Baking only delays the story. The response should be reflexive rather than a carefully chosen word (this is in sharp contrast to scenes, where each response is slowly and carefully considered). The word "and" should also be avoided, and players must strive to sound like one voice. As the group becomes more comfortable with the game, there are other devices to enhance its value. One variation has any player who delays in responding to step out of the group, eliminating the slower players one by one, as in a spelling bee; this teaches the group to keep up the pace. Naturally, inappropriate responses also cause players to lose (when played in front of a group or an audience, good-natured jeering often results). When a player fails, he is often forced to stage his own death before the audience and his teammates, preferably in some manner that reflects the story at that point. Another technique, particularly used in a performance (or as an opening exercise) utilizes a theme, a title, or an audience suggestion for the story. Independientemente de esto que les comento, vale mucho la pena leer el libro para entender, en algún momento y si les es posible con una mayor facilidad que la mia, el arte de hacer un "Harold"KEY POINTS FOR CHAPTER SIX *Stay in the moment. What is happening now will be the key to discovery. *Nothing is ignored. Follow the unexpected twist. *There is no such thing as a mistake. Then, in 2017, the New York Times published a story revealing five accusations of sexual misconduct against him. Despite in the past having called rumors of such behavior “not real,” soon after, C.K. copped to all of it. And I remember feeling something breaking. “Why our perception of him changed, I don’t think it’s because of what he did but because he denied it for two years,” the comedian and Oscar-nominated Borat Subsequent Moviefilm co-writer Jena Friedman said, assessing the situation. “If you are in this position of truth-teller and then you gaslight people, I think that seems to a lot of people like a bigger indiscretion than jerking off in front of women without their consent, or tanking a lot of women’s careers on your path to success.” People understood C.K. was a creep. He talked about masturbating frequently in his act. But trust is essential for the comedian-audience relationship. It is impossible to carry on the same without it. It is hard to separate the art from the artist with stand-up comedy, because the art is the artist. Yes, what C.K. did was terrible, but it also is just terribly ironic. “The most honest man” is a liar?!

Most often, stand-ups start with the truth and then tinker with the particulars based on audience response. When we spoke in 2020, Bert Kreischer told me about a breakthrough he had while crafting his famous “The Machine” story: the realization that he was too attached to information that would prove the story was true. “I wanted to share things that couldn’t be faked, and that was a mistake,” he said. “I don’t think anyone really cared if it was true or not.” Every director has heard the dreaded, familiar "My character wouldn't do that." There is nothing a character won't do. When an actor discovers a new character in his personality, he must find what will make him go further — to do the unexpected. Developing characters proved to be one of the most useful elements of the Harold for Chris Farley when he moved on to Saturday Night Live. "I was able to come up with many different characters. In one Harold, I could do five characters, and maybe hone those just a little bit and try 'em again," says Farley. "There are so many different characters you can do in one given Harold — five characters can easily emerge." KEY POINTS FOR CHAPTER THREE *Respect choices made by others. *There are no bad ideas. *There are no mistakes. Everything is justified. *Treat others as if they are poets, geniuses and artists, and they will be. *The best way to look good is to make your fellow players look good.A great intro to Harold and improv in general with some useful exercises, including helpful example scenes. I appreciate the simplicity of the idea that "the truth is funny", and that all we need to do is get out of the way to find it. Notable Quote: “Originality and innovation blossoms from deep in the recesses of the mind, not because some people have the magical creative gene, but because they have overcome the fear of judgment of others and themselves.” Improv Wisdom is a collection of practical life advice inspired by improv. Patricia Ryan highlights thirteen key takeaways from the art, such as start anywhere, pay attention, and take care of each other. Each chapter explores the guiding concept in depth, and shares motivational mantras to give readers the courage to explore impulses and take risks. The book challenges the conventional wisdom of planning and preparing every detail and shows how some of the greatest growth comes from taking action despite uncertainty. In the working world professionals rarely have perfect conditions or complete information, and responding in real time is a valuable skill. Improv Wisdom shows the mental and emotional perk to practicing improvisation and outlines the ways readers can benefit from being more spontaneous. PATTERN-MAKING MADE EASY As shown in the previous examples, the Pattern Game requires players to heighten the moves, but not to comment or explain them to the audience. It has to be played thoughtfully, and each player's response should be based on the meaning of what has gone before, not on wit utilized for a cheap laugh. If a player responds with the word "sex," the next player should know better than to respond with "fun" or "not enough." These may be personal opinions, but a better and more intelligent response would be to phrase those opinions into a move that forwards the game. "Sex" may make a player think of "blue eyes," which leads someone else to respond with "Paul Newman," prompting a subsequent player to name his favorite Paul