Improv Nation

Improv Nation PDF Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544557204
Category : HISTORY
Languages : en
Pages : 485

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Book Description
A sweeping yet intimate--and often hilarious--history of a uniquely American art form that has never been more popular

Improv Nation

Improv Nation PDF Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544557204
Category : HISTORY
Languages : en
Pages : 485

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Book Description
A sweeping yet intimate--and often hilarious--history of a uniquely American art form that has never been more popular

Improv Nation

Improv Nation PDF Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544558251
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 632

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Book Description
“Like the best of his subjects, which include Stephen Colbert, Bill Murray and Tina Fey, Wasson has perfect timing.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune Finalist for the 2017 George Freedley Memorial Award In this richly reported, scene-driven narrative, Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago. We witness the chance meeting between Mike Nichols and Elaine May, hang out at the after-hours bar where Dan Aykroyd hosted friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner, and go behind the scenes of cultural landmarks from The Graduate to The Colbert Report. Along the way, we befriend pioneers such as Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow, and many others. “Compelling, absolutely unputdownable…And, in case you’re wondering, yes, the book is funny. In places, very funny. A remarkable story, magnificently told.”—Booklist “One of the most important stories in American popular culture…Wasson may be the first author to explain [improv’s] entire history…a valuable book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Improv Nation masterfully tells a new history of American comedy…It holds the element of surprise—true to the spirit of its subject.”—Entertainment Weekly

Fosse

Fosse PDF Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547553293
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 757

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Book Description
The authoritative and endlessly revealing biography of renowned dancer, choreographer, screenwriter, and director Bob Fosse, written by a bestselling pop culture historian.

Inside Improvisation: The Science Behind Theatrical Improvisation and How To Get Better

Inside Improvisation: The Science Behind Theatrical Improvisation and How To Get Better PDF Author: Richard Bennett
Publisher: Academy of Improvisation Press
ISBN: 9780648369820
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Inside Improvisation explores, compares and details the main methods of theatrical improvisation, from the Chicago method improv and Harold, to Keith Johnstone's impro and Theatresports, and everything of significance in-between. All while exploring the history and science behind how improvisation works, and how to become a better improvisor.

Why the Ramones Matter

Why the Ramones Matter PDF Author: Donna Gaines
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477318712
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
The central experience of the Ramones and their music is of being an outsider, an outcast, a person who’s somehow defective, and the revolt against shame and self-loathing. The fans, argues Donna Gaines, got it right away, from their own experience of alienation at home, at school, on the streets, and from themselves. This sense of estrangement and marginality permeates everything the Ramones still offer us as artists, and as people. Why the Ramones Matter compellingly makes the case that the Ramones gave us everything; they saved rock and roll, modeled DIY ethics, and addressed our deepest collective traumas, from the personal to the historical.

A Great Improvisation

A Great Improvisation PDF Author: Stacy Schiff
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 1429907991
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Book Description
Soon to be a streaming series ● In this dazzling work of history, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author follows Benjamin Franklin to France for the crowning achievement of his career In December of 1776 a small boat delivered an old man to France." So begins an enthralling narrative account of how Benjamin Franklin--seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French--convinced France, an absolute monarchy, to underwrite America's experiment in democracy. When Franklin stepped onto French soil, he well understood he was embarking on the greatest gamble of his career. By virtue of fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers, and hostile colleagues; engineered the Franco-American alliance of 1778; and helped to negotiate the peace of 1783. The eight-year French mission stands not only as Franklin's most vital service to his country but as the most revealing of the man. In A Great Improvisation, Stacy Schiff draws from new and little-known sources to illuminate the least-explored part of Franklin's life. Here is an unfamiliar, unforgettable chapter of the Revolution, a rousing tale of American infighting, and the treacherous backroom dealings at Versailles that would propel George Washington from near decimation at Valley Forge to victory at Yorktown. From these pages emerge a particularly human and yet fiercely determined Founding Father, as well as a profound sense of how fragile, improvisational, and international was our country's bid for independence.

Improvise Freely

Improvise Freely PDF Author: Patti Stiles
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780645176506
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Improvisation is an art of spontaneity, freedom and impulse. Audiences the world over flock to shows where anything could happen! But lurking at the heart of many companies that perform it is a contradiction, a bait and switch. Students who sign up for classes are taught 'The Rules': the strictly right and wrong way to play make-believe. How the hell did that happen?Patti Stiles is an actor, improvisor, director, teacher and playwright who has worked professionally in theatre since 1983. In Improvise Freely, she turns 'The Rules' of improvising on their head and shows that there is another way. Is it okay to ask questions? Why do we Who? What? Where? And what if it's time to say 'No thanks' to 'Yes And'?

Improvisation for the Spirit

Improvisation for the Spirit PDF Author: Katie Goodman
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1402219997
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
"A practical, fascinating, and funny guidebook. I've already begun applying hints from Improvisation for the Spirit, and I'm hoping that from now on, when people point and laugh at me, it will be for more appropriate reasons. A delightful read, filled with wonderful strategies." - Martha Beck, Life Coach Columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine, and author of Steering by Starlight Wish you could gag your Inner Critic? Feeling blocked creatively? Want to make a big change, but fear taking the leap? Comedy improv requires quick thinking, collaboration, getting out of your own way, and being in the moment without being a perfectionist. Katie Goodman, an internationally touring improv comedian and comedy writer, uses her witty and encouraging style to show you how to acquire the skills of improv comedy and apply them to every aspect of daily life. Along the way Goodman shares hilarious and insightful stories from her experiences onstage, as well as step-by-step exercises from her popular self-discovery workshops and retreats. Packed with creative, original, and, most importantly, fun exercises, Improvisation for the Spirit offers a truly transformational guide for anyone wanting to get more out of life. "Bottom line: Katie is funny. She teaches you to live your life like an improv scene - no fear and fully committed." - Wayne Brady, improv comedian, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Don't Forget the Lyrics "Katie Goodman's writing fl ows and then jumps with anecdotes and prescriptions for finding courage. Fun to read, hard to put down." - Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes "If you feel that something is holding you back, that the life you are meant to live is out there somewhere if only you could fi nd it, then this book should go straight to the top of your reading list." - Carl Honore, author of In Praise of Slowness and Under Pressure

Putting Improv to Work

Putting Improv to Work PDF Author: Greg Hohn
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147664635X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Improv is an art form in which participants act and respond in the present, trusting that each thoughtful action will lead to a wonderful outcome--even if it isn't the intended result. In this book, the principles and practices of unscripted theater are applied to non-theatrical circumstances. This book is based on a highly successful business school course, and aids in the development of communication, teamwork, creativity, confidence, emotional intelligence and other abilities. Each chapter assesses a different component of improv--how it connects to stage success and how it can be used in professional, academic and social settings. This is the only text that lays out an entire course on applied improv, providing activities with detailed instructions and descriptions. With roots in higher education, the book is informal, entertaining, and designed to be beneficial for anybody. Behavioral science, philosophy, art and athletics are all used to inform this discussion of improv and its real-world applications.

Something Wonderful Right Away

Something Wonderful Right Away PDF Author: Jeffrey Sweet
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 9780879100735
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
A brief description of the history and goals of two improvizational comedy groups, the Compass and Second City, accompanies interviews with past members from Mike Nichols to Gilda Radner