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

Improv Nation

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

Get Book Here

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

Improv Nation

Improv Nation PDF Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544557204
Category : Biography & Autobiography
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

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.

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'?

Inside Improvisation

Inside Improvisation PDF Author: Richard Bennett
Publisher: Academy of Improvisation Press
ISBN: 9780648369806
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.

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.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. PDF Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1845136551
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Before Breakfast at Tiffany’s Audrey Hepburn was still a little-known actress with few film roles to speak of; after it – indeed, because of it - she was one of the world’s most famous fashion, style and screen icons. It was this film that matched her with Hubert de Givenchy’s “little black dress”. Meanwhile, Truman Capote’s original novel is itself a modern classic selling huge numbers every year, and its high-living author of perennial interest. Now, this little book tells the story of how it all happened: how Audrey got the role (for which at first she wasn’t considered, and which she at first didn’t want); how long it took to get the script right; how it made Blake Edwards’ name as a director after too many trashy films had failed to; and how Henry Mancini’s soundtrack with its memorable signature tune ‘Moon River’ completed the irresistible package. This is the story of how one shy, uncertain, inexperienced young actress was persuaded to take on a role she at first thought too hard-edged and amoral – and how it made Audrey Hepburn into gamine, elusive Holly Golightly in the little black dress - and a star for the rest of her life.

Education Nation

Education Nation PDF Author: Milton Chen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118157400
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
An educational innovator who worked at Sesame Workshop and The George Lucas Educational Foundation offers a new vision for learning As a result of constant innovation, learning is no longer limited by traditional confines and we're moving beyond students tied to their chairs, desks, and textbooks-and teachers locked away in classrooms. In Education Nation author Milton Chen draws from extensive experience in media-from his work on Sesame Street in its nascent years to his role as executive director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation-to support a vision for a new world of learning. This book, in six chapters, explores the "edges" in education—the places where K-12 learning has already seen revolutionary changes through innovative reform and the use of technology. Examines ways in which learning can be revolutionized through innovative reform and the use of technology Explores the ever-expanding world of technology for breakthroughs in teaching and learning Includes many wonderful resources to support innovation in schools across the nation This important book offers a clear vision for tomorrow's classrooms that will enhance learning opportunities for all children.

A Splurch in the Kisser

A Splurch in the Kisser PDF Author: Sam Wasson
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
ISBN: 0819569771
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
With one of the longest and most controversial careers in Hollywood history, Blake Edwards is a phoenix of movie directors, full of hubris, ambition, and raving comic chutzpah. His rambunctious filmography remains an artistic force on par with Hollywood's greatest comic directors: Lubitsch, Sturges, Wilder. Like Wilder, Edwards's propensity for hilarity is double-helixed with pain, and in films like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Days of Wine and Roses, and even The Pink Panther, we can hear him off-screen, laughing in the dark. And yet, despite those enormous successes, he was at one time considered a Hollywood villain. After his marriage to Julie Andrews, Edwards's Darling Lili nearly sunk the both of them and brought Paramount Studios to its knees. Almost overnight, Blake became an industry pariah, which ironically fortified his sense of satire, as he simultaneously fought the Hollywood tide and rode it. Employing keen visual analysis, meticulous research, and troves of interviews and production files, Sam Wasson delivers the first complete account of one of the maddest figures Hollywood has ever known.

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