Improvisation for Actors and Writers: A Guidebook for Improv Lessons in Comedy [Paperback]

Bill Lynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Far more than simply an overview of improv comedy, this book helps actors, writers and comedians learn the basics as taught in all the major comedy schools. First, the do'sand don'ts of the Comedy Improv Commandments. The concepts that, when understood, hit the student like falling anvils: Anvil 1: Collaboration -- Working with the 'Group Mind', Anvil 2: Agreement -- 'Just say Yes', Anvil 3: Foundation -- 'Who, What and Where", Anvil 4: Exploring -- 'Finding the Game'. Successful improv requires the skill of the actor, the talent of the comedian and the ideas of the writer rolled into one. This book tells how it can all be done for performers or teachers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Lynn is a Meriwether Publishing author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Meriwether Pub (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566080940
• ISBN-13: 978-1566080941
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great overall description of U.S. schools of improv, September 4, 2004

By 

Improv Ment "D" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Improvisation for Actors and Writers: A Guidebook for Improv Lessons in Comedy (Paperback)

I am bi-coastal and have wound up taking classes at the Groundlings, UCB, and several smaller unknown venues. I felt I didn't really need this book (it was a gift), but after reading it, I felt my views on the different improv homes I've become a part of had come into better focus, via the perspective offered by the knowledge of the other schools of improv thought I had not yet been a part of. And the ones I didn't know in depth seemed much more accessible.

Bill Lynn's book (and Kip King's, though I suspect he was more of an "idea man" than an actual sit-down-and-write-it author) is basically a list and explanation of the different games and styles of teaching the different schools of improv across the country have to offer. He does not espouse a new take on improv or performance, nor does he pretend to. As if anyone's going to top Del Close, Viola Spolin, or Keith Johnstone. Or Dario Fo for that matter.

It is a useful, well written guide to what other people have already created in the improv world, and it purports to be nothing more. It includes some useful info on the Groundlings, Second City, Improv Olympic, etc....and some lesser known teachers like Stan Wells who works at a place called the Empty Stage, which I have since checked out, taken classes at, and found to be an great skill-sharpening experience, in conjunction with my other classes/shows.

If you're looking for new or bar-setting ideas on what improv is/should be (as some confused readers clearly have done), this is not the book for you; Viola Spolin's work is your next stop in that case, but if you're shopping around for your next stint at an improv school, this is your book.

Goes by quickly too. Clean, simple prose.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before You Start at the Groundlings, April 17, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Improvisation for Actors and Writers: A Guidebook for Improv Lessons in Comedy (Paperback)

I recommend this book for students at the Groundlings, The Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade, and the Improv Olympic.

I've studied at the Groundlings and at Second City, and this book has the info you need all in one place:

--Basic Short Form Guidelines in a list
--Advanced Improv Scene Techniques (The "game", positive start, circling up)
--Instructor Side Coachings (be warned)
--Comedic Character Guidelines (labeling, physical and vocal changes, rolodexing, psychological defense mechanisms, character "game", celebrity impersonations.)
--Montage Long Form Guidelines
--Sketch Comedy (Structures like one-upsmanship, contamination, split screen, and character flaw; how to edit dialogue, devices, endings, reveals.)
--Instructor Side Coachings for Sketches (be warned)
--List of Class Exercises (only the ones the schools use)

I've seen students go through an entire program, and never really grasp some of the major concepts. This is an 'all-in-one-place' reference. Buy it. You'll be ahead of the pack, and confident in your own knowledge and skill, before, during and after your class.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A complete handbook for the aspiring improv actor, July 5, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Improvisation for Actors and Writers: A Guidebook for Improv Lessons in Comedy (Paperback)

Improvisation For Actors And Writers: A Guidebook For Improv Lessons In Comedy by Bill Lynn is a complete handbook for the aspiring improv actor and organized into five specific sections: Comedy Schools; Improv Comedy Basics; Developing Comic Characters; Long Form Improv; and Writing Sketch Comedy. This informed and informative "how to" manual is enhanced with an extensive appendix of improv exercises. Improvisation For Actors And Writers is a clearly valuable addition to theatre department reference collections and "must" reading for anyone who has an interest in writing or performing improv on the stage or for television.