Customer Reviews

Whose Improv Is It Anyway? Beyond Second City

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

There is so much valuable in this book that its shortcomings are all the more frustrating. Nobody else has described in as much depth the history of the improv movement in Chicago since the rise of Second City. Certainly there are hard facts in here that I didn't know, and this is a field in which I wrote one of the early books.

Unfortunately, much of the text has been written through such narrow ideological blinders that the author sometimes offers arguments so contorted that she unwittingly contradicts herself.

As she quotes from my book, SOMETHING WONDERFUL RIGHT AWAY, I have to confess to being upset by the use she makes of one passage with an early Second City player, the late Roger Bowen. She misinterprets what he said about black players in improv profoundly, and her misinterpretation has the lamentable effect of implying he was a racist. Since Bowen isn't around to defend himself, and since he was one of the most progressive, thoughftul and generous souls ever to grace an improvisational stage, this is deeply disturbing. His memory deserves better.

If one can distinguish between the often genuinely insightful analyses she presents and gaffes such as the one I mention above, there is a great deal here to chew on. She correctly identifies the contradictions in a form of theatre that grew out of a desire to offer a progressive/radical view of society and those aspects of improvisation which encourage the reinforcement of stereotypes. I'm not aware of anybody else who has made this point as well, so this would deserve its place in the literature if only for raising this issue.

On balance, a book that I think serious improvisers should read, but with some skepticism.

As a former Chicago improviser in all the new waves she writes about, and a teacher now trying to influence my own students (especially women and minorities) to continue their improv education in the undisputed improv capital, Chicago, I would do my best to keep this book out of their hands. It is a clouded pseudo-history littered with deluded conclusions resulting from her own fears as a female improviser. The talented people I had the pleasure of working with of all colors and genders did not play out of this place of fear that is evident throughout the book, but a place of love for each other and what they do. But I must say kudos to her for even putting a pen to paper about a most neglected subject and I wish that some of the brilliant teachers mentioned in the book would write their own truth about their theatre histories and theories to share with budding improv students throughout the country.

I borrowed this book from a friend and was quite excited. I performed at Chicago's Improv Olympic for over three years as well as places like the Playground and the Chicago Improv Festival, and right there on the cover is one of my teachers! As I flipped through it I saw tons of pictures of people I called friend and was excited to see interviews with some of my former team coaches.

The trouble seems to be that while the book was written in good faith (in the spirit of giving theaters who perform chiefly improv as much credit as the not-so-improv-anymore Second City) it misinterprets many facts. Shortly after mentioning the book on an online message board I discovered that someone who I was excited to see mentioned in the book had been given a false history in it.

Upon further inspection I noticed the book, although covering much ground where it had never been covered before in improv, seemed to have a bit of a bullying attitude towards what true improv was. All these things combined was very frustrating, as people who don't live here have nothing to go by when it comes to this "age" of improv besides this misleading and inaccurate book. Hopefully someone will come along who is less ambitious and more interested in chronicling events, and I hope this happens for those not in Chicago. If you are in Chicago, you're better off scanning the reviews in the free papers for a more clear vision of the scene, even though there aren't as many nice group photos.

Dr. Seham has the makings of a potentially valuable book here -- she comprehensively details the histories and inner workings of almost all the major improvisation/sketch comedy companies (as of publication date), including The Second City, ImprovOlympic and others. Sadly, she sees fit to contaminate her narrative with intrusive and fallacious critiques bearing all the fingerprints of Marxism, postmodernism and radical feminism...

As a female improviser, I had been aware of and frustrated by many of the gender power dynamics in the improv troupes I have worked with. This book hit me at the exact right time in my comedy career -- it gave the words and theory I needed to face head-on the unproductive loops and outsider status that I had been trying to fight.

After I read of this book, I started talking openly about race and gender with my improv troupe. It was the jumping-off point for us, as a company, to become more conscious in our approach to the art and our relationships with each other, on and off stage.

I love that improv is developed enough now to have scholarly texts about it - not just histories. Although <i>Whose Improv</i> gives a lot of history not available elsewhere, its real value is its assessment of gender issues in improv. There's something to it, and Seham's lifted the rock to see what's crawling underneath.

Oh dear.

The jacket cover of this book suggests we may learn more about the roots of Improv and more depth of the art than is "seen on TV". "There is far more to Improv than....Whose Line...".

Instead of a history, guide or introduction to Improv, however, Ms. Seham uses this book as a personal forum to vent spleen on various political angles, mainly feminist. This is a humour free book full of political rhetoric and outrageous slanted views on the gender, race and sexuality in Improv theatre.

Seham states many times throughout the book that she believes the vast majority of Improv groups are nothing short of "boys clubs". As a woman working in Improv for 8 years I find her opinions and views narrower than those of the males she claims abuse their role in theatre.

In one notable moment she even makes specific negative reference to an improv colleague - "I felt that Patrick's offstage attitude toward me as the artistic director of the theatre had entered into his improvised choice. Not only was a sultan ordering his concubine to her knees, but Patrick was demonstrating his power over a female authority figure."

Naming names like this is not only extremely distasteful, but possibly damaging to the individual and an explicit display of Seham's personal angst and hatred. Surely she would have been better advised discussing her issues with her father if she wanted to be so personal.

Another quote might give you a feel for the piece. "In a manner that again parallels Bakhtin's notions of the grotesque, "Annoyance people reject product, reject the very concept of "finished" as a matter for faith and experience".

A laugh a minute. Prejudiced, biased and yawnsome. A subjective personal essay on gender race and politics in theatre rather than an interesting history of Improv.

As a female comic I find the constant reliance on Tampon/Lesbian humour, or attacks on male performers an insult to my gender and intelligence. If Seham can't use her wit and skill onstage to demonstrate her Improv prowess she doesn't belong there and certainly doesn't deserve to be published.

I simply can't imagine anyone buying this book being pleased with the purchase.

Avoid at all costs.

please, please, PLEASE avoid this book at all costs. It perpetuates the myth that the Chicago scene somehow stifles women. Which is, if you ask most WOMEN in the Chicago scene, clearly a bass-ackward accounting. In fact, most groups around town are actively LOOKING for women to join; it's not a "all-white boys club" because of any exclusionary policies.

Also, somehow lost in her diatribe is the mere fact that half the teachers and coaches, as well as the owner/operator of IO, are women.

Sad, sad, sad.

I am a ComedySportz performer, so I was eager to read the detailed history of ComedySportz's origins provided in this book. It does accomplish that. However the history is surrounded by ridiculous blowhard pseudo-intellectual writing that tries to tie improvisation to politics. Just take this excerpt as an example, "Chudnow [the founder of ComedySportz] acknowledges that improvisational performance is historically associated with liberal or even transgressive politics. But ComedySportz, through its sports overlay, not only disallows transgressive performances, it actively produces normative ones." What the heck does that mean? There are also many references to Marxism and other philosophical ideologies that are completely out of place. It seems based on the personal experiences of the author and interviews with two former ComedySportz players, the author is trying to paint the whole of ComedySportz as a racist and anti-women organization. This would be a surprise to the many women and non-Caucasians that I perform with and count among my close friends. Clearly that author has an axe to grind.

Amy Seham is an assistant professor of theater and dance at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota and a former artistic director of Performance Studio in New Haven, as well as Free Shakespeare n the Green in New Haven and Stamford. In Whose Improv Is It Anyway? Beyond Second City, Professor Seham provides an enthralling history of improvisational comedy in America, from Chicago's Compass Players in the 1950's to the enduring Saturday Night Live, to the modern-day low-budget/high-ratings hit TV show Whose Line is it Anyway? This history of improv treats the reader to backstage glimpses and artistic techniques galore. (...) Whose Improv Is It Anyway is enthusiastically recommended for any fan of improv comedy, as well as any aspiring improv comedian!