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Keith Johnstone

Impro for Storytellers Paperback – May 17 1999

by Keith Johnstone (Author)

102 ratings

Part of: Faber Drama (72 books)

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Since the sixties, Keith Johnstone has led the work on improvisation in theatre, schools and universities. His unique ideas, set out in the classic text, Impro, have now been taken up by practitioners the world over. Impro for Storytellers builds on and extends the seminal earlier work. Keith's techniques specialize in releasing an individual's potential within the context of group work. He became notorious as the acting coach who would shout 'Be more boring!' and 'Don't concentrate!'. Keith Johnstone is an inspirational teacher and writer, and Impro for Storytellers will encourage a life-long study of human interaction.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Faber & Faber Plays
Publication date

May 17 1999
Dimensions

13.97 x 3.3 x 21.59 cm
ISBN-10

0571190995
ISBN-13

978-0571190997
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Product description

Review

With this in mind, I honour the seminal writing of Keith Johnstone in the field of improvisation and the great care that he has taken to share, teach and explore his Theatresports theories with drama and acting students, practitioners, researchers and audiences worldwide..

About the Author

Keith Johnstone is a British and Canadian pioneer of improvisational theatre, best known for inventing the Impro System, part of which are the Theatresports. He is also an educator, playwright, actor and theatre director.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber Plays; Main edition (May 17 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571190995
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571190997
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 370 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 3.3 x 21.59 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #181,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #53 in Thetre History & Criticism
- #64 in History & Criticism of Performing Arts
- #94 in Storytelling

Customer Reviews:
102 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

102 global ratings

5 star		77%
4 star		13%
3 star		9%
2 star		2%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from Canada

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40+yrs@60+North

Best actor training book ever !!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

The "Lists" in the back are worth the price all on their own ––– for any actor to learn from and use for every character they perform ––– this is way beyond being an 'Improv.' book.
I've been in Theatre, full time, for 30 odd years ..... and I've read dozens of books ...... so you can take my word for this.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

Lots of good information in this book for anyone getting into Improv.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 21, 2018

My bible for teaching Impro!

Helpful

Algernon D'Ammassa

Handbook for practitioners

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 25, 2001

Keith Johnstone's earlier work, IMPRO, has influenced and will continue to influence the way acting and improvisation for the theatre are taught. IMPRO is a book not only about theatre and improv, but about teaching and human interaction, loaded with insights making that book highly suitable for the general reader.
This follow-up is more specialized: a handbook for putting IMPRO into practice, including detailed improv structures for performance and for rehearsal, and chapters on how to teach these games. Sample run lists and notes from performances impart Johnstone's experiences, trials and errors over many years teaching in several countries. The book is exhaustive and beautifully written, but for the general reader, IMPRO is more appropriate.
One disappointment about the book is some sloppy copy-editing. It is rife with typos, of the sort that are not picked out by a computer spell-checker since the typos form actual words.
The title IMPRO FOR STORYTELLERS is, as Tim Sheppard pointed out below, potentially misleading. This is not a book that will help a solo performer generate material, though some of the exercises within can be translated for that purpose. Johnstone's concern is that improv not be restricted to a form of "light entertainment" (think "Who's Line Is It Anyway?"), but as a way of generating narrative and using it to explore human relationships.

One person found this helpful

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Douglas B. Smith

Essential Improv Reading!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 9, 2004

I thought that Keith Johnstone's first book "Impro" was the best book on Improv -- until I read this. Impro For Storytellers is chock full of imaginative games that will make any improv workshop (or communications training) sparkle with creative fun and learning by taking the pressure off of being creative.
If you want the best collection of improv games since Spolins "Improvisation for the Theatre", this is it. Johnstone paces the book with wonderful stories of how the games have been used under all sorts of circumstances, with a brilliant and dry sense of wit. If you are interested in improv, please read this book!

Helpful

Tim Sheppard

Whatever your interest, this book is right for you - buy it!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 13, 2001

Not many practical manuals are also fun to just read, but this one is - funny, incisive, witty, philosophical and more. It is tremendously useful in many ways. I'm involved in applying impro, but not for Theatre Sports or comedy impro, yet this book is invaluable. My only annoyance is that it should be called Storytelling for Improvisors instead. If you are a storyteller hoping to learn how to improvise stories, this book will not address that directly for you, although if you absorb all the insight you'll get a lot of practical help. Johnstone's comments and analysis are very thought provoking, and reveal a great deal about human nature and the way our minds (and inhibitions) work. Any psychologist could learn a lot here too. If you are after a bumper book of games, go no further - this details a large number, but also with expert advice on how to teach and run the games, including warnings about all the variations that don't work.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Michael Guthrie

The Second Coming of Keith...

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 21, 2000

This book, in contrast with his last one, is much more linear and down-to-earth, but every bit as powerful. He dives straight into 'how-to' mode, decribing his own version of improv theater. This might be a little tedious for those not interested in licencing a "Theatersports" venue in their own town, but hang in there. He quickly gets to the meat of simply creating good improv, what behaviours and actions get you there, and how to sustain it. This is a book 100% designed to assist the improviser, both the individual, as well as the 'group'. He even goes so far as to provide shortcut lists in the appendix for use in performance! Keith Johnstone is a visonary, and I'm convinced that whatever theater will look like in the coming years, he will have inspired much of it.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 29, 1999

Johnstone's new book Impro for Storytellers does pick up where his last book leaves off. He gives us a good picture of what 'his' Impro should look like. Then he give a huge amount of excersises and games to play. I give this book only 4 stars because I am fundamentally opposed to training actors in front of an audience. Had it not been for this prejudice and a few other idealogical differences I would have given it 5 stars. Once again, it is lucid, clear, and a necessary manual for any teacher of acting or improvisation. If you perform in a version of Johnstone's Theatersports you have a new bible for improv.

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Top reviews from other countries

J. Brain

Impro grows up!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 14, 2010

Verified Purchase

Keith Johnstone wrote IMPRO in 1979 and it has been a classic reference tool for improvised drama games and exercises for drama students and teachers alike ever since. Impro for Storytellers: Theatresports and the Art of Making Things Happen was first published in 1999 and is packed with activities and observations on playing them, using and exploring them. It's a thick book and holds many gems within it. It's especially worth buying if you're an English or Drama teacher, Performing Arts Student, Writer, Storyteller .... but I imagine that lots of people would find this book a good read as Keith Johnstone takes great care to share his many years of working with Impro and 'Stories' with young people and adults in a way that would mean just as much to the non theatre practitioner as it would to the seasoned performer. Another useful addition to your reference shelf!! I bought my first copy whilst working as an Education Officer for a Theatre, I've bought several copies since and given them as presents to youth theatre leaders, actors and budding writers - I highly recommend it.

7 people found this helpful

cyberdoctor

a little dated but very good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

A little encyclopedia of improv techniques and games. Very useful for people new to improv or as a refresher

Amazon Customer

Good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

good

Leilani

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

It's a book that you feel.

2 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is has given me many useful insights.

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