Library
The essential reading list for improvisers. From Spolin to Johnstone, these texts form the backbone of modern improvisation.
Fifty Key Improv Performers
Actors, Troupes, and Schools from Theatre, Film, and TV
Matt Fotis
American Laughter, American Fury
Humor and the Making of a White Man's Democracy, 1750-1850
Eran A. Zelnik
A Cultural History of Comedy in the Middle Ages
Martha Bayless
The "Yes And" Business Evolution
Improv Skills for Leadership and Life
Tracy Shea-Porter
Embodied Playwriting
Improv and Acting Exercises for Writing
Hillary Haft Bucs; Charissa Menefee
The Improv Illusionist
Using Object Work, Environment, and Physicality in Performance
David Raitt
The Improv Mindset
How to Make Improvisation Your Superpower for Success
Keith Saltojanes
The Routledge Companion to Improvisation in Organizations
Miguel Pina e Cunha; Dusya Vera; António Cunha Meneses
Improvisation the Michael Chekhov Way
Active Exploration of Acting Techniques
Wil Kilroy
The Principles of Improv Comedy
Tom Blank
Improv to Improve Your Leadership Team
Tear down Walls and Build Bridges
Candy Campbell
Improve
How I Discovered Improv Comedy and Conquered Social Anxiety
Alex Graudins
Putting Improv to Work
Spontaneous Performance for Leadership, Learning, and Life
Greg Hohn
A Subversive's Guide to Improvisation
Moving Beyond "Yes, and"
David Razowsky
The Applied Improvisation Mindset
Tools for Transforming Individuals, Organizations, and Communities
Theresa Robbins Dudeck; Caitlin McClure
Improvised Theatre and the Autism Spectrum
A Practical Guide
Gary Kramer; Richie Ploesch
Creating Improvised Theatre
Tools, Techniques, and Theories
Mark Jane
Improv for Indie Filmmakers
Ivan Malekin
The Improv Mindset
Change Your Brain. Change Your Business.
Gail Montgomery; Bruce T. Montgomery
A Cultural History of Comedy in the Early Modern Age
Eric Weitz; Andrew McConnell Stott
Improv Leadership
How to Lead Well in Every Moment
Stan Endicott; David A. Miller; Cory Hartman
Improvise!
Use the Secrets of Improv to Achieve Extraordinary Results at Work
Max Dickins
Improvising Better
A Guide for the Working Improviser
Jimmy Carrane
The Art of Making Sh!t Up
Using the Principles of Improv to Become an Unstoppable Powerhouse
Norm LaViolette; Bob Melley
Improv Beyond Rules
A Practical Guide to Narrative Improvisation
Adam Meggido
Pirate Robot Ninja
An Improv Fable
Billy Merritt; Will Hines
Teaching Improv
The Essential Handbook
Mel Paradis
Applied Improvisation
Leading, Collaborating, and Creating Beyond the Theatre
Theresa Robbins Dudeck; Caitlin McClure
Improv Nation
How We Made a Great American Art
Sam Wasson
The 5 Elements of Improv
How to Take Your Improv to the Next Level
Andrew M. Spragge; Karen L. Eichler
Business Unscripted
Business is Improv
Ben Winter; Tara Hedberg
Getting to Yes And
The Art of Business Improv
Bob Kulhan; Chuck Crisafulli
Improv Show
Virginia Loh-Hagan
The Improvisation Game
Discovering the Secrets of Spontaneous Performance
Chris Johnston
You Can Teach Improv (Yes, You!)
The Ultimate Guide to Class Planning, Skill Building, and Helping Every Student Leave With a Win
Andrew Berkowitz
Brain Disruption
Radical Innovation in Business Through Improv
Bruce Montgomery; Gail Montgomery
How to Be the Greatest Improviser on Earth
Will Hines
Improv Nonsense
All The Posts
Will Hines
Semiotics and Pragmatics of Stage Improvisation
Domenico Pietropaolo; Paul Bouissac
The Triangle of the Scene
A Simple, Practical, Powerful Method for Approaching Improvisation
Paul Vaillancourt
112 Acting Games
Gavin Levy
Funny on Purpose
The Definitive Guide to an Unpredictable Career in Comedy
Joe Randazzo
Improvisation at the Speed of Life
The TJ & Dave Book
T.J. Jagodowski; David Pasquesi; Pam Victor
Improvisation in Drama, Theatre and Performance
History, Practice, Theory
Anthony Frost; Ralph Yarrow
Behind the Scenes
Improvising Long Form
Mick Napier
The Comedy Improv Handbook
A Comprehensive Guide to University Improvisational Comedy
Matt Fotis; Siobhan O'Hara
The Improv Book
Improvisation for Theatre, Comedy, Education, and Life
Alison Goldie
Yes, And
How Improvisation Reverses No, But Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration
Kelly Leonard; Tom Yorton
Comedy and Distinction
The Cultural Currency of a 'Good' Sense of Humour
Sam Friedman
Improvisation On the Edge
Notes from On and Off Stage
Ruth Zaporah
Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy
The Harold
Matt Fotis
The Playbook
Improv Games for Performers
William Hall
Improvising Now
A Practical Guide to Modern Improv
Rob Norman
Devising Theatre
A Practical and Theoretical Handbook
Alison Oddey
Improvising Cinema
Gilles Mouëllic
Theatrical Improvisation, Consciousness, and Cognition
Clayton D. Drinko
The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual
Matt Besser; Ian Roberts; Matt Walsh
Improv Comedy (20th Anniversary Edition)
Andy Goldberg
Long-Form Improv
The Complete Guide to Creating Characters, Sustaining Scenes, and Performing Extraordinary Harolds
Ben Hauck
The Second City Unscripted
Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theater
Mike Thomas
Something from Nothing
The Technique of Improvisation
Richard Goteri
Business Improv
Experiential Learning Exercises to Train Employees
Val Gee
Chicago Comedy
A Fairly Serious History
Margaret Hicks; Mick Napier
The Improvisation Edge
Secrets to Building Trust and Radical Collaboration at Work
Karen Hough
Great Group Skits
50 Character-Building Scenarios for Teens
Lynn Grasberg; Gina Oldenburg
The Funniest One in the Room
The Lives and Legends of Del Close
Kim Howard Johnson
The Improv Handbook
The Ultimate Guide to Improvising in Comedy, Theatre, and Beyond
Tom Salinsky; Deborah Frances-White
Improvisation for the Spirit
Live a More Creative, Spontaneous, and Courageous Life
Katie Goodman
Theatre of the Oppressed
Augusto Boal
Theatrical Improvisation
Short Form, Long Form, and Sketch-Based Improv
Jeanne Leep
Process: An Improviser's Journey
Mary Scruggs; Michael J. Gellman
Drama Games and Improvs
Games for the Classroom and Beyond
Justine Jones; Mary Ann Kelley
How to Improvise a Full-Length Play
The Art of Spontaneous Theater
Kenn Adams
The Improvisation Book
How to Conduct Successful Improvisation Sessions
John S.C. Abbott
Art by Committee
A Guide to Advanced Improvisation
Charna Halpern
Improv Ideas
A Book of Games and Lists
Mary Ann Kelley; Justine Jones
Devising Performance
A Critical History
Deirdre Heddon; Jane Milling
Directing Improv
Asaf Ronen
Guru
My Days with Del Close
Jeff Griggs
Improv Wisdom
Don't Prepare, Just Show Up
Patricia Ryan Madson
Improv for Actors
Dan Diggles
Improvisation for Actors and Writers
A Guidebook for Improv Lessons in Comedy
Bill Lynn
Improvise
Scene from the Inside Out
Mick Napier
The Second City Almanac of Improvisation
Anne Libera
Group Improvisation
The Manual of Ensemble Improv Games
Peter Campbell Gwinn; Charna Halpern
Improvisation In The Arts Of The Middle Ages And Renaissance
Timothy J. McGee
The Art of Chicago Improv
Short Cuts to Long-Form Improvisation
Rob Kozlowski
Improv Yourself
Business Spontaneity at the Speed of Thought
Joseph A. Keefe
Book on Acting
Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater & Television
Stephen Book
Theater Games for the Lone Actor
Viola Spolin
The Ultimate Improv Book
A Complete Guide to Comedy Improvisation
Edward J. Nevraumont; Kurt Smeaton; Nicholas P. Hanson
Whose Improv Is It Anyway?
Beyond Second City
Amy E. Seham
Impro for Storytellers
Keith Johnstone
Improvisation for the Theater
A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques
Viola Spolin
Improvisation
Use What You Know, Make Up What You Don't
Brad Newton
Legislative Theatre
Using Performance to Make Politics
Augusto Boal
When I Say This, Do You Mean That?
Enhancing Communication
Cherie Kerr; Julia Sweeney
The Young Actor's Book of Improvisation
Dramatic Situations
Sandra Caruso; Susan Kosoff
Playing Along
37 Group Learning Activities Borrowed from Improvisational Theater
Izzy Gesell
Mask Improvisation for Actor Training and Performance
the compelling image
Sears A. Eldredge
Acting Through Improv
Improv Through Theatresports
Lynda Belt; Rebecca Stockley
Action Theater
The Improvisation of Presence
Ruth Zaporah
Spontaneous Performance
Acting Through Improv
Marsh Cassady
Truth in Comedy
The Manual of Improvisation
Charna Halpern; Del Close; Kim Howard Johnson
Improvising Real Life
Personal Story in Playback Theatre
Jo Salas
The Actor's Book of Improvisation
Sandra Caruso; Paul Clemens
Improvisation Starters
A Collection of 900 Improvisation Situations for the Theater
Philip Bernardi
The Compass
The Improvisational Theatre that Revolutionized American Comedy
Janet Coleman
Improvisations in Creative Drama
A Program of Workshops
Betty Keller
Impro
Improvisation and the Theatre
Keith Johnstone
Theater Games for the Classroom
Viola Spolin
Theater Games for Rehearsal
Viola Spolin
Acting Up!
An Innovative Approach to Creative Drama for Older Adults
Marcie Telander; Flora Quinlan; Karol Verson
Something Wonderful Right Away
An Oral History of The Second City and The Compass Players
Jeffrey Sweet