Mel Tonken
Co-founder of the Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary alongside Keith Johnstone in 1977.
Companies and Organizations
Associated venues and institutional relationships currently documented in the archive.
Recommended Reading
Books are ordered from the strongest direct connection outward to broader relevance.

The Funniest One in the Room
The Lives and Legends of Del Close
Kim Howard Johnson

Improvising Real Life
Personal Story in Playback Theatre
Jo Salas

Truth in Comedy
The Manual of Improvisation
Charna Halpern; Del Close; Kim Howard Johnson

Something Wonderful Right Away
An Oral History of The Second City and The Compass Players
Jeffrey Sweet

The Second City Unscripted
Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theater
Mike Thomas

The Routledge Companion to Improvisation in Organizations
Miguel Pina e Cunha; Dusya Vera; António Cunha Meneses
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Mel Tonken. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/people/mel-tonken
The Improv Archive. "Mel Tonken." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/people/mel-tonken.
The Improv Archive. "Mel Tonken." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/people/mel-tonken. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.