Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out

by Mick Napier

Overview

Renowned improv instructor and award-winning director Mick Napier has been at the heart of the professional improvisation community for more than 25 years. The first edition of Improvise. quickly earned its position as necessary reading for improv students across the country and around the world and gave birth to a new generation of performers who questioned “The Rules” of improvisation. This expanded and revised edition has a new foreword by The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, additional advice and tips for success, and a full reproduction of Mick Napier's web journal from his time directing the famous show Paradigm Lost for The Second City that included Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, and Kevin Dorff. In this entertaining and incredibly informative book, Napier will teach you the essentials of...

• Why “The Rules” don't matter
• How to take care of yourself in a scene
• Using context to your advantage
• Effective two-person scenes
• Balanced large-cast scenes
• Successful auditioning
• Solo exercises you can practice at home

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566081986
Publisher:	Meriwether Publishing, Limited
Publication date:	08/17/2015
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Stephen Colbert is the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. He lived and worked in Chicago improv for eleven years. His first professional job was as an ice dancer in The Frozen Peaches, a George based ice-capade that re-enacted Civil War battles.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	xi
1	What Is Improvisation?	1
2	Rules	3
3	How to Improvise	14
4	"What About My Partner?"	29
5	Context and Scenes	37
6	Common Problems	48
7	More Than Two People in a Scene	58
8	Advanced Improvisation	72
9	Advice and Guidelines for Improvisers	88
10	Improvisation and the Second Law of Thermodynamics	103
11	Exercises to Do at Home	111
12	Annoyance	128

Editorial Reviews

Award-winning director and experienced improv instructor Mick Napier presents Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out, now in an expanded and revised second edition with additional tips, tricks, and techniques as well as a full reproduction of Napier's web journal from his time directing "Paradigm Lost" for The Second City. Chapters teach the reader about the oft-misunderstood art of improvisation - creating performance art (comedy, drama, or what-have-you) on the spot with no script, whether by oneself or as part of a group. Topics covered include how to use context to one's advantage, two-person scenes, balanced large-cast scenes, advice for successful auditioning, solo exercises one can practice at home, and much more. Actors of all walks of life (whether their primary venue is improv-heavy or not) will directly benefit from Napier's expertise; comedian and talk show host Stephen Colbert certainly did, as he testifies in a brief yet hilarious foreword!

Midwest Book Review