Table of Contents
Acknowledgments v
Preface ix
Section I Background Information 1
Chapter 1 Long-Form Improv 3
Chapter 2 Rules VS. Principles 11
Chapter 3 Comedy 15
Chapter 4 The Structure of Plays 19
Chapter 5 The Structure of Harolds 27
Chapter 6 Getting Comfortable 35
Chapter 7 Getting Creative 43
Chapter 8 Playing Characters 47
Chapter 9 Exploring Relationships 57
Section II Foreground Information 65
Chapter 10 The Long-Form Improv Tradition 67
Chapter 11 The Long-Form Improv Code of Ethics 79
Chapter 12 Endowing 81
Chapter 13 Yes-Anding 91
Chapter 14 Justifying Seeming Inconsistencies 99
Chapter 15 Generating Ideas 105
Chapter 16 Improvising Scenes 109
Chapter 17 Finding the Game of the Scene 111
Chapter 18 Playing the Game of the Scene 115
Chapter 19 Differentiating Player-Game and Character-Game 127
Chapter 20 Managing Your Attitude 131
Chapter 21 Tweaking the Game of the Scene 135
Chapter 22 Tweaking Scene Structure 139
Chapter 23 Tweaking Scenic Dynamics 153
Chapter 24 Tweaking Action 157
Chapter 25 Heightening 161
Chapter 26 Ending 167
Chapter 27 Playing Group Scenes 173
Section III Application 179
Chapter 28 Harold Execution 181
Chapter 29 The Solicitation of the Suggestion 185
Chapter 30 Ideation 191
Chapter 31 The First Beat 207
Chapter 32 The First Group Scene 215
Chapter 33 The Second Beat 217
Chapter 34 The Second Group Scene 221
Chapter 35 The Third Beat 223
Chapter 36 Audience Theory 229
Supplemental Material 237
On Teaching and Directing Long-Form Improv 239
Citations 255
Bibliography 257
Index 259
