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standback's review
4.0
Excellent, excellent material - but you need to wade through a whole lot of tripe to find it.
(Kind of like actual improv, really.)
Salinsky and Frances-White have a clear, compelling view of what improv is, what to aim for, and how to teach. The Improv Handbook is at its best when it's discussing games and exercises - because these are the concrete building blocks of the form. The book does an excellent job explaining specific goals and ideas in improv, and how particular games can teach these ideas, and help actors practice and sharpen these specific skills. Equally enlightening are the books dissection of poor games, or just games that aren't particularly interesting - there are sharp, pointed analyses of exactly why these games fail to entertain, or pointlessly difficult to play. When the book points out how certain games force you into one-note premises, or have you doing something silly with no real risk of failure or difficulty, or they rely on the actors being brilliantly witty with no relation to any skills of acting or improv - then you understand better the potential that "good" or "on-form" improv really has - improv that sidesteps these traps, and grows organically from the situation and the actors.
Between the games the authors like and the games they don't, a reader can get an excellent picture of fundamental tenets of improv, how to master them, and common pitfalls worth avoiding.
Unfortunately, the authors' style and tone is condescending and self-important, to the degree that it becomes a serious annoyance. While I understand (and appreciate!) the desire to criticize some offshoots of improv, the put-downs and sniping at "other" styles are often so frequent as to be downright unpleasant. And there's a huge amount of space devoted to all sorts of name-dropping and historical trivia that's simply not made interesting in any way. (Did you know that the authors' production company was called "The Spontaneity Shop"? Did you know that before that, they were called "The Old Spontaneity Shop," and they changed it because they felt it projected an elderly image? Didja, didja, didja? Do you want to know the names of every single teacher and investor they ever had?)
I highly recommend this book to actors who want to deepen their understanding of improv, and particularly those looking to improve their skills through practice and exercise. Skip over the boring bits.
I read this alongside [b:Long-Form Improv: The Complete Guide to Creating Characters, Sustaining Scenes, and Performing Extraordinary Harolds|14362729|Long-Form Improv The Complete Guide to Creating Characters, Sustaining Scenes, and Performing Extraordinary Harolds|Ben Hauck|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390433482s/14362729.jpg|20004674] by [a:Ben Hauck|6010887|Ben Hauck|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png], which proved an excellent companion volume. Hauck's book is much gentler and much better at conveying the basic principles and ideas behind the form, clearly and engagingly. But Hauck's book is short on concrete games and exercises; this book plants your feet firmly on the ground. Taken together, I think the pair of books will serve you well.
(Kind of like actual improv, really.)
Salinsky and Frances-White have a clear, compelling view of what improv is, what to aim for, and how to teach. The Improv Handbook is at its best when it's discussing games and exercises - because these are the concrete building blocks of the form. The book does an excellent job explaining specific goals and ideas in improv, and how particular games can teach these ideas, and help actors practice and sharpen these specific skills. Equally enlightening are the books dissection of poor games, or just games that aren't particularly interesting - there are sharp, pointed analyses of exactly why these games fail to entertain, or pointlessly difficult to play. When the book points out how certain games force you into one-note premises, or have you doing something silly with no real risk of failure or difficulty, or they rely on the actors being brilliantly witty with no relation to any skills of acting or improv - then you understand better the potential that "good" or "on-form" improv really has - improv that sidesteps these traps, and grows organically from the situation and the actors.
Between the games the authors like and the games they don't, a reader can get an excellent picture of fundamental tenets of improv, how to master them, and common pitfalls worth avoiding.
Unfortunately, the authors' style and tone is condescending and self-important, to the degree that it becomes a serious annoyance. While I understand (and appreciate!) the desire to criticize some offshoots of improv, the put-downs and sniping at "other" styles are often so frequent as to be downright unpleasant. And there's a huge amount of space devoted to all sorts of name-dropping and historical trivia that's simply not made interesting in any way. (Did you know that the authors' production company was called "The Spontaneity Shop"? Did you know that before that, they were called "The Old Spontaneity Shop," and they changed it because they felt it projected an elderly image? Didja, didja, didja? Do you want to know the names of every single teacher and investor they ever had?)
I highly recommend this book to actors who want to deepen their understanding of improv, and particularly those looking to improve their skills through practice and exercise. Skip over the boring bits.
I read this alongside [b:Long-Form Improv: The Complete Guide to Creating Characters, Sustaining Scenes, and Performing Extraordinary Harolds|14362729|Long-Form Improv The Complete Guide to Creating Characters, Sustaining Scenes, and Performing Extraordinary Harolds|Ben Hauck|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390433482s/14362729.jpg|20004674] by [a:Ben Hauck|6010887|Ben Hauck|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png], which proved an excellent companion volume. Hauck's book is much gentler and much better at conveying the basic principles and ideas behind the form, clearly and engagingly. But Hauck's book is short on concrete games and exercises; this book plants your feet firmly on the ground. Taken together, I think the pair of books will serve you well.
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