Best products from r/improv

We found 79 comments on r/improv discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 104 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

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Top comments mentioning products on r/improv:

u/ajkandy · 2 pointsr/improv

As u/johnnyslick said, there's really only so much you can do teaching yourselves, and you are probably not the best judge of what good / bad technique is at this point. Getting an experienced and impartial coach is key. You'll have to spend some money on either a coach or taking classes, if they're offered near you.

I'll say this - not every coach is great, and even an experienced improviser may not be the best teacher. You may learn something from any coach, but a great coach has more impact.

A good coach knows how to teach -- if they work with an improv school with multiple levels, there is a curriculum, standards for what students should know at the end of level a/b/c/d etc. They can evaluate their students, correct them appropriately, encourage them as needed, deal with issues, etc.

Group coaching is different from individual coaching, but coaches can often give individual players take-home advice for specific things they're blocked about.

One of the best coaches at our organization, Jason Lewis, wrote a book on coaching improv. It's available as an e-book on Amazon. It doesn't go too much into any one particular theory of improv at all, but it is fantastic about communicating a theory of how to help improvisers improve with specific, repeated drills - derived from researching how other kinds of teams (sports, business, military, etc.) get better at their craft.

https://www.amazon.ca/How-Teach-Improvised-Comedy-Improvisors-ebook/dp/B01N3U3145

Yes, see as much good improv as you can. Even if it's just on video (there's many sets on YouTube; check out The Perfect Harold, a rather legendary set by Mike O'Brien's old team, The Reckoning, at iO Chicago; and the TJ and Dave movie, Trust Us, This Is All Made Up, on iTunes)

But training with intensity, and having a regular performance schedule, is key. If you can, go do the 5-week summer intensive at iO. Sign up for your local Fringe Festival. Try to get up in front of audiences as often as possible (and not always in a bar).

u/SpeakeasyImprov · 2 pointsr/improv

I want to start by saying that I'm worried about you. If you're not a troll, if you're being genuine here, then you have some real problems that are not improv problems.

This is mean but please hear this: You're a jealous person who is deeply insecure. You have a big ego but low self-esteem.

I'm saying this as a person who recognized in himself his need for validation. His desire to be seen as better or funnier and be thought of as the great person he was in his head. And his tendency to lash out in anger at things he didn't like or when he felt he wasn't getting his due share. Get it? This is me I'm talking about. I see these problems in you because I had them. I know what this is like.

These problems are not going to go away until you work on yourself. Maybe it's therapy. Maybe it's quitting improv for a while. Maybe Improv Therapy. Maybe it's meditation—I learned a lot about that and it helped me. I still struggle. Whatever it is, though, it's not an improv issue. You are going to find yourself acting like this in any pursuit you engage in.

I don't want to turn you away because I do want you to be a member of our community. But please take care of yourself. Participate in discussions. Share your experiences about mistakes you made to help other people avoid them. Learn to look outside yourself and have a bit of empathy for your fellow improvisers and human beings. And learn to take a really honest look at yourself. There's something deeper going on that you need to deal with.

Look, emotions are emotions, and we're not always great at controlling them. But we can control how we act upon them. If you feel jealousy, accept that you do, and steer your behavior towards positivity. Tell your friend they did a great job.

If you really, really need validation, then I give it to you. Today and from now on you know at least one person, me, out there validates you and believes in you. You can do improv. We love you and accept you as a member of this club. Now that you're a loved, accepted, validated member, you're free to go do improv without worry.

u/lonchambers · 5 pointsr/improv

Most groups i'm in have some sort of opening. Whether that's an invocation, a scene paint, or something totally organic I usually don't go from suggestion to scene except in like 1 group.

But I do have a lot to say on the matter.

First, using the sample suggestion of 'Torch'. I'd probably start a scene holding a fucking torch. See where that leads me. Just knowing me I'd probably play a troll-y like character in a cave or something. For some people this is way too on the nose. But in my personal approach I do not A to C think. I just go right with my gut, right away. It gets me out of my head and removes judgement from my choices because I know going in if I follow what I feel, its the right choice. For beginners, I'd coach them to try to avoid making the scene about the torch, and instead make it about each other, hopefully the torch becomes important later organically.

However, there is something I've been experimenting with and have had some AWESOME success with. Basically, I'll take the suggestion and turn it into a verb or an action somehow. You then go into the scene with that action. Just in the nature of it being a verb or an action you will immediately have a want and you start the scene in the middle. You do this all without thinking about those things (which is my favorite thing about it, this just happens).

It also typically gives you a reason to go up and touch your scene partner. Which is always a strong start to a scene. There's just something about physical contact that establishes so much without words. Its probably because we communicate heavily in body language.

Here's another example using torch and this 'action' method. I'd take 'Torch' and place it into either of these sentences and see if it works. 'I you.' Or - 'You me.' Torch works in both of those. Sometimes you have to work with the suggestion a little bit to get it to work. But if I go into a scene with 'I Torch You.' holy shit, that has a ton of meat to it. I could slowly be trying to cook you. I could hit it hard immediately and turn into a maniac that is tying you up onto a stake to burn you (that's so dark, but I love it). That's the initiation. And its quick to go from torch to that. If I like 'You Torch Me' better I might choose to play it like the last thing my scene partner said has emotionally burnt me. I'm going to act hurt. OR I could go with the longer 'want' and try to push the scene towards my scene partner 'torching' me, either literally or metaphorically (I'd probably go with trying to get them to emotionally burn me or something).

If you're interested in coaching this kind of thing I HIGHLY recommend this book: Actions: The Actors' Thesaurus

It's basically a book full of action verbs and I've found in using them people play differently oftentimes more free, fun, and intense.

u/tpounds0 · 2 pointsr/improv

> So what I'm asking is a couple of lots of things. Do you have any sources or exercises that could help with form both short and long form? Is there a way to improve choice-making? Listening exercises? I want them to continue to be great once all of the Seniors leave.

Sounds like they need a GREAT foundation.

Obviously, the new UCB Theater Training Manual is the best overall tool.

PG 20. 33, 38, 41, and 45 are the examples you want.

They should be your Boot Camp Exercises. The second you add new people, or come back from a break, you should have 5-6 hours of these exercizes as fast as possible. Like within a week.

Then after that at your weekly meetings you do one or two of the exercises at the start of each session.

If you want a great team, you need to treat it like a team. Practice, giving everyone the same terminology, and having goals you can reach. Treating it like a club or a fun hangout means there won't be a drive to be the best.

u/richardcornish · 6 pointsr/improv
  • Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual is usually the first one that people speak highly of. Half of it is theory, and the other half is exercises. I find it the most solid gathering of tactics, but maybe a comparison to other schools would help me understand why their “game” makes them so different.
  • Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out by Mick Napier is probably the next best one on my list. It personally resonated with me because the idea of “take care of your partner by taking care of yourself” identified one of the less-spoken of but more critical parts of improv. I’ve been in many scenes where the who/what/where slips through the cracks because we were too polite to not make a bold choice and each of us were scared to decide what the scene should be about. If each of us collectively decides individually and “yes, and,” we’re on a really good trajectory.
  • Improvisation at the Speed of Life: The TJ and Dave Book is my long-form inspiration. You get a lot of mindset here, not as tactical as the others.

    Interestingly, this one blog post “How to Be a Better Improviser” is actually a brilliant distillation of the most important concepts.

    It goes without saying that without practice reading alone will have limited utility.
u/profjake · 3 pointsr/improv

Coaching choices can be frustrating to players. Often (but not always) it's better to help them find ways to play the choices they do make on stage. There's a nice discussion of that in Jimmy Currane's Improvising Better book, which is one of the few I know that covers (a little) issues around improv coaching.

For what it's worth, I've been teaching and coaching for a couple of years now, and the struggle of figuring out the right balance of tough notes and positive encouragement doesn't really go away (just have gotten faster at finding the right balance for different troupes and individuals). You mentioned that these are new troupes, and while new troupes are the first to say they want tough notes and have thick skins, the reality is that they're probably new to getting direct notes on their scenes, and you've got to ease them into it and give them plenty of positive encouragement as well. Otherwise, they get bogged down in trying to "not make mistakes" that they lose the sense of spontaneous play that makes for better (and more fun) scenes.

Whenever I get the sense that the notes are weighing down on folks, I go to some exercise that gets back to play and the fun that got folks into improv in the first place. For example, give the exercise where they're trying to get their scene partners to break and laugh during a scene. Or play a rousing game of loser ball that's fun and is all about mistakes and support (get in circle, 1. someone throws an improv/mimed ball to someone else in the circle. 2. they miss and everyone gives boo's and gives light hearted heckles. 3. they scramble to pick up the dropped ball and then hold it high in the air. 4. everyone goes crazy yelling "yayyy!!!" and cheering for them. 5. throw the ball to someone else (who will miss) and the game goes on).

u/EvilRazcal · 6 pointsr/improv

I didn't get involved in the improv scene until after I moved away from there but I've looked into it a little when visiting.

I've seen some shows and taken a workshop at Spectacles in Fullerton that were a lot of fun but the age group may be slightly older than you're looking for. They seem to be the most active and organized group and I think I've seem them post on this sub in the past.

Here are some other organizations I found you may reach out to:

Improv City High Schools

OC Crazies

Nothing about training but maybe a resource.

South Coast Repertory

If you're looking to do Long Form Improv you could pick up the UCB Handbook and some friends and start on your own. After several weeks of consistent practices you could try and hire a coach from one of the resources above. I've found that many coaches are more interested in helping dedicated improvisers improve and not in getting rich... hopefully you'll have the same experience.

u/zwolfmanz · 4 pointsr/improv

Improvising Now Rob Norman’s Book, coupled with the podcast the backline is a great resource. I have taken workshops from Rob and Adam and they know their stuff. They are masters of the craft.

How to be the greatest improviser on earth by Will Hines, coupled with his blog “improv nonsense” is also great. Will Hines is one of the most clear articulate thinkers in the improv world. He has the ability to distill the most complex ideas into simple bite sized packets.

Improvise by Mick Napier is a classic. Great for an intermediate player because his ideas and concepts come up all the time.

Podcasts worth checking out: Beat by beat, the backline, improv nerd, and the ask the UCB episodes of I4H.

I’ve read a lot of improv books, but those are the ones I love. Their usefulness never ceases.

u/tylerburnham42 · 1 pointr/improv

If you want to get good find some local classes in your area, then work to join a team.

The UCB improv manual is one recommended book for a game heavy style of improv. It is the textbook for the UCB classes. Truth is Comedy is the textbook for IO which has a more honest style improv.

Go to shows if you have them in your area and watch improv as you learn you will begin to see what people are doing and understand why. This youtube channel is some UCB teams performing; I particularly like the team Fuck that Shit. I also personally love Off Book the Improvised Musical podcast. They are some incredible improvisers. Start with Ep 75 if you want a good one.

Last if you want a more relaxed fun way try finding a role playing game group. This won't make you great at stage improv but you can pick up some of the skills. Most people play D&D which is not a bad place to start in tabletop RPGs especially with 5th edition. If you can find people running more story games you can get somewhere closer to narrative improv minus the audience.

u/mattandimprov · 3 pointsr/improv

You can do whatever you want, and I've seen projects created both as an idea to be cast and as 'get good people and then figure out what works for them.'

I'd love to be a resource to you for this. Feel free to message me.

An excellent book:
https://www.amazon.com/Directing-Improv-Show-Way-Getting/dp/0977033902

u/boredgamelad · 2 pointsr/improv

First, I say if people are still showing up and having fun, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You have people who are coming despite their nervousness and inability, don't get too bogged down in trying to figure out why. Just enjoy the fact they're there at all. Also, you're never going to give every player everything they want out of every class. Don't even try.

Second, as someone who has been doing improv for some time and who loves to talk shop, even I would struggle to answer this many questions for a coach looking for feedback. You're going to get no answers instead of some answers if you ask this much of your players. If you're dead set on getting this kind of direct feedback, do multiple short surveys over time that each focus on a single area instead of one survey to rule them all.

Third, you can always incorporate the opportunity for feedback into your sessions. You can learn what your players like by asking about it at the end of class, for example, and letting everyone participate. Our community does a thing called "liked and learned" where you circle up at the end of class and mention one thing you liked about something someone else did or one thing you learned. You can even ask at the end of class what everyone would like to focus on next week, then pick a topic and formulate the next session around it.

Fourth, you can gauge the success of your feedback without player input. Did your feedback make the player visibly nervous, upset, put them in "thinky town", or cause them to leave? Might have been bad feedback. Did your feedback cause them to nod, loosen up, re-do the exercise successfully? Your feedback was probably okay. You'll learn over time which types of feedback work for which players based on how successfully your feedback puts them back on the path to success.

Fifth, buy this book. I am not Jason Lewis and am not associated with this book in any way, but I feel like it's required reading for anybody who is serious about teaching improv.

u/Alcoheroic · 1 pointr/improv

You'll make your lives a lot easier if you get a coach ASAP (even if it's just a temporary guest coach).

Player's attempting to direct each other (even for very experienced troupes) can lead to all sorts of drama down the line. I've been a part of teams where each week (or month) we rotated who was leading rehearsals. Some worked out great (the two where we all had at least a decade of performing/teaching experience and went into it with that plan) and others quickly became a dumpster fire.

My best advice while you're waiting for a coach is probably to pick up a book on improv theory or a book on on acting:

Mick Napier's - Improvise: Scene from the inside out, Bill Arnett's - The Complete Improviser, Viola Spolin's - Improvisation for the Theater, or something like Marina Caldarone's - Action: The Actor's Thesaurus are good places to start.

Then read it together outside of rehearsal and discuss the ideas in various chapters when you meet up - maybe try out a few exercises, but be wary of trying to direct each other: that's not your job, your job is to support each other on stage.

Heck, just reading a few acting books and really discussing them will put you guys leaps and bounds ahead of most improvisers.

u/gargolito · 6 pointsr/improv

Read, read, read. Anything. Visualize what you read as though you're putting up a scene. Read some plays to see how playwrights tell stories. Watch your favorite sketch many times to understand the beats. What makes you laugh? Why is it funny? I "practice" by visualizing myself in movie or tv show scenes and how I would react or behave in it. There's a book by Viola Spolin that you might want to try reading: Theater Games for the Lone Actor

u/GyantSpyder · 5 pointsr/improv

I'd highly recommend getting a copy of Asaf Ronen's Directing Improv. It guides you through some of the various basic methods for how improv groups are organized and run, how to organize a rehearsal, how to plan for the development of your team and your players. It's also pretty short and easy to read.

https://www.amazon.com/Directing-Improv-Show-Way-Getting/dp/0977033902

u/frigginbrownie · 2 pointsr/improv

This is really awesome Sammy. Thank you for putting it together!

One more to add: Theatre Games for the Lone Actor by Viola Spolin.

u/h2g2Ben · 28 pointsr/improv

>I'm going to run an improv group at an adult mental health clinic. But I never did improv.

Not to be a stick in the mud, but are you sure this is a good idea?

If you absolutely have to do this, check out this book for games. But, please, give it some thought. That maybe trying to teach something you're not proficient at, with a group of emotionally vulnerable people, where you're asking those people to do necessarily emotional work, may be a volitile situation you're not totally prepared for.

I've been doing and teaching improv for over a decade and this is the kind of thing I would sit down and have a really long, careful, think about before I did it. What I did would also be HIGHLY dependent on what the patients were in the clinic for.

u/garyfreakinnnoak · 1 pointr/improv

For improv books check out Improvising now: a practical guide to modern improv by Rob Norman. He founded the Longform program at Second City Toronto and is widely respected as one of the best teachers in the city. He also has a podcast with Adam Cawley called the Backline which is worth a listen!

https://www.amazon.ca/Improvising-Now-Rob-Norman/dp/1497408407

u/collin-t · 1 pointr/improv

Theater Games for the Lone Actor might help you do stuff on your own.

But finding/forming a practice group would be the best thing.

What level are you in?

u/free-puppies · 1 pointr/improv

https://www.amazon.com/How-Teach-Improvised-Comedy-Improvisors-ebook/dp/B01N3U3145/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542219323&sr=1-2&keywords=improv+comedy+teach

​

Not improvised Shakespeare per se but the author notes that he's done work for improvised Shakespeare like learning how to "quibble". Might provide some approaches.

u/Pennwisedom · 3 pointsr/improv

Object work is of course great. I like to pretend all the time when I'm walking down the street. But anyway, here is my token suggestion:

Theater Games For the Lone Actor by Viola Spolin Basically these are her games but geared around being done alone.

Edit: In addition, I'd like to point out that many of the games in subsequent books are developed from hers.

u/jaykasten · 4 pointsr/improv

Definitely classes.

Also read Improvise.

u/jeduan · 4 pointsr/improv

Thought I'd mention Rob Norman's Improvising Now.

I think he has a great way to explain complicated concepts that had never quite clicked for me in a very simple way. It's also a very light, quick read chock full with actionable tips and recommendations.

u/Big_Jamming_Burst · 13 pointsr/improv

Aerodynamics of Yes by Christian Capozzoli

Improvise (Scenes from the inside out) by Mick Napier

Directing Improv by Asaf Ronen