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Impro for Storytellers
Impro for Storytellers is the follow-up to Keith Johnstone's classic Impro , one of the best-selling books ever published on improvisation. Impro for Storytellers aims to take jealous and self-obsessed beginners and teach them to play games with good nature and to fail gracefully.
388 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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1209 people want to read
About the author
Keith Johnstone
18 books60 followersKEITH JOHNSTONE is one of the few internationally recognized authorities in the field of improvisation, great chunks of which he created, including improvisation forms that include Theatresports™, Maestro Impro© (or Micetro© Impro), Gorilla Theatre™, and The Life Game©. Keith has written two best selling books about his Theatre and Improvisation theories and practices, in addition to several plays and short stories.
Theatresports™ is known worldwide. The Life Game© was produced by London’s Improbable Theatre Co. (directed by Phelim McDermott). It toured Great Britain and the USA to great reviews.
His books Impro, and Impro For Storytellers, have been translated into many languages. His plays are produced world wide.
Keith’s ideas about improvisation, behaviour and performance appeal to a wide variety of groups. From Actors to Psychotherapists, Improvisation companies to Theatre Schools and Companies, Business and Management training specialists and Humanities Research Institutes, Universities and Film Production Companies have invited him to come to teach them about his ideas, and how they might apply them.
He founded the Theatre Machine Improvisation group in England in the 1960’s, touring Europe and North America , was the Co-founder and Artistic Director of The Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary, Canada in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. He founded The International Theatresports™ Institute in 1998.
Theatresports™ is known worldwide. The Life Game© was produced by London’s Improbable Theatre Co. (directed by Phelim McDermott). It toured Great Britain and the USA to great reviews.
His books Impro, and Impro For Storytellers, have been translated into many languages. His plays are produced world wide.
Keith’s ideas about improvisation, behaviour and performance appeal to a wide variety of groups. From Actors to Psychotherapists, Improvisation companies to Theatre Schools and Companies, Business and Management training specialists and Humanities Research Institutes, Universities and Film Production Companies have invited him to come to teach them about his ideas, and how they might apply them.
He founded the Theatre Machine Improvisation group in England in the 1960’s, touring Europe and North America , was the Co-founder and Artistic Director of The Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary, Canada in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. He founded The International Theatresports™ Institute in 1998.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 24, 2011
I started this book during one of my brief flirtations with Improv theater... something I have given up (yet again) because I am seeing very little improvement... I'm not usually much of a quitter but Improv is not somewhere I feel is really my forte. However since I was already about halfway through the book I decided that it was worth finishing, and I am glad that I did. This book was interesting and very amusing to read. I just love seeing his mind at work and the improv scenes he writes on the spot are hilarious! That being said the book is quite technical and there were large portions of it that I will never need to read again or worry about. This book is really aimed at people who are familiar with improv and are wanting to teach/ coach improv games. There were some very interesting notes on acting though that I found helpful (physicalization, voices, etc...) but for the most part I was just amused enough by the author that I wanted to see what he would say next. It is not a must read unless you are heavily involved in improv... but I thought it was a fun little book nonetheless.
April 24, 2012
Truthfully I couldn't really make it through the book. While Impro did talk about his history and his experiences I felt like those stories added to my understanding and taught some of the concepts of impro and what gets in the way of it. In this book as far as I could get myself to read it seemed to be all about what he did and how it was so wonderful and why other people's work was inferior and wrong. While the rest of the book might have borne out the promise in the intro the ego at the start made it quite hard to continue. Since I didn't finish the book it seems wrong to give it 1 since perhaps there was improvement later.
March 11, 2013
Keith Johnstone is a genius. The only reason for my low rating is that I find his writing sometimes hypocritical and arbitrary. He seems to rely heavily on directing scenes and teaching fairly rigid habits for his performers to adhere to. This is purely a question of taste, and no doubt he is a much better improv teacher than me, and yet myself disagreeing with most of his lessons and conclusion about improv, and not in a progressive way that made me realize my own tastes, but in a frustration that what he was describing as common hangups and points of interest in improv was just not true, from my experience.
October 31, 2016
In some ways even more remarkable than Impro.
June 27, 2019
This book is definitely a must-read for actors-improvisers and (especially) improvisation theatre instructors to succeed in the field. But I am neither of them. So that's why I made my review not biased towards the author's achievements as a playwright or theatre director and I express my thoughts as a novice to improvisation and open-minded reader.
The book was suggested to me by fellow soft skills trainers, as it contained many improvisation activities that can be used during training, especially, if the training is related to public speaking or presentation skills like dealing with stage fright, non-verbal language, storytelling, etc. Indeed, the book technically has a list of any possible improvisation activities and the chapters describe some of them quite thoroughly with an overly detailed description.
However, there are several deficiencies in the book that left an unpleasant impression.
The author did not provide any agenda in very very beginning, so for me, a novice in the field, the first chapter was not introductory at all and I had to think a lot what was meant here or there. The sequence of chapters for sometimes chaotic (except the last ones) and not really naturally transitioning from one to another. I had a feeling that Keith was just writing the text as it came to his mind...
...that brings me to the narration style. Sometimes, when reading about specific activities, the author went to a deep meta level, so I felt confused about whether Keith was writing the book for impro teachers or impro actors. On the other side, I liked that the narration was kept more in the form of a casual story told to the reader. That was easy to read...
...except the sentences with way too impro theatre-specific language or usage of objects that are rarely used in real life (and thus, named). On the other hand, I am not an English native speaker and I was honestly checking the meaning of every word I did not understand thanks to the Kindle :D
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Overall, I grade this book as 3/5 as it has strong potential material for professionals and real amateurs in the field but the way the book is written, the narration style, and the vocabulary used left me with an unpleasant impression.
The book was suggested to me by fellow soft skills trainers, as it contained many improvisation activities that can be used during training, especially, if the training is related to public speaking or presentation skills like dealing with stage fright, non-verbal language, storytelling, etc. Indeed, the book technically has a list of any possible improvisation activities and the chapters describe some of them quite thoroughly with an overly detailed description.
However, there are several deficiencies in the book that left an unpleasant impression.
Lack of structure
The author did not provide any agenda in very very beginning, so for me, a novice in the field, the first chapter was not introductory at all and I had to think a lot what was meant here or there. The sequence of chapters for sometimes chaotic (except the last ones) and not really naturally transitioning from one to another. I had a feeling that Keith was just writing the text as it came to his mind...
Narration style
...that brings me to the narration style. Sometimes, when reading about specific activities, the author went to a deep meta level, so I felt confused about whether Keith was writing the book for impro teachers or impro actors. On the other side, I liked that the narration was kept more in the form of a casual story told to the reader. That was easy to read...
Vocabulary
...except the sentences with way too impro theatre-specific language or usage of objects that are rarely used in real life (and thus, named). On the other hand, I am not an English native speaker and I was honestly checking the meaning of every word I did not understand thanks to the Kindle :D
________________
Overall, I grade this book as 3/5 as it has strong potential material for professionals and real amateurs in the field but the way the book is written, the narration style, and the vocabulary used left me with an unpleasant impression.
April 8, 2020
Admittedly, I wasn't the target audience for this book. It has its good moments of shedding light on human behaviours and our brains work – so there's value in 'Impro for Storytellers' for storytellers and those interested in learning more about what makes people tick. But unless you're an improv afficionado, there's little else for you.
May 1, 2022
Great resource to get ideas for improv games, specially suited for you if you are an instructor.
You can also peek into the style and idiosyncrasy of Keith, creator of the original Theatresports reading this book. However if you are after that this might not be the best book.
You can also peek into the style and idiosyncrasy of Keith, creator of the original Theatresports reading this book. However if you are after that this might not be the best book.
August 12, 2022
Accidentally read this instead of Impro. Confusing title. Still interesting read.
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July 14, 2023Ikke like gøy og lett å komme gjennom som hans mer filosofiske rammeverk til impro, men kan ikke se for meg et bedre oppslagsverk!
October 19, 2023
Die Bibel des Improvisationstheaters!
November 28, 2023
Read this bc my improv teacher recommended it and I love it!!! I think everyone doing live comedy should read it :D not just improvisers
October 9, 2025
Awesome everyone should read it
September 2, 2011
This is the definitive manual for theatre-sports training and games. Although light on theory or philosophy, Johnstone has already covered these subjects at length in his earlier work, Impro.
Where that book suffered from being too little a guide and too much a story, Impro for Storytellers suffers from the opposite: it is an effective guide but doesn't create the story of the games' development in a chronological way. To compensate, Keith has thoughtfully provided a detailed index, appendices, and footnotes that make IfS far more user friendly than Impro.
Where that book suffered from being too little a guide and too much a story, Impro for Storytellers suffers from the opposite: it is an effective guide but doesn't create the story of the games' development in a chronological way. To compensate, Keith has thoughtfully provided a detailed index, appendices, and footnotes that make IfS far more user friendly than Impro.
July 10, 2013
This is a great resource book for those who are already dedicated to taking an improvisation approach to storytelling or teaching. The lengths to which Johnstone detracts from the other styles of improv (including the Chicago style) is tiresome, but can help to refine your own direction.
For more on the background and philosophy behind Johnstone's approach, read Impro.
For more on the background and philosophy behind Johnstone's approach, read Impro.
September 3, 2016
If you are into improvisational theatre, this book is a must. Choc-a-bloc full of ideas after ideas, Johnstone offers insights as only a master improv instructor can do. Admittedly, I skimmed through several chapters (Procedures was a long and tedious section) but gained some wonderful tools for engagement. I gave this three stars only because it is more a reference playbook for a niche group. Now that I have a copy myself, it may become an oft referenced book on my shelf.
January 2, 2017
Excellent again, Keith Johnstone. I will say I was a little misled by the title -- this book is primarily focused on improv exercises rather than the just building stories via improv (the two are clearly very closely related, but still).
I recommend starting with Impro first as it is has fantastic applications for any actor -- improviser or not. Impro for Storytellers is more purely improviser-focused.
I recommend starting with Impro first as it is has fantastic applications for any actor -- improviser or not. Impro for Storytellers is more purely improviser-focused.
July 31, 2019
I absolutely loved this book and got a lot out of reading it. Some of the lists in the back of the book are outdated (particularly related to man/woman in a relationship dynamics, which has culturally changed a lot), but overall the book holds up extremely well and the advice is so useful. I'd recommend it to any improviser -- after reading his original book Impro of course.
January 17, 2008
Keith Johnstone is a whack-a-nut in the best possible way. This is one of the books that Bonniejean teaches improv from. I used it a bit when I taught the teens this summer and "Whose Line is it Anyway" totally evolved from this book. It's like actor-gym.
December 7, 2008
I found that I tried to skim the book and it just didn't give the same flavor. He seems kind of cocky but when I got past that initial feeling, it is the best book on improv around and I fell in love with him. It just makes me laugh and I am now always trying to be boring. :)
October 2, 2015
Very interesting exercises for improv artists but I expected something different than just games. Maybe more theory and concepts. It was still an interesting book, with many valuable bits of information even if I just skimmed through the second half of the book.
April 16, 2008
More of how to do the practice of improv as opposed to the theory behind it, this book is a must for all of us who love theatersports.
July 3, 2009
The perfect resource for improv game ideas! Keith Johnstone explains many, many exercises with easy-to-understand, practical examples.
June 28, 2012
A bible for theatre-makers
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews