Managed Mischief: A Toolkit of Improv-Inspired Games

by Mandy Khoshnevisan

Improvisation is MAKING something fun happen—and not just onstage before an audience, but ANYWHERE.

“Managed Mischief” is an improv how-to kit, helping parents and teachers celebrate everyday creativity with the kids in their lives. Whether or not you have any prior improv experience, this book will walk you through how to teach and play these self-guided games that boost creativity, confidence, and collaborative thinking.

You can play these games in the classroom, the car, the playground, or even in a public space. These games don’t need an audience, and you “win” by working together to create something delightful. There are games to challenge different abilities, from verbal to physical to artistic—writing, drawing, painting, dancing, and making music.

The book is called a “toolkit” because it contains some improv philosophy, guides for teaching and playing the exercises, and plenty of tips for mixing things up on your own. With background knowledge on improv and a fundamental understanding of how games work, there are no limits: you can combine games, string them together, change the rules, or even make up your own games!

Whether you’re shy or a showoff, these games let people of all ages practice vital life skills such as: trying new things, voicing your own ideas, championing others’ ideas, working together to make something, taking turns being in charge, being unafraid to be “weird,” and taking joy in the world all around.

Author Mandy Khoshnevisan has spent 20 years studying and teaching improvisational theater, and also working as a teaching artist for kids ranging from preschool to high school. This book contains the games that she and her students have the most fun playing together. The games are organized according to the skills they help build, and cross-referenced to make it easy to find and revisit favorites.

286 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2016

About the author

Mandy Khoshnevisan has been performing, teaching, and directing theater and improvisation for just about 20 years. She grew up in southern California somewhat near the ocean, which was a nice place to live. She first met improv in 1996 as a freshman at Stanford University, where she went on to receive her B.A. and M.A. in English. Since becoming a teaching artist, she has worked with children from elementary to high school. In the Bay Area she performed with many improv groups including BATS Improv and the Un-Scripted Theater Company. Currently she lives in Portland, OR, where she teaches at Northwest Children's Theater, performs scripted and unscripted theater, and does all sorts of artistic work. Managed Mischief is her first book.

Reviews

[Farouk Bassa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect introduction. Easy to understand

Great for working with young children
Games fully described with everything needed to ensure a successful outcome.
Very useful to develop improv skills

[Lauren Deming · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great manual with the why and the how-to's that I needed to bring groups together. This will be very helpful! I appreciate the author's sharing how to adjust parameters to make a game work for whatever type of folks are playing.