Chris Haddad’s Reviews > The Second City Almanac of Improvisation > Status Update

"I just got a directing job at The Second City" (In reply to the news), "I'm sorry."

Directing for the Second City has to be one of the more difficult directing jobs there is. I cant imagine how different it must be to try to direct and advise an improv group. You have to make brilliant creative choices while convincing the performers it was all their idea

I like the way a lot of the essays in this book retain the comedic tone when talking about comedy and what (not) to do. Especially when Tina Fay decides to say that repeating a scene the same way even just once makes you feel like a "dirty whore" Writer's Strategies

"It's important that [The Audience is] seeing it for the first and only time and you make it seem like it's the first and only time... So what if the prop isn't exactly in the same place? It makes it more interesting. It applies to almost everything" Favorites

I feel a lot of this book is about how to deepen comedy, rather than have a few funny scenes. "no one persons experience is blacker or more Hispanic than the next. You're not more Chinese than your neighbor. Life experiences are intrinsically filled filtered through how you appear, just as much as how you were raised and taught" this means to me that no one has an advantage over the other in terms of appearance.

Studying martial arts, circus arts, comedy, sports, art, music, contact improvisation is all important for a person trying to become a great improvisational comedian. This boom emphasizes that it's not about what is said— Anyone can say a funny thing— rather it is how you say it and what is happening in the scene. Be informed on topics so scenes are diverse.

(Talking about the guidelines of improv) "Some of these guidelines may appear to contradict themselves but then so do many things in life" Favorties

There are no accidents or mistakes in improvisation unless you decide you made an accident. If you trip and fall, claim the accidental focus and make use of it; add to the scene.

The trick to Improv is pretending that none of it is pretend. If you create a dining room table in the middle of the scene, you can't just walk through the damn thing later in the scene. The trick is not pretending like your hand is a gun, but pretending like the gun is in your hand. (fav)