How to Be the Greatest Improviser on Earth by Will Hines (Book)
Required text for Level 3 Students.
Become great at performing long-form improv! We skip the basics and get into advanced topics like: being truly present, being authentic, dealing with difficult performers, being actually funny (!) and the rarely discussed but essential skill of being healthy.
Book Description from Amazon: Become great at performing long-form improv! We skip the basics and get into advanced topics like: being truly present, being authentic, dealing with difficult performers, being actually funny (!) and the rarely discussed but essential skill of being healthy.
Sean’s Take: In Will Hines’ retrospective look at his time as a student-then-teacher at Upright Citizen’s Brigade (an improv comedy theatre and school started by SNL’s Amy Poehler and others), he succinctly describes the artful side of longform, comedic improv. The master improv coach relates many entertaining stories that highlight his points, which are intuitive to experienced performers, but difficult to teach to beginners.
For example, he talks about how UCB Founder Matt Besser asked a group of improvisers why they wanted to do improv. After hearing a bunch of cliched answers about “listening” and “supporting scene partners,” Besser finally interjected, “Nobody wants to be funny?” He hit on one of the parodoxes of teaching improv–beginning students are often told by teachers, “Don’t worry about being funny,” but comedy is the main reason why audiences come to improv. Hines goes on to explain how to honor the fundamentals skills of improv while still being funny. He provides exercises as well, making this a valuable resource for teachers of improv. Click our Amazon Affiliate Link above to pick up a copy of this fabulous read!