cantchya just feel the fun.

Keith Johnstone
Keith Johnstone is a professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, and a founding Artistic Director of the Loose Moose Theatre. He worked for ten years (1956 - 1966) at England's Royal Court Theatres; at various times he was their chief play-reader, was responsible for the educational work, directed the Royal court Theatre studio, wrote and directed plays, and became an Associate Director of the theatre. He founded The Theatre Machine improvisational group in England which toured in many countries. Keith taught at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art until he left England, and has taught or given workshops at major European Theatre Schools and Universities. He is the writer of many plays presented in North America and Europe, and has directed in several theatres internationally. Keith is the author of "Impro" (Methuen) one of the key books on improvisation and is now translated into several languages; and also has recently completed Impro For Storytellers (Faber and Faber), a guide to teaching improvisation and Theatresports. He also writes a newsletter which is sent to Theatresports centers internationally. Keith is the inventor of many new forms of improvisation, including Theatresports, Micetro Impro, Gorilla Theatre and The Life Game which, along with his techniques, are now being used world-wide.


Viola Spolin: Northwestern University Press, 1990.If Johnstone is the father of improv, Spolin is its mother. She developed a series of theater games based on experience with the WPA and post-WWII Hollywood, later sparking the growth of improvisation in the US. Her son, Paul Sills, went on to co-found the U.S.'s first professional improvisational theater, The Compass. Spolin's book offers many games and techniques, as well as ways to work with actors of widely ranging ages and experience, and a useful glossary of terms.

Viola Spolin's publications are
Improvisation for the Theater (Northwestern University Press 1963); and
Theater Game File (Northwestern University Press 1989);
Theater Games for Reahearsal - A Director's Handbook (Northwestern University Press 1985) and
Theater Games for the Classroom Grades 1 - 3 (1986)
Theater Games for the Classroom Grades 4 - 6 (1986).





Suggested Reading List
From www.secondcity.com

Improvisation for the Theater, Viola Spolin
The Second City, Sheldon Patinkin
Days and Nights at The Second City, Bernie Sahlins
Impro, Keith Johnstone
Something Wonderful Right Away, Jeffrey Sweet
The Second City Almanac of Improvisation, Anne Libera
The Compass, Janet Coleman
The Comic Toolbox, John Vorhaus
Respect for Acting, Uta Hagen
Acting, The First Six Lessons, Boleslavsky
The Actor at Work, Robert Benedetti
Act of Being, Charles Marowitz
Audition, Michael Shurtleff
Speaking Clearly, Modisett and Luter
The History of the Theatre, Oscar G. Brockett
Sanford Meisner on Acting, Sanford Meisner
Advice to the Players, Robert Lewis
Introduction to Stanislavsky, Sonja Moore
Comedy is a Serious Business, Harry Ruskin
An Incomplete Education, Jones and Wilson
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, E.D. Hirsch


Second City Players of the past thirty years.
John Candy, Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray and John Belushi in the 70s
Mike Myers and Chris Farley in the 80's
and Amy Sedaris and the Daily Show with John Stewart's Stephen Colbert in the 90's