13 Best Improv Books

Keith Johnstone presents techniques for developing spontaneity and imagination in theatrical improvisation. Drawing on teaching and performance experience, he explores status, narrative skills, masks and trance through exercises intended to help actors respond more freely and inventively.

Mick Napier examines why improvised scenes succeed or stall, questioning conventional rules and the assumptions behind them. Practical discussion covers two-person and group scenes, entrances, richer scene development, auditions, and exercises that performers can practice on their own.

Charna Halpern, Del Close, and Kim Howard Johnson introduce long-form improvisation through the Harold. The manual explains how an ensemble can connect scenes, games, and monologues through pattern recognition, building comedy from shared discoveries and changing audience expectations.

Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh explain the Upright Citizens Brigade approach to long-form comedy improvisation. Exercises develop two-person scenes and the recurring comic pattern called the game, then extend those skills into ensemble structures such as the Harold.

Will Hines explores advanced questions in long-form comedy improvisation, moving beyond basic rules to presence, authenticity, humor, and working with difficult performers. His guide also considers the performer's well-being, connecting performance skills with the experience of sustaining an improv practice.

Viola Spolin presents theater games and improvisational exercises as tools for teaching, directing, and developing performers. Her approach uses practical workshop problems to strengthen awareness, physical expression, speech, character work, and collaborative creativity in rehearsal and performance.

Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White combine a history of improvisational theatre with practical guidance on performing it. The book explores spontaneity, storytelling, collaboration, character development, and different traditions of improvisation, offering approaches for beginners and more experienced performers.

Charna Halpern develops ideas from Truth in Comedy through a closer look at advanced improvisation and its history. The book explores the evolution of the Harold, collaborative performance, and the influence of Del Close on the development of long-form theatre.

Keith Johnstone expands his approach to improvisation with exercises, games and teaching guidance. He explores Theatresports, audience suggestions, feedback, spontaneity and character, emphasizing group play and ways to develop stories while learning to accept failure.

David Razowsky presents an approach to improvisation based on awareness, emotional connection, and responding to scene partners. Exercises and reflections question familiar rules, encouraging performers to build scenes from what they observe in the moment.

T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi discuss their approach to improvised performance with Pam Victor. The book explores listening, partnership, character, and discovering a scene through careful attention to what is already happening between performers.

Anne Libera guides readers through essays, memories, and practical instruction from Second City teachers, actors, and directors. The collection explores its approach to improvisation and sketch development, including object work, revising material, and debates about long-form and short-form performance.

Patricia Ryan Madson applies principles of improvisational theatre to ordinary life, suggesting ways to respond when plans change. Her guide connects the attitudes used by actors and musicians with challenges at work, in relationships, and amid everyday uncertainty.