Improv Resource Center Book Store

WELCOME TO THE IMPROV RESOURCE CENTER STORE

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FEATURED ITEM
	The Godfather DVD Collection. Finally, the Godfather trilogy will be released on DVD this October. Rumor has it that it will be a 5 DVD set. Check out amazon.com for the full details.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON IMPROVISATION
	Truth in Comedy : The Manual of Improvisation, by Charna Halpern, Del Close and Kim Howard Johnson. The only book on long-form improvisation out there. Particularly useful to any new student of the Harold and long-form, this book lays outs the basics of scenework, the concept of the "game-of-the-scene" and of course the structure of the Harold taught by ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.
	Impro : Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone. The only other book on improvisation that has given me inspiration lately. Anyone who liked the status exercises that I use in my level 1 classes at UCB can have Mr. Johnstone to thank for it. Status is one of the most useful tools for establishing character dynamics and he devotes a large portion of his book to it, perhaps a bit too much. In any case, every improvisor should take a good look at this book.
Other books on improvisation: Whose Improv is It Anyway: Beyond Second City by Amy Seehan Improv Comedy by Andy Goldberg Impro for Storytellers by Keith Johnstone Improvisation for the Theater by Viola Spolin The Compass by Janet Coleman Something Wonderful Right Away by Jeffrey Sweet The Jerusalem Syndrome : My Life As a Relunctant Mesiah, by Marc Maron [Ok, it's not about improv, but it's still recommended]
RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON ACTING
	A Practical Handbook for the Actor, by Melissa Bruder. This is the most concise, well written and eminently useful book about acting I've read. David Mamet's introduction is particularly inspiring and the description of scene analysis is extremely practical.
	Sanford Meisner on Acting, by Sanford Meisner. An in depth look inside the classroom of the 20th century's most influential acting teacher. Meisner employed improvisational exercises to train his students to be expressive, real and above all truthful.
	True and False : Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor, by David Mamet. Mamet's polarizing book about acting. Most important acting book of the 90's or ravings of an author who want his actors to just stand there and say his lines? You decide.
OTHER RECOMMENDED BOOKS
	Chaos : Making a New Science, by James Gleick. Why is the weather, the stock market and development of ecosystems so hard to predict? What do these systems have in common? What is the butterfuly effect? Through a series of well told stories Gleick traces the origins of chaos theory from the sixties to the late eighties. It's a fascinating look into an field that permeates every aspect of the natural world.
	Complexity: the Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos, by M. Mitchell Waldrop. If you liked Chaos by Glieck, you will love this book. Waldrop, like Glieck, tells the story through the eyes of the scientists working in this groundbreaking field. From Amazon.com: "Why did the stock market crash more than 500 points on a single Monday in 1987? Why do ancient species often remain stable in the fossil record for millions of years and then suddenly disappear? In a world where nice guys often finish last, why do humans value trust and cooperation? At first glance these questions don't appear to have anything in common, but in fact every one of these statements refers to a complex system. The science of complexity studies how single elements, such as a species or a stock, spontaneously organize into complicated structures like ecosystems and economies; stars become galaxies, and snowflakes avalanches almost as if these systems were obeying a hidden yearning for order."
	Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side to the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser. A thorough examination of the rise of fast food and the ways it has changed our diet, our economy, our labor practices. The book isn't as surprising as it is sobering. Read it before you buy your next quarter pounder. You owe it to yourself to know what a modern meatpacking plant is like.
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