Improv Resources

Looking to learn a little more about the art of improv? Here are some books and other media we recommend.

Multimedia

Trust Us, This is All Made Up
We love this documentary about two improvisers widely considered to be the best in the biz, TJ Jagadowski and Dave Pasquesi.
Charles Limb: Your Brain on Improv
This popular TED video explores how the brain works during musical improvisation, with deep implications for the nature of creativity.
Improv Resource Center podcast
Interviews with improvisers by improv vet Kevin Mullaney, this podcast is for an insider audience, but many of the discussions are rich enough that anyone curious about the art of improv might find them interesting.

Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation by Charna Halpern
The improv student’s bible.
Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovich
Thought-provoking ruminations on the connections between the art of improvisation and the creative process.
Improvise.: Scene from the Inside Out by Mick Napier
For improv students who have mastered the Truth in Comedy basics and are ready to advance beyond politely following the so-called rules of improv.

We also recommend checking out the sections on improv in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell and Bossypants by Tina Fey.

What Jazz Soloists Know About Creative Collaboration by Scott McDowell for The 99 Percent
“One of the defining elements of jazz is improvisation, the act of composing on the fly. Anyone who’s heard a classic Miles trumpet solo knows the potential beauty of individual improvisation within the group setting. The team depends on each person to contribute his unique skills, ideas and views to the collaboration, and the individual relies on the team for support, guidance and judgment…”
Everything Alright? Improv as a Way of Life by Adam M. Bright for The Point Magazine
Reading this article for the first time, we felt like someone had been spying on our brains. Bright does a great job capturing what it feels like to be an improviser.
There is No Script: Improvisation and Creative Living by Amanda Hirsch
The THINK IMPROV co-founder riffs on how the art of improv points the way to a richly rewarding, creative life.