Improv Resources
Key reads, podcasts and places worth knowing.
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Podcasts
Improvised Golden Age of Radio
A brand-new improv form inspired by 1930s–50s American Old Time Radio: the Chicago cast builds an immersive live audio drama — sound effects and all, on a live foley table. Their weekly podcast captures the live recordings.
Puddleford: a town with a tale!
Improvised comedy plays from the English town of Puddleford A town with a tale: improvised stories from Puddleford. For hundreds of years, Puddleford and its unusual inhabitants have been a central part of the area’s life and culture. Listen to some of their escapades through history in this new entirely improvised episodic audio drama.
Off Book: The Improvised Musical
Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino improvise a brand-new original musical from scratch every episode — with a special guest and a live improvised score. A masterclass in commitment.
Hey Riddle Riddle
Riddles and puzzles as improv fuel — hear top improvisers riff in real time.
The Backline
Conversations about improv craft, teams and scenes from working improvisers.
Key reads
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
THE foundational text: status, spontaneity, narrative skills, masks. Every improv teacher's bible — read it twice.
The Improv Comedy Musician: The Ultimate Guide to Playing Music with an Improv Group
The definitive handbook for playing music in improv comedy, by Laura Hall — pianist on Whose Line Is It Anyway? — and author Bob Baker. Songs, underscoring, sound effects, working with the cast, and the craft of scoring a show on the fly.
Improvisation for the Theater
This best-selling book by Viola Spolin offers the most comprehensive theater instruction for all types of students, from small children to young adults. It includes over 130 theater games, plus exercises and instructional strategies. First developed by Spolin, the originator of modern improvisational theater techniques, these games have been tried and tested for over fifty years.
Impro for Storytellers
Johnstone's follow-up: Theatresports, gorilla theatre, and hundreds of practical games with coaching notes.
Truth in Comedy
The Harold manual. Where longform philosophy was written down: agreement, group mind, finding the game.
The UCB Comedy Improvisation Manual
The most systematic longform method in print: game of the scene, premise, second beats. Dense and practical.
Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out
The antidote to rule-obsession: take care of yourself first, make active choices. Great for stuck intermediate players.
How to Be the Greatest Improviser on Earth
Modern, funny, honest — being present, being changed, surviving your own head on stage.
The Improv Handbook
Encyclopedic and readable: history, formats, teaching advice, and a full curriculum. Great trainer's companion.
Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art
Not about theatre — about improvisation as a way of being. For when you want the philosophy behind the craft.
Directing Improv: Show the Way By Getting Out of the Way (English)
This book establishes a vocabulary for improvisational direction to help directors, teachers and coaches better aid their troupes, their students and themselves. Featured inside are examples from varying schools and philosophies and interview with such improv luminaries - Giving Notes and Sidecoaching - Working with Mixed Experience Levels - Directing Children - Directing a Troupe with Which You Perform
Links & communities
Improfestivals
The worldwide improv festival calendar — feeds our Improv events tab.
The Improv Network
Community, festival listings and resources for improvisers worldwide.
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