The Second City almanac of improvisation

Review by Choice Review

The improvisational children's games created by Viola Spolin, documented in her book Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (1963, now in its 3rd edition), have become the basis for the work of improvisational theater companies like Second City, which is based in Chicago and is also active in many venues and on tour. Spolin's work has become essential in many academic and private actor-training programs. Libera is artistic director of the Second City Training Center and a Second City resident director, and she offers a kind of scrapbook in which practitioners of improvisation analyze what they do. Spolin's book has been a rich resource for acting teachers, and Libera's well-annotated collection will be an excellent supplement. Libera arranges the book's content under seven main headings--"Beginning," "Playing the Scene," "The Performer inside the Scene," "Improvisation and Acting," "Long Forms, Short Forms, Scenes, and Games," "Creating Material," and "Directing"--and she provides a generous selection of exercises and games. Writers and others interested in the creative process can gain insight from the book. Although Libera includes photographs, most are without captions; unfortunately the book lacks an index. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Collections supporting the study of theater performance at all levels. R. Sugarman emeritus, Southern Vermont College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Most previous books about Second City, Chicago's improvisation-based comedy cabaret (the most noteworthy is Sheldon Patinkin's Second City, 2000), just chronicle its history and list illustrious alums (Alan Arkin, Barbara Harris, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Tina Fey, et al.). None explores SC's complex creative process and its relationship to comic improvisation as thoroughly as Libera's does. While SC-style comedy rests on the foundation of Viola Spolin's theater games, for a long time at SC, improv was mainly a tool for training actors and generating material. That caused much grumbling by lovers of pure improv; meanwhile, director Del Close dreamed of creating fully improvised shows so good that transcripts could be published as finished plays. In gemlike essays by SC directors, teachers, and actors, including improv guru Martin de Maat and Dan Castellaneta (the voice of Homer Simpson), and additional material by Libera, the book reveals the extent to which there is no single SC creative method but, instead, an ongoing, heated discussion of SC's art and its 45-year winning streak. --Jack Helbig Copyright 2004 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

The Second City, with its decades-old international reputation, is the training ground for many of the best improvisational actors in the United States. Libera, artistic director of the Second City Training Center and resident director at the theater, has brought together a wonderful selection of background material, essays, stories, and exercises. The material, written by 29 contributors, including directors, teachers, and alumni, gives an abundance of information that any actor or director interested in improv would want. It also shows how hard improv is; nonprofessionals will appreciate what goes into making it all look as if "it just happened." Chapters include topics such as creating material, working on short- and long-form exercises, and playing the scene. A chapter on directing improv contains a hilarious "play" by director Ron West called "Blessed Obstacles," in which a new director named Phil is getting advice from West; it is worth the price of the book. Interspersed throughout is a series of seven "improvisational almanacs," each of which is a collection of thoughtful, pithy sentences of advice and words of wisdom: "Treat absurd notions seriously" remains this reviewer's favorite. An excellent, less formal companion to Viola Spolin's Improvisation for the Theater and Rob Kozlowski's The Art of Chicago Improv; recommended for all academic and public libraries with theater collections. (Photos not seen.)-Susan L. Peters, Univ. of Texas, Galveston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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