Improv

aka improvisation

Improvisational theatre, also known simply as improv, is a form of Performance Art. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvisational_theatre

• key phrase: Yes, And... (cf Fuck, Yes)
  • excerpt from Tina Fey's Bossypants book.
    • The first rule of improvisation is AGREE. Always agree and SAY YES.
    • The second rule of improvisation is not only to say yes, but YES, AND. You are supposed to agree and then add something of your own.
    • The next rule is MAKE STATEMENTS. This is a positive way of saying “Don’t ask questions all the time.”
    • the best rule: THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, only opportunities.
• Book that always gets recommended: Keith Johnstone
  • Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre ISBN:0878301178
  • vs Impro for Storytellers ISBN:0367099306 Impro for Storytellers is the follow-up to Keith Johnstone's classic Impro, one of the best-selling books ever published on improvisation. Impro for Storytellers aims to take jealous and self-obsessed beginners and teach them to play games with good nature and to fail gracefully... As if Impro wasn't enough, Johnstone's new book focuses solely on improv, while his last dealt a great deal with his personal past and teachings... IMPRO is a book not only about theatre and improv, but about teaching and human interaction, loaded with insights making that book highly suitable for the general reader. This follow-up is more specialized: a handbook for putting IMPRO into practice, including detailed improv structures for performance and for rehearsal, and chapters on how to teach these games. Sample run lists and notes from performances impart Johnstone's experiences, trials and errors over many years teaching in several countries. The book is exhaustive and beautifully written, but for the general reader, IMPRO is more appropriate.

Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians.[1] Thus, musical ideas in improvisation are spontaneous, but may be based on chord changes in classical music,[1] and indeed many other kinds of music. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_improvisation (Jazz, Syncopated Music)