Keith Johnstone (1933–2023)

I just finished reading "Impro" by Keith Johnstone, and I'm going to need to read it again.

It feels like one of the most important books I've ever read, but it was terrifying. I am normally afraid of flying, but as I read it on a flight home, I was more afraid that I was too feebly inducted to the Mask, afraid of the trance state that I've never encountered.

I was repeatedly filled with gratitude for my theater teacher's brief tutelage, and envious of my past self doing this work in the school theatre of my mind. I was so lucky to have that opportunity, to be coaxed out of trepidation and into the dramatic catharsis that I wish I could share with my adult colleagues and friends.

So many of the people I met through these exercises were invaluable mentors. I don't know what kind of monster I would have become had school mates not been understanding and untouched by my vocalized perversions, or had directors not been masterfully "cool" and "therapeutically bland" at crucial moments.

The book also had me thinking of my professionally performing friends with pride and envy; naches because each is one of ours and envy because each is pushing herself in ways I've grown too cowardly to approach.

I am thinking of re-reading Johnstone's book for the purpose of extracting from it simple, programmatic definitions of his exercises.

I'll play them with my new D&D group, and maybe it will help them get into character!

I'll play them with my colleagues at Software Incorporated, and maybe we'll all get fired!

I'll play them religiously with the next company I form — technical or theatrical — and maybe we'll all get better!… (plus d'informations)

This book is oddly popular in my non-theatrical circles, so I figured I'd give it a go. The first half is a man talking about the improv games he teaches and what they can teach about about interpersonal relationships. A lot of his message is that beginning improvisers need to be protected from themselves; that they need to be given permission to fail in order to take chances and become better. I find myself thinking about this a lot now that he's mentioned it.

The other big takeaway was in status games, and we as humans are incapable of doing things that are status-neutral. Everything we say and every action we take confers status, and by being cognizant of this we can use it to our advantage. Status isn't something we have; it's something we carve out when we need it. Most people have a preferred status that they play at, and it takes practice to get people to be able to play different statuses.

And then the last half is about letting gods into your soul or something. It mentions "possession cults" a little too often for comfort.… (plus d'informations)