Impro
Keith Johnstone's involvement with the theatre began when George Devine and Tony Richardson, artistic directors of the Royal Court Theatre, commissioned a play from him. This was in 1956. A few years later he was himself Associate Artistic Director, working as a play-reader and director, in particular helping to run the Writers' Group. The improvisatory techniques and exercises evolved there to foster spontaneity and narrative skills were developed further in the actors' studio then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers, called The.
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- Exactly.
C. S. Lewis participated in many arguments about Christianity. He was a professor and had a very good memory (the biography says "total recall") so he was a formidable opponent. Yet he himself wrote in private writings that he never felt himself farther from Christianity than after having won in another such dispute. It was around fifty, I think, when he decided to stop doing that and started to write the first book about Narnia.
Sincere communication is only possible when the ego defenses are down; when ego is vulnerable. Ego is scared of that, so this rarely happens. But this is the only true communication; all the rest are status games. (If you haven't read "Impro" by Keith Johnstone, pick it when you have a chance.)
- Keith Johnstone: Impro
- I have no doubt plenty of smart engineers at tech companies would rather reinvent the wheel than read a book on theatre. But if anyone’s interested, there are plenty of great books talking about the philosophy of comedy, and why some things work on stage and some don’t. I highly recommend Keith Johnstone’s “Impro”. He’s the guy who invented modern improv comedy and theatre sports.
He says things are funny if they’re obvious. But not just any obvious. They have to be something in the cloud of expectation of the audience. Like, something they kinda already thought but hadn’t named. If you have a scene where someone’s talking to a frog about love, it’s not funny for the talking frog to suddenly go to space. But it might be funny to ask the frog why it can talk. Or ask about gossip in the royal palace. Or say “if you’re such a catch, how’d you end up as a frog?”.
If good comedy is obvious, you’d think LLMs would be good at it. Honestly I think LLMs fall down by not being specific enough in detail. They don’t have ideas and commit to them. They’re too bland. Maybe their obvious just isn’t the same as ours.
- You might like Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Johnstone, if you've not already read it.
It all of: lays bare the "masks" we wear and the "status games" we play in everyday life; explains the importance of dropping certain common "masks" and various status-related hang-ups to achieve a child-like egolessness and vulnerability, in order to access real creativity; and, further, the liberating power and social-connectedness creating effects of playing with and in masks and status-games.
It's also a really short book, which doesn't hurt.
(here "masks" and "status games" are terms Johnstone defines for his purposes, but what you can guess from context is probably close enough to his intended usage for this post)
- Author here! You might like David Whyte's writing on "genius". It's sad when you want to be the best of the best in a specific thing, but almost anyone can blend their natural aptitudes in a few distinct fields to the be "best of the best" in something unique.
I'm an okay programmer, and the general opinion from clinical mentors here is that I'd be an above-average psychologist if I wanted to get into it, but I'd be one of the only professional software/professional psychologists in the country if I multiclassed.
For finding resources, I'm souring on some Hackernews material as I become more skilled and cure some Gel-Mann Amnesia, but generally speaking it's still a great place to look for book recommendations.
Another great tip is to check Goodreads lists from people you admire, or to find recommendations that include other material you find good. For example, I like Taleb's Black Swan. I found Keith Johnstone's Impro from a Reddit comment that that included Black Swan in the list, and repeat that trick ad infinitum.
- > We’re stuck with other people and all the games people play.
I assume you have at least heard about or may even have read “Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre” by Keith Johnstone. If not, I think you would find it interesting.
