Keith Johnstone. Impro for Storytellers. Faber & Faber, 1999.
The sequel/companion to Impro (1979), focused on practical application and Theatresports. Expands the offer/block framework into a detailed taxonomy of scene-killing behaviors and introduces narrative structure techniques.
Key contributions:
- Chapter 6: "Making Things Happen" (p. 101+) — the full blocking taxonomy: wimping, cancelling, bridging, hedging, pimping, looping, joining. Each is a distinct way the ego defends against spontaneity. This is the most detailed diagnostic framework for why scenes fail.
- Overaccepting — a concept not in Impro: responding to a small offer with enormous emotional weight
- Narrative structure — "reincorporate like mad"; the improviser as someone "walking backwards" who shapes story by remembering what's been shelved
- Theatresports — the format where audience scoring shapes the show, making the feedback loop explicit
- "Fast-Food Stanislavsky Lists" (appendix) — Johnstone's acknowledgment that Stanislavski is useful shorthand while fundamentally disagreeing with objective-driven character work