Keith Johnstone
Story-first. Status as the engine. Spontaneity through surrender.
Key texts: Impro (1979) · Impro for Storytellers (1999)
Where this tradition pushes back
The Chicago/UCB longform tradition views competition in improv as antithetical to ensemble and support. Del Close reportedly called shortform "the fast food of improv." The critique: competition...
from Theatresports→Some degree of shaping is inherent in all scene work — someone has to give the scene direction. Johnstone himself notes that many defensive behaviors "can be used for positive impact if we are aware...
from Steering→The UCB Manual has NO chapter on status — its structure replaces Johnstone's status lens entirely with game mechanics (POV, pattern, heightening). Napier's Improvise also does not center status....
from Status→The UCB Manual contains no chapter on status. Its structural replacement is game mechanics — POV, pattern, heightening. The American longform tradition largely set status aside in favor of game....
from Status Dynamics→TJ & Dave's hour-long unedited shows don't follow three-act structure. Scenes blend, loop, and resolve through the evening's totality. Napier: "just do something at the top" and let structure emerge....
from Scene Structure→UCB's game-based approach largely replaces narrative reincorporation with pattern heightening. In game-first improv, you don't need to bring back the gun — you need to find the pattern and escalate...
from Reincorporation→Playing against type can become its own cliche. If every tough guy is tender and every librarian is dangerous, the "subversion" becomes the new expectation, which is not subversive at all. The...
from Playing Against Type→UCB's game-based tradition often de-emphasizes physicality in favor of verbal pattern recognition. A UCB scene can run entirely as "talking heads" when the comedic engine is the behavioral game, not...
from Physicality→