Improv nation : how we made a great American art / Sam Wasson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wasson, Sam, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Improvisation (Acting).

Comedy.

Stand-up comedy--United States--History.

Stand-up comedy.

Plays--Improvisation.

History.

United States.

Genre:

Nonfiction.

History.

Stand-up comedy routines.

Physical Description:

xiii, 449 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston, MA : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2017]

Summary:

"From the best-selling author of Fosse, a sweeping yet intimate -- and often hilarious-- history of a uniquely American art form that has never been more popular. At the height of the McCarthy era, an experimental theater troupe set up shop in a bar near the University of Chicago. Via word of mouth, astonished crowds packed the ad hoc venue to see its unscripted, interactive, consciousness-raising style. From this unlikely seed grew the Second City, the massively influential comedy ensemble, and its offshoots-- the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, SNL, and a slew of others. Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv in this richly reported, scene-driven narrative that, like its subject, moves fast and digs deep. He shows us the chance meeting at a train station between Mike Nichols and Elaine May. We hang out at the after-hours bar Dan Aykroyd opened so that friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner would always have a home. We go behind the scenes of landmark entertainments, from The Graduate to Caddyshack, The Forty-Year-Old Virgin to The Colbert Report. Along the way, we commune with a host of pioneers-- Nichols, Harold Ramis, Dustin Hoffman, Chevy Chase, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow, and many others. With signature verve and nuance, Wasson shows why improv deserves to be considered the great American art form of the last half century-- and the most influential one today."--Dust jacket flap.

At the height of the McCarthy era, an experimental theater troupe set up shop in a bar near the University of Chicago. Via word-of-mouth, astonished crowds packed the ad-hoc venue to see its unscripted, interactive, consciousness-raising style. From this unlikely seed grew the Second City, the massively influential comedy theater troupe, and its offshoots-the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, SNL, and a slew of others. Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv in this richly reported, scene-driven narrative that, like its subject, moves fast and digs deep. He shows us the chance meeting at a train station between Mike Nichols and Elaine May. We hang out at the after-hours bar Dan Aykroyd opened so that friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner would always have a home. We go behind the scenes of landmark entertainments from The Graduate to Caddyshack, The Forty-Year Old Virgin to The Colbert Report. Along the way, we commune with a host of pioneers-Mike Nichols and Harold Ramis, Dustin Hoffman, Chevy Chase, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow, and many more. With signature verve and nuance, Wasson shows why improv deserves to be considered the great American art form of the last half-century-and the most influential one today.

Contents:

Hi, how are you?

We the Jews: 1940-1968

We the punks: 1969-1984

We the nerds: 1984-

Goodnight, everyone.

Notes:

"An Eamon Dolan book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 384-435) and index.

ISBN:

9780544557208

0544557204

OCLC:

1012843387

Publisher Number:

99974505423