A practical guide to improv theatre that focuses on compassion, mindfulness and collaboration.

Relevant to practitioners working on either solo or ensemble work, this book offers up a new way of approaching the art of improv.

Drawing on the author's personal experience teaching and performing in the field - as well as advocating for greater ethical practice within it - this book enables you to understand her improv approach experientially, rather than intellectually, through exercises and practical prompts.

Compassionate Improv takes a much more contemporary approach to books that have come before it. It focuses more on creating a safe space for discourse and exploration, and less on improv primarily as a tool for comedy. It also unpacks a new framework - the model of "The Globe" - within which to build your improv practice.

The book takes as its starting point the notion that "you are enough as you are". With this as its foundation, the author offers exercises to help tap into this reality, going on to explore the technical mechanics of creating an improvised show - including how you can transition between scenes, what the show might look like as a whole, and how you can create an entire show through collaboration.

Improv, we come to see, is an incredible tool to utilize during such polarized times and one that can be rooted in self-care and care of others.

Chelsea Coleman has performed and worked as a teacher of improvisational theatre for nearly 20 years, including performing with iO (formerly ImprovOlympic) and The Second City in Los Angeles,
CA. She has been an advocate for standing up to harassment and discrimination within improv theatres.