Research Catalog

Title

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

Author

Wasson, Sam

Publication

• Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.
• ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

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

Summary

• A history of the uniquely American art form of improv, from its beginnings during the McCarthy Era through the rise of such institutions as Second City, the Groundlings, and the Upright Citizens Brigade and such performers as Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and Bill Murray.
• "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.

Subject

• Improvisation (Acting)
• Comedy
• Stand-up comedy
• PERFORMING ARTS / Comedy
• HISTORY / Social History

Note

• "An Eamon Dolan book."

Bibliography (note)

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

Contents

Hi, how are you? -- We the Jews : 1940-1968 -- We the punks : 1969-1984 -- We the nerds : 1984- -- Goodnight, everyone.

Call Number

MWED 18-345

ISBN

• 9780544557208
• 0544557204

OCLC

1012843387

Author

Wasson, Sam, author.

Title

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

Publisher

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.

Copyright Date

©2017

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

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

Research Call Number

MWED 18-345