Hi, I'm Greg Sullivan. As parents, my wife and I are always tracking how much "screen time" our daughter spends each week. While limiting it is fine, experience dealing with my pride & joy tells me that yours is also likely to ask what they are expected to do with the remaining time. Helping to answer that question in part (I hope), I have drawn from my over twenty years' experience as an improv teacher and written this book. These "wacky" improv games will engage your child and build their creative "muscles" in new ways - all without relying on technology. Some of the games are even suitable for toddlers just learning their numbers and ABCs, but they are largely written for school age children. You can play some of the improvisations with as few as two people and many of the improvisations are great for groups of 8-12. In this regard, this book can also serve as a great resource for teachers and even summer camp counselors. Older children with acting aspirations will especially enjoy the last four improvisations. SPOILER ALERT: though the title says the book has 24 improvisations, I have actually included 30 in order to include these more challenging improvs, but don't fret, they are all equally wacky.
The games are not very complicated. For example, in SLAP-CLAP-SNAP-SPEAK, the players stand in a circle. Everyone slaps their thighs, then claps their hands, then snaps their fingers before the one whose turn it is speaks. What do they say? Before starting, they are given a topic. "Animals" for example. So when it's someones turn to speak, they say the name of an animal. There are a few rules which can be added to make things more challenging, but that is the gist of this game.
There is a significant amount of appendix material included in this book. Appendix A is my GS IMPROV Quick Start Guide, which is a summary of the improvisation techniques I teach. Appendix B is the full text of my GS IMPROV Technique Book. Both appendixes have been adjusted for young readers. They are geared to give older kids whose interest in theater is growing a strong basis for performing improv, but they are not required reading to do the first 26 improvisations in this book. Besides being fun games to play, my experience has taught me that improvisation is a great means of gaining confidence by participating in group activities and doing public speaking. I have taught improvisation for over twenty years in NYC at my GS IMPROV classes and I am the author of 11 other eBook titles on the topic. (For example, my The Improv Show Book is great for those ages high-school and beyond who have an interest in learning more about improv and putting on a show.) I have been teaching improv since 1997 at my GS IMPROV classes in NYC, was a substitute at NYC's highly respected HB Studio (13 years), founded the improv troupe KLAATU and have been featured in three BACK STAGE cover stories. I have been a guest instructor at The Little Red Schoolhouse and The Browning School. I am also the Book Review Editor and Podcast Host of Flight Journal magazine's upcoming "Flying Off the Shelves."
In addition to performing scores of improv shows, I have also done the male leads in Arsenic & Old Lace, The Mousetrap, Rehearsal for Murder, Romantic Comedy and Strange Bedfellows. I studied acting with many wonderful teachers, including Michael Beckett, Ginny Borton, Sam Groom, Anne Jackson, Rasa Allan Kazlas, Salem Ludwig, John Monteith and Austin Pendleton.
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