The book is a follow-up to the book Truth In Comedy, in which the author explains in detail the Harold method used at the i.O. (formerly Improv Olympic) in Chicago and the i.O. West in Los Angeles where actors such as Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Mike Meyers…etc have all studied. And in all honesty, she refers quite a bit to such method throughout the first half of the book without really explaining it which can be very annoying if you haven’t read it.
Basically the Harold method is a technique to have all actors from a group onstage at the same time in an organized manner to showcase all the personalities and still get the point of your statement across. For that you use “the rules” and several tricks. My personal favorite is the tag-out in which you manage to “flash” a character in a scene in space and time and introduce new character at the same time.
She does give some really good and sound advice in chapters 5 through 7 for both starting improv actors as well as experienced pros. The main idea is always to overcome the barriers you put on yourself. Look at the experts and learn from them. And she explains in detail a lot of scenes that are used to exemplify the techniques.
The book also comes with a DVD of improv scenes performed at the i.O. which is hilarious and very helpful to see what she means.
Is it worth reading? If you are interested or like in improv, then DEFINITELY. Although I would have to say, you need to buy the first book to understand this one first. I would also say that going over the DVD and seeing some of the pros in action is a great added bonus to the book and an easy fun way to learn some new skills.
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