Rating: 
Summary: I just re-read this, and it's still fantastic!
Review: As an improvisor who performs regularly, I was amazed at how much I got out of going back to this book again. The chapter on status is absolutely the best--I basically lifted it right out of the book and taught it to a class of beginning improvisors, with great results. The book is filled with exercises drama teachers can use, and its basic philosophy of maintaining creativity is an important one for all teachers to read.
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Summary: This isn't a theatre book: it's THE theatre book
Review: I first came actoss this book when I first got interested in theatre in the early 80s in England, and I couldn't believe what I was reading. If theatre is a search for truth, then Johnstone exemplifies this with a fundamentalist's zeal. Eschewing formula and "how to" guides, he presents improvisation on the stage as less of a craft and more a state of mind. His "bookending" of his practical advice with an angry account of his time spent as a teacher at the beginning of the book and his work on masks and trance in the last section underlines this. Johnstone's book is a must for anybody wanting to improvise effectively on a stage, anyone wanting to use drama as a teaching or therapeutic tool, and an essential for anybody interested in the practical exploration of the subconscious mind and its workings. It's a manual for creativity. It's an essential for an artist in any discipline. No: scrub the majority of that sentence. It's an essential, period.
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Summary: Rule Brittania!
Review: I suggest that you follow Amazon's recommendation and buy it with the acompanying sequel "Impro for Storytellers" Hmm...Let's see: Once upon a time there was a brilliant little boy who lived in an alternative universe so he had mercifully never heard of Viola Spolin. Therefore instead of following standard improv exercises such as 'mirror' or 'tug of war on the imaginary rope' He began creating his own.
These wre not dependant on the Spolin credo of agreeing on the 'Who, What, When and Where'. Rather our young hero was more fascinated by 'Why?' or in plainer English, 'Why should either the audience or the actors give a (expletive deleted) about this improv exercise? What's its value and moreover, could it apply to acting in general? Consequently through experimentation, a contrary kind of courage ('My acting teachers told me never to make faces as it was untruthful, so I mugged whenever I could') and a curious interest in the transformative power of Mask work--which was out of fashion in The West since the fall of Athens--arrived at some startingly new discoveries for character work as well as Improv. He then moved to Canada, opened his own troupe, and the rest, as they say is history . . . Let's see, did I leave anything out? Oh Yes, a practical piece of advice and a cryptic remark to end this review: 1. If the library is burning and you have a choice of saving Stanislavski's trilogy or these two books, save Johnstone's 2. Beware of Boris (to say nothing of Igor)
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely entrancing
Review: I'm not an actor, have no experience of improvisational theatre (not even seen any!), but I loved this book. A fascinating glimpse into a highly creative and original mind, and funny as heck, especially the section on Status. This book would be of interest to teachers, particularly those teaching arts (including but not limited to language arts).
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Summary: The actor's bible
Review: If you're in love with acting, then you'll be in love with this book. It's not one of those does and donts manuals, boring and technical, no it's full of life. Johnstone looks into your heart and will tell you about your blocks and fears and how to release them. His style is compelling and convincing and he won't shy away from making you feel bad once in a while, because he's telling the truth about acting. But it's not only about acting. reading this book you'll find out a lot about yourself and the way you behave/ act in life and to what effect you do it. The games he writes about can be played as such - namely games - with friends, or you can use them in school or in manager-tutoring (see the chapter about hirarchy) or as warm-up and instructional games before a rehearsal. The book will also broaden your mind and help you free your creativity, just by reading it! So it does all sorts of weird and wonderful things to you: Whatever you do in your life, this book will! ! make it better.
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Summary: Challenging but difficult to judge
Review: Impro is divided in four sections, Status, Spontaneity, Narrative Skills, and Masks and Trance. The most interesting section, Status, discusses how general physical attitudes dictate our attitude and how other people see us. Johnstone expounds his idea that all relationships are plays on status. His other chapters are more technical and discuss various theater exercises meant to stimulate spontaneity and narrative skills. This book is difficult to judge. On the one hand, it is very challenging and engages us with interesting ideas, especially about status and power relations. But the last chapter in particular is replete with paranormal and new age nonsense - hypnosis, trances, aborigene religions, everything gets thrown in the mix. Johnstone's attitude towards education is also surprisingly outdated for a 1981 book : he keeps harping on educational attitudes which belong in the fifties. Johnstone is obviously a very superficial and linear-thinking man. I suppose the recommendation would have to be based on whenever one works in the theater or not. If the former, then this book will no doubt be of great help, if one can ignore the nonsense : otherwise there is little recommend this book.
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Summary: Got me out of a creative block
Review: It's corny to say it, but this book changed my life. I had heard vague things about how, when improvising, you are always supposed to "say yes" and be spontaneous, but didn't like the sound of it. This book lays out clearly what it means to do it (and what happens to you if you don't: you block). Even if you aren't an actor or in theater, this approach to improvisation will make you reexamine the way you "improvise" in everyday life. Are you spontaneous? Or are you always on the defensive?
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Summary: Worth Reading
Review: Johnstone's book is one of the two or three books in the field of Improvisational Theater that is a must read. I don't subscribe to all that is written in this book, but his insights and ideas are brillant and lucid. The book is easy to read, and something that should be re-read. Johnstone focuses on ideas more than excersises. There are many excersises in this book, but they must be dug out and re-formulated to make them workable. This book is a necessary read in order to build a solid improvisation foundation.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading
Review: Johnstone's book is one of the two or three books in the field of Improvisational Theater that is a must read. I don't subscribe to all that is written in this book, but his insights and ideas are brillant and lucid. The book is easy to read, and something that should be re-read. Johnstone focuses on ideas more than excersises. There are many excersises in this book, but they must be dug out and re-formulated to make them workable. This book is a necessary read in order to build a solid improvisation foundation.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most influential books ever written on theatre
Review: Keith Johnstone has given the theatre community a bible on the par with those of Hagen and Stanislavsky. His simple approach to theatrical creativity (and creativity of all kinds) has become the basis for my work in theatre. His explanation of status will have you forever looking differently at acting, directing and writing. I reread this book often and use its concepts constantly. It is by far unfortunately one of the most overlooked books ever written about theatre.
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