Impro is a handbook for running a cult

(seangoedecke.com)

33 points | by swah 9 hours ago ago

8 comments

  • andrei_says_ an hour ago

    It also happens to be my favorite book on acting and improvisation, with tons of brilliant exercises. highly recommended.

  • pavel_lishin 6 hours ago

    > Cities and “taking pills” (read: antidepressants) are obscene, but you should be able to make sexual jokes in the workplace and generally be uninhibited

    Almost want to read this book, just so I can see what absurd justifications Johnstone has for these statements.

    • GoToRO 6 hours ago

      why do you even need justification? This is how things operate in my locale.

  • amadeuspagel 5 hours ago

    The most important thing I remember from Impro is that we all have habits we adopted as children that we still use as adults, even though they no longer work.

  • wanderer2323 4 hours ago

    The text of the article doesn’t support the headline.

    “Married a student”, “the girls realized some of the students were hitting on them with pickup lines”, and “separated some of the more talented students for special lessons” are really not the strongest arguments for “he ran a cult”.

    Even the “used hypnosis as a technique to teach acting” which has the article author wringing their hands is not really worrisome. From a cult you kinda expect “to compel members to transfer money” or “…to have sex with the guru” or “…to aggressively recruit from affinity groups” or, you know, something. There is no “something” in this.

    • paulryanrogers 4 hours ago

      Cults generally try to isolate and control people, regardless of the motive. Of course there are other criteria and opinions on them vary.

    • 4 hours ago
      [deleted]
  • simianwords 2 hours ago

    Some of the urban kids at my university would also sit on the floor awkwardly near the classroom, but the ones from smaller towns would never think of doing that. A lot of it makes sense now that I think about it..