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When we came across the bookshelfies tumblr, we were smitten.

Here’s our improv-related section. Like a good Harold, it’s got a bit of this and a bit of that, but somehow everything’s connected. (See below for links.) What’s on yours?

Bookshelfie

The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron

Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right – Al Franken

Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven’s Gate, the Film that Sank United Artists – Steven Bach

Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy – Jay Sankey

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose – Eckhart Tolle

On Writing– Stephen King

The Right to Write – Julia Cameron

The Actor’s Art and Craft – William Esper and Damon DiMarco

Comedy Writing Secrets – Mel Helitzer and Mark Shatz

And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers – Mike Sacks

You’re Not Doing It Right– Michael Ian Black

American Theatre Book of Monologues for Men (Vol 1) – Stephanie Coen

Taking the Leap – Pema Chodron

The Glass Teat – Harlan Ellison

Magical Thinking – Augusten Burroughs

The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman

Born Standing Up – Steve Martin

Truth in Comedy – Charna Halpern, Del Close and Kim Johnson

The Basketball Diaries – Jim Carroll

Improvising Better: A Guide for the Working Improviser – Jimmy Carrane and Liz Allen

Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual– Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Ian Walsh

The Art And Craft Of Storytelling – Nancy Lamb

Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story – Jennifer Grisanti

The Art of Non-Conformity – Chris Guillebeau

Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out – Mick Napier

Play – Stuart Brown

Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great – William M. Akers

The Elements of Style – Strunk and White

The Office: The Scripts – Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

The Zoo Story and The Sandbox – Edward Albee

Look Back in Anger – John Osborne

A Practical Handbook for the Actor – Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, Madeline Olnek, Nathaniel Pollack, Robert Previtio, Scott Zigler and David Mamet

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If there’s one thing improvisers love to do, it’s play.

So when Cameron got himself fired from advertising, he started a group called Funemployed.

It’s a community of fun people with the time and dedication to having fun – be they actors/improvisers, writers, artists, chefs, computer geeks, or just folks between jobs.

Since more and more people now have jobs with flexible hours, Cameron wanted to create a way for people to connect and spend their time joyfully, instead of being isolated. Anyone can post an idea or event for the group, and others will join in.

So far events have included softball, frisbee, free Improv for Anxiety drop-in classes, bowling, board games, and even trampoline dodgeball.

There are other “Funemployed” groups on facebook, including a web series and a few for job networking or finding your purpose. That’s cool, too, but the Toronto group is purely a fun-based initiative.

You can join the facebook group here. And if you’re not in Toronto, why not start your own chapter?

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Photo © Jameson Kraemer

Photo © Jameson Kraemer

Your favourite improv nerd already owns the Game of Thrones box set, a sonic screwdriver, and every volume of Axe Cop.

Fresh out of ideas? Well relax. There are still a few goodies we guarantee they’d be happy to find in their stocking.

Second City Gift Certificates

Experiential gifts are some of the coolest things you can give. So why not share the joy of clapping along to Big Booty with a bunch of strangers?

Like a lot of people, we fell in love with improv at Second City Training Centre. From Level A for beginners, to writing, acting, and specialty classes, you can give a gift certificate for any of SCTC’s awesome courses. Click here for info on Chicago, LA and Toronto.

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Jimmy Carrane’s Art of Slow Comedy

If your friend lives in Chicago, a gift certificate for any of Jimmy Carrane’s Art of Slow Comedy classes is just the ticket.

Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual

Authors Besser, Roberts and Walsh have poured 20+ years of knowledge into this mutha of all improv books. Coming in at just under 400 pages, it covers everything from two-person scenes to Harold structure, and was designed for beginners as well as seasoned improvisers.

Improvise. Scene from the Inside Out

We’ve said it before: no one writes more engagingly about improv than Mick Napier. Like UCB’s manual, Improvise appeals to both novice and seasoned performers. And at 144 pages, it’s the perfect companion for those improv festival road trips.

Trust Us, This Is All Made Up

If you’ve ever seen TJ and Dave perform, you know you’ve witnessed something profoundly unique and brilliant in the world of improv.

Watching them play is like a master class in itself. Which is why every improviser should own a copy of Trust Us, This Is All Made Up, a documentary of the duo performing live at the Barrow Street Theatre. We’ve probably seen it a dozen times, and still learn something with each viewing.

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Photo © Crista Flodquist

Mr. Show: The Complete Collection

True, it’s not improv. But Mr Show With Bob & David redefined comedy for a generation.

Younger audiences may recognize Bob Odenkirk from Breaking Bad, or David Cross from Arrested Development. But between 1995 and ’98, the two of them created one of the most subversive sketch shows ever imagined. Multiple viewings are a must, due to the insane amount of creativity jammed into each episode.

The Larry Sanders Show – Complete Series

Without Larry Sanders, there would be no Office. No Alan Partridge. Even, some suggest, no Deadwood or Oz. In fact, it’s impossible to conceive of a world TLSS didn’t influence.

Long before reality TV, The Larry Sanders Show was a groundbreaking satire combining social commentary and “faux reality,” with a cast so talented it boggles the mind. Garry Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor, Rip Torn, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, Wallace Langham and Sean Thompson shared the screen with some of the greatest actors and musicians on the planet.

The box set contains all 89 episodes, plus commentaries and a feature-length documentary. Give it to really someone special…if you can bear to part with it.

Lost your improv mojo? One simple word can help you find it again.

Image © Jeff Rogers

Image © Jeff Rogers

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To view the Rob Ford rant video, click here.

(Thanks to S&P’s Isaac Kessler for helping us laugh through Toronto’s pain.)

Cameron was a guest on SiriusXM’s Canada Talks Speak Easy with Carla Collins yesterday.

While he was waiting to be interviewed, he noticed another man sitting alone. Cameron introduced himself and asked the man, whose name was Scott, what he was there to talk about.

“Oh, I’m with Commander Hadfield,” Scott replied, indicating the studio.

Cameron’s eyes widened.

“You mean I’ve gotta follow him?”

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They laughed, and Scott asked what Cameron did. He explained that he was there to talk about improv, and how it helped him overcome his anxiety.

They chatted for several minutes, and Cameron forgot all about any nerves he might have had. When the studio door opened, Scott told Cameron, “You’ve got to meet Chris!”

As Cameron told me this story, he said, “The ‘old me’ would have sat by myself, concentrating on not being nervous. Instead I was focused on what was happening now. Laughing with Scott was so much better than focusing inward.”

(Improv analogy, anyone?)

If you’d like to learn more about improv for anxiety (and being here now), check out Cameron’s new website at playwithfireimprov.com.

We love this infographic by Bob Kodzis. If you’ve ever taken a class with David Razowksy, you’ll get it. And if you haven’t, we hope it intrigues you to do so.

Image © Bob Kodzis

Improv teams are a fluid, ephemeral thing.

A handful last years, while most last months, weeks, or even – like Todd Stashwick’s MayFly cast – one night.

Rob Ariss Hills is a Toronto improviser who created this to artwork to map his own improv lineage. If you’d like him to do the same for you, email him at: robertarisshills@gmail.com

Digital copies and/or posters are available (commissioned pieces will be higher resolution than the image below). For shipping outside Toronto, send your snail mail address to request a quote.

Image © Robert Ariss Hills

Image © Robert Ariss Hills

Guy: So what’s your team called again?

Girl: Cat Deeley’s Pajamas. We’re an all-lesbian team.

Guy: Awesome. Wait…so…are you…?

Girl: No. I just have short hair, and the Artistic Director assumed.

Guy: Cool, cool. We have a team like that at our place. It’s an all-black team.

Girl: Really? Are they good?

Guy: Oh, he’s amazing.

Waiter: Welcome to Denny’s.

(pours water, leaves)

Girl: What about your team, Lannister…?

Guy: Calrissian. It’s me and three other guys. We do like a Deconstruction-style Game of Thrones thing, with a bit of Sit, Stand, Bend.

Girl: Sounds fun. Have you been together long?

Guy: A couple months. To be honest, I’m really kinda over this town. I’m thinking of moving to New York or LA. Maybe Winnipeg. I don’t wanna get pigeonholed.

Girl: I love your Boba Fett shirt, by the way.

Guy: Thanks.

Girl: I like that it’s spelled “F-e-t-e” and he’s having a party.

Guy: Got it at ComiCon. The guy who voiced Jar Jar Binks signed it, even though I asked him not to.

Girl: Uh, did you just check us in on Foursquare?

Guy: Yeah, why?

Girl: I sorta skipped rehearsal to be here. Told them I was sick.

Waiter: All righty, more water! Will there be anything else, or just the bill?

Girl: Could we get some menus?

Waiter: Right. Fuck. Sorry. Hey…are you on Lannister Calrissian?

Guy: Sure am. I’m Jeremy.

Waiter: Nick. I do improv too! Me and three other guys have an all-Mediterranean team, Freaks’n’Greeks. We do a kind of lights-on Bat with a bit of Sit, Stand, Bend.

Girl: Sounds fun.

Waiter: You should come. We’re opening for The Romeo Academy.

Guy: That’s crazy, I was just talking about him.

Waiter: Yeah, dude’s awesome. He’s black, you know.

Guy: I know…though I’d be friends with him even if he wasn’t!

Waiter: Great Boba Fett shirt, by the way. ComiCon ’08?

Guy: ’09.

Girl: I wish I had a burger right now.

Guy: And I wish I was a lion tamer.

Waiter: Zing! Monty Python’s Vocational Guidance Counsellor sketch.

(the guys laugh, high five)

Guy: We should get together sometime.

Waiter: I just added you on Facebook.

Guy: And I checked you in on Foursquare.

(they do a complicated bro shake)

Girl: Um, I guess I’ll just…

Guy: Yeah, you do that.

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Check out this seriously funny parody trailer for The 40-Year-Old Virgin, inspired by the one that started it all for The Shining. Steve Carell never seemed so scary.

Click below to watch.