Keith Johnstone Quotes

23 quotes in 407 categories

• In life most of us are highly skilled at suppressing action. Bad improvisers block action often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop…
• Many teachers think of children as immature adults. It might lead to better and more 'respectful' teaching, if we thought of adults as atrophied children.
• Suppose Mozart had tried to be original? It would have been like a man at the North Pole trying to walk north, and this is…
• Imagination is as effortless as perception, unless we think it might be ‘wrong’, which is what our education encourages us to believe.
• At school any spontaneous act was likely to get me into trouble. I learned never to act on impulse, and that whatever came into my…
• Most people I meet are secretly convinced that they’re a little crazier than the average person. People understand the energy necessary to maintain their own…
• An artist who is inspired is being obvious. He’s not making any decisions, he’s not weighing one idea against another. He’s accepting his first thoughts.
• The improviser has to understand that his first skill lies in releasing his partner’s imagination.
• None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public.
• Good improvisers seem telepathic; everything looks pre-arranged, This is because they accept all offers made—which is something no ‘normal’ person would do.
• There are people who prefer to say ‘Yes’, and there are people who prefer to say ‘No’. Those who say ‘Yes’ are rewarded by the…
• As I grew up, everything started getting grey and dull. I could still remember the amazing intensity of the world I'd lived in as a…
• Don't come on to be funny - come on to solve problems.
• The best laughs are on the recognition of truth.
• In a scene [where the improvisers must interact] without the letter S, the audience is waiting for you to lose - so they can laugh…
• Every time you go the way the audience expects, they'll think you're original. People laugh with pleasure at the obvious.
• Many teachers think of children as immature adults. It might lead to better and more 'respectful' teaching, if we thought of adults as atrophied children.…
• Enjoy things even when you’re screwing up.
• If you have a good idea, open your mouth and say something else.
• In a normal education everything is designed to suppress spontaneity, but I wanted to develop it.

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