_Impro_ is a handbook for running a cult

Here’s the big idea in Keith Johnstone’s book Impro: Children are naturally creative, but are violently formed into repressed adults by Western culture and education The process of becoming more creative and expressive is largely a process of unlearning these habits of repression Improv — improvisational comedy — is thus not just the skeleton key for learning to act, but for unlocking a more authentically human way of life This take doesn’t sound particularly original, but references to Impro pop up in all kinds of places: in influential tech blogs, as part of the initial process of onboarding for Palantir, and on the reading list of multiple big-tech founders. Impro is part of the secret canon of Silicon Valley, right alongside books like Seeing Like a State and The Power Broker. Why is that? For two reasons: first, because Johnstone’s outsider critique of established institutions is appealing; and second, because Impro is a handbook about running a cult. Defense mechanisms and…