Randy Fertel, author of "Winging It: Improv’s Power & Peril in the Time of AI & Trump," dives into the fascinating world of improvisation. He discusses how improv challenges cultural norms and influences everything from literature to politics. Fertel shares insights on the intersection of advertising and identity, using iconic examples to illustrate societal expectations. He also critiques the spontaneity in modern governance, emphasizing its risks. Through engaging anecdotes, he highlights the profound impact of improvisation on creativity in today's landscape.
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insights INSIGHT
Improv's Disruptive Nature
Improvisation disrupts the assumption that value requires extensive effort or tradition.
It prioritizes embodied emotions and instinct, prioritizing pleasure and spontaneity.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Trump's Wall Improv
Trump's "build a wall" policy originated from an improvised response to a handler's suggestion.
This demonstrates improvisation's power, turning a spontaneous idea into a key policy.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Meticulous Spontaneity
Jack Kerouac's On the Road was meticulously edited despite claims of spontaneous creation.
Fred Astaire cultivated an image of effortless spontaneity despite rigorous rehearsal.
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The Road is set in a world that has been devastated by an unspecified cataclysmic event, resulting in the extinction of nearly all life on Earth. The story follows an unnamed father and his young son as they travel south along the road, carrying their meager possessions and a pistol with only two bullets. The father, suffering from a worsening respiratory condition, is determined to protect his son from the dangers of their new world, including cannibalistic marauders. Along their journey, they encounter various survivors, some of whom are cruel and others who show kindness. The novel explores themes of love, survival, and the preservation of humanity in a world devoid of hope. Ultimately, the father's health fails, and he dies, but not before ensuring his son's safety with a new family who may offer a chance for a better future[2][3][4].
Tristram Shandy
Laurence Sterne
A Taste for Chaos
The Art of Literary Improvisation
Randy Fertel
Winging It
Improv’s Power & Peril in the Time of Trump
Randy Fertel
Randy Fertel's "Winging It" explores the multifaceted nature of improvisation, examining its power and potential pitfalls in various contexts. The book delves into the neuroscience of improvisation, contrasting instinctive 'hot' cognition with rational 'cold' cognition. Fertel uses diverse examples, from music and literature to politics and advertising, to illustrate how improvisation shapes culture and communication. He analyzes the role of the 'trickster' archetype and the rhetoric of spontaneity, particularly in the context of Donald Trump's presidency. Ultimately, the book encourages a nuanced understanding of improvisation's impact on society.
Winging It: Improv’s Power & Peril in the Time of AI & Trump(Spring, 2024) is Randy Fertel’s third book, his second on improvisation. Creating something impromptu and without effort challenges our assumption that everything of value depends upon long study, tradition, and hard work. Improvisation comes to disrupt all that. The gesture all improvisations share—I will create this on the fly, or as Donald Trump has it, my gut knows more than many brains—defies rationality and elevates embodied emotions, instinct, and intuition. Claiming to be free of serious purpose, improvisation only pursues pleasure. Or, so it says. Through the lens of neuroscience, bioevolution, and well-known cultural texts, Winging It explores the links among the many disciplines improv informs—from Louis Armstrong’s “West End Blues” to the hip-hop masterpiece Hamilton. It defines what connects Kerouac’s On the Road, rock and roll, improv comedy, Fred Astaire’s tap, detective fiction, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, psychedelics, hookup culture, AI, even politics—in particular, the reign of the Improviser-in-Chief
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