Author Joanne Brokaw is celebrating today’s release of her poignant, encouraging new memoir, Suddenly Stardust, from WordCrafts Press. Subtitled A Memoir (of sorts) about Fear, Freedom & Improv the book has already struck a chord with readers from both within and outside of the improv world. Debuting on multiple Amazon.com Hot New Releases charts, including claiming the Number 20 position on the online retailer’s Hot New Releases in Biographies of Actors and Entertainers, Suddenly Stardust also opened at Number 32 in the Personal Growth category, hit Number 34 on the paperback Actors and Entertainers Biographies chart, and climbed to Number 50 on the Personal Transformation for Self Help chart, among others.

“Don’t let her humble and even occasionally timid way fool you. Joanne Brokaw is a powerhouse theatrical improvisor,” declared Law Tarello, MFA, who serves on the faculty of Chicago’s famed improvisational theater troupe, The Second City. “As a student she was willing to break out of her perceived comfort zone, and on stage she used her considerable emotional range and life experience to expand the parameters of what her scene partners thought possible. Her reflections in this book are all at once insightful and revealing. If you have any desire to expand your horizons as a performer, Joanne’s stories can certainly prepare you for what and who you might encounter.”

Austin Scott of the House Improv Theater in Gainesville, Florida, called Suddenly Stardust “A fascinating memoir that recounts the transformation from beginner to capable improviser and the emotional growing pains that come with that metamorphosis. Suddenly Stardust is essential reading and earns its place on my bookshelf right between Truth in Comedy and the UCB Manual.”

While the memoir draws on Brokaw’s considerable experience and abilities in the realm of improv, she is quick to point out, “Suddenly Stardust is not a book about improv. It is not a book about the history of improv, or improv theory, or a biography of great improvisors, or even a manual on how to play improv games. This is not a how-to manual for overcoming anxiety/depression/addiction to Pinterest/Netflix/refined sugar. This is not a book about how to write a book about improv or comedy or walking your dog. Instead, Suddenly Stardust is a simple little collection of things I’ve learned while doing improv that opened my eyes to the wonder and adventure I had missed for most of my life.”

You are born of the heavens, and whatever you bring to the stage will be beautiful, if you only let the stardust fall unhindered from your lips.

Improvisor, author, actor, and award-winning writer Joanne Brokaw performs regularly at The Focus Theater as part of the house team The Urge. She is also a member of the comedy trio Easily Amused and the improv duo, A Happy Accident. Joanne lives in Rochester, New York, where she writes, performs, and leads improv workshops to help people push past fear, embrace creativity, and learn to play again.
Learn more about her at: joannebrokaw.com