Tilt
Johnstone's term for the change that breaks an established routine or platform, forcing the story to adapt — the pivot point of a narrative improv scene.
Known for
- Most thoroughly developed in Impro for Storytellers, which includes 'A Selection of Tilt Lists' as an appendix.
- Good tilts sit within or on the edge of the circle of expectation; bad tilts explode the world arbitrarily.
- Analogous to UCB's 'unusual thing' but applied to story structure, not comedic pattern.
Connected to
People