Play Your Way Sane

120 Improv-Inspired Exercises to Help You Calm Down, Stop Spiraling and Embrace Uncertainty

By: Clay Drinko PhD

Narrated by: Jake Austin Robertson

Stop negative thoughts, assuage anxiety, and live in the moment with these fun, easy games from improv expert Clay Drinko.

If you’ve been feeling lost lately, you’re not alone! Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans were experiencing record levels of loneliness and anxiety. And in our current political turmoil, it’s safe to say that people are looking for new tools to help them feel more present, positive, and in sync with the world. So what better way to get there than play?

In Play Your Way Sane, Dr. Clay Drinko offers 120 low-key, accessible activities that draw on the popular principles of improv comedy to help you tackle your everyday stress and reconnect with the people around you. Divided into 12 fun sections, including “Killing Debbie Downer” and “Thou Shalt Not Be Judgy”, the games emphasize openness, reciprocation, and active listening as the keys to a mindful and satisfying life. Whether you’re looking to improve your personal relationships, find new meaning at work, or just survive our trying times, Play Your Way Sane offers serious self-help with a side of Second City sass.

©2021 Clay Drinko. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

This inspiring book comes to life with iconic narration

I love this book! As someone who has lived with anxiety all my life, it really gets me thinking creatively about healthier and more uplifting ways to approach life. The exercises are so much fun and the book is just very enjoyable in general. I particularly love the way that the narrator brings the author’s words to life and makes me feel more connected to the experience. Couldn’t recommend this listen enough! You’ll thank me later.

Absolutely Outstanding!

I had only ever really seen improv shows in college, and after I graduated, I didn't think I'd ever hear the word "improv" again, or at least I hoped I wouldn't. I couldn't have been wronger. Dr. Drinko puts things in perspective in a way that I had never thought of before, and he brilliantly combines theatrical techniques and styles with ways to better improve your mental health. The reader's performance is one of the most thoroughly engaging I've heard so far in my Audible journey, and I certainly hope to hear more of him!

More tools in the tool box for handling anxiety

Full disclosure: the author is a college classmate (from many, many *checks notes* years ago…like, almost 20?), which is how I heard about this book originally, but I was very intrigued about the subject. After reading and listening to it, I was so pleased that, although this book is entertaining, it will also give me another tool to use with combatting anxiety. I almost need the book to be in the form of a deck of cards so I can pull out an exercise at random when I need one. I’m so impressed with how Clay—now Dr. Drinko—has developed this work! I do hope he’s able to record the Audible again with himself as the narrator. The actor they used didn’t really match up with the material. Dr. Drinko is a natural performer and entertainer, and this is clearly his passion, so I think it would really help listeners to connect to the work if it was done by the author himself.

Lots of good usable ideas

For yourself or a group. Plenty of ideas to foster spontaneity, authenticity, connection. The excessive clichés wore on me towards the last hour. All the same. they add a texture to the co tent that you will appreciate!

No games, no psychology, no self help-Just garbage

These are NOT GAMES! This is a list of strange activities that are neither fun nor healthy. Things like pointing to random objects and saying them outloud without any descriptions. "Car, road, sign, tree. Here's one- take another route home. That's the improv game-taking another way home. Here's one- go for a walk around the room and notice things. If that's too easy you can go outside (which is a separate more advanced game). Here's another improv game- Notice how annoyed people around you are. Here's another improv game- Go to a museum and pretend that you are shopping. Ask yourself what in the museum you want to buy. That's actually the game. Here's another one- Shake your body and will yourself to stop feeling bad (shake it off if you will). Here's another improv game- Say one thing over and over- anything but over and over. Here's another one- touch things. Not people- but just things. Touch them. That's the game. Here's a game- imagine yourself on a beach. By now you might think that I am taking the writer out of context or removing the most important parts of these non-game games. I assure you I am not. I am being fair and giving all the rules and context in a more concise manner but I am not exaggerating or parodying his games. The writer does spend a lot of time talking about how much these things calm him down, a lot of time is dedicated to him talking about his love of improv. a large portion of the book is totally off topic.But he is at least concise in describing these games. There is nothing here that sounds at all fun or helpful. I think that in some cases he heard someone talk about a psychological exercise and then he stripped all the important context out of it and that is why some of them don't make sense- that is giving him the benefit of doubt that any of these have any thought put into them. I really wanted to like this book. It sounded like combining improv and self help was some of my favorite things finally coming together in a psychological reeses. But this is a terrible, unfocused mishmash of strange pointless tasks that mean nothing. Most people could have thought of better self help games while sitting at work. On the positive side the tone of the book is very positive and upbeat. The reader does a very good job