Theatrical play is having a moment in Silicon Valley. AI companies hire improv artists to train models and motivate employees. Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey, and Bryan Johnson played Mafia on YouTube.

Earlier this summer, at Vibecamp in Maryland, clowning workshops and contact improv sessions drew tech attendees. Role-playing has long been part of nerd culture, but Silicon Valley’s embrace reflects a deeper philosophical view: reality is malleable, shaped by perception and performance. For cosmic innovators, disrupting social conventions is part of the job.

Keith Johnstone’s 1979 book “Impro” has gained cult status in tech. At Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel, it’s recommended reading for new hires. Cited by Anduril’s Trae Stephens, Tiago Forte, Venkatesh Rao, and Scott Alexander, “Impro” treats social interaction as status games—low and high—where looking away first signals dominance.

Exercises include misnaming objects to challenge norms. The book teaches that reality can be shaped through spontaneity. Qiaochu Yuan, a coach and X personality, says tech workers use it to codify social relationships as measurable transactions.

He first encountered it around 2016 via friends at the Center for Applied Rationality in the Bay Area. Lydia Laurenson, a writer on Silicon Valley culture, notes founders often have a “reality distortion field,” mastering logistics while creating compelling worldviews to sustain creativity and technical innovation.