Sometimes we think the goal in an improv scene is for both players to gets laughs — huge laughs. Wouldn't it be great if that happened all the time? Unfortunately, it doesn't. The reality is sometimes one improviser will come out with an incredibly strong character or point of view and the best thing for the other improvisers in […]
As you know, Lauren and I are about to have a baby. It’s due on June 30, and it will be our first. Even though Lauren is much younger, I am 52 years old, so you may be saying to yourself what we’ve been saying for the last nine months: "What are we doing?!" The other […]
I first met Will Hines when he contacted me after an episode of Improv Nerd that he particularly liked. I was floored. I had been aware of his reputation as a teacher and improviser at The UCB in New York, and of course of his terrific blog Improv Nonsense. Whenever one of my peers likes […]
When I first started out teaching improv a million years ago at The Second City Training Center in Chicago, we would occasionally have small classes. Sometimes only five or six people would show up for a Saturday afternoon improv class. I would get really frustrated when that would happen, and I would find Michael Gellman in the […]
Some of the worst decisions I have made in my life I made by myself. When I was in my early 30s, Saturday Night Live was going to fly me to New York to audition for the show. I made the "brilliant" decision all by myself to not go because I thought I really didn’t do characters […]
As improvisers, expressing ourselves is what we do. We do not have a choice: We are born this way. It’s no accident we are drawn toward the performing arts: sketch, stand-up, improv, and acting. These are the way we express ourselves. For me, the need to express myself is part of who I am at the […]
If you’ve been performing with an improv group for a while, you’ve probably started thinking about taking your group on the road, and traveling as a group to an improv festival across the country is not only a fun bonding experience, but an awesome way to take in some shows and workshops and have a […]
So you’re thinking about signing up for your very first improv class. Maybe people have told you that you’re funny, or that you should take an improv class just because it’s fun. But what is an improv class really like? Before you panic or try to get out of it before even showing up, I […]
It’s spring in Chicago and that means the Cubs have our hopes up, it could snow at any moment and the Chicago Improv Festival will be taking over the city. This year, the Chicago Improv Festival is taking place from May 2-8 at venues all over the city and will feature tons of shows from […]
Grief is new to me. I really have not had that much experience with it in my life, up until now. I have had grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends die, but I have never experienced this level of grief before. It is confusing based on my relationship with my dad. He was not my "best […]