Last week, I talked about how to give good improv notes if you are an improv coach or director. This week, I'm going to give some tips on how to give improv notes to your own teammates -- a much trickier proposition. First, let me say, if you are part of an improv group and […]
As an improv director or coach, giving notes after a show is an art. Like improvising, you can only get better at teaching and directing improv by doing it and making a lot of mistakes along the way. Though my methods may seem a little unconventional, I wanted to share them with you because I […]
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Jill Soloway is the creator of the hit show, Transparent. Jimmy sat down with The Golden Globe winner and talked to her about starting out at The Annoyance Theater back in the early 90’s, how she's dealing with her success, and the creative process. You will not want to miss this honest and insightful interview […]
When we first start taking improv classes we have no expectations. Actually, we are ecstatic. We are just so happy that we finally got up the nerve to start doing it. Each week, we look forward to improv class. We rush off to it. Our life starts to change. Our crappy day job becomes tolerable. Our body changes. People think we […]
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Jimmy Carrane, host of the Improv Nerd podcast interviews iO Chicago fixture Noah Gregoropoulos about improvising, truth in comedy, teaching, and Del Close.
I am so grateful that there are so many schools, teachers and methods of improvisation. It's the best thing for the art form and is one of the reasons it keeps growing. That was not the case when I started taking improv classes back in the late ’80s in Chicago. In those days, you had three places […]
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Jimmy Carrane interviews Amey Goerlich about the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), improvising, teaching, directing and producing in the NYC improv scene.
The number one rule in improv -- over "Yes, And…," listening, finding the game in the scene, environment, adding specifics, and developing character and emotions -- is “Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously.” It has happened to all of us. We make a Harold team, or get hired by a big comedy theater, or finish a […]
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The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Touring company consists of Marshall Stratton, Mike Kelton, Jenny St. Angelo, and James Smith. Jimmy caught up with them at The Steel Stacks Improv Comedy Festival.
Improvisers have all heard that we need to add specifics to our improv scenes. Specifics are they fuel that keeps scenes going. The more specifics we use, the less we have to work to figure out what’s going on. Without them we’re in "Vaugue-land" -- not a good place to take our scene partners or the […]