The other day I was on Facebook and read a post by one of my favorite improvisers: Stacey Smith. If you don't know her, she is a gifted performer, super positive and a hard worker. She lives in Chicago -- a city that has more opportunities than most for improvisers. Her post was brutally honest […]
Actors are often skeptical of taking an improv class. I can’t tell you how many actors tell me “I am a serious actor. Why do I need to take an improv class?” Or they say, “I’m not funny,” “It scares me,” or “I wouldn’t be any good at it.” Actors avoid taking improv classes for lots […]
I have known Bill Arnett for some time. I think I first became aware of him when I was teaching at iO Chicago. Bill has always been a thoughtful improviser, teacher and director with a stellar reputation. As a fan of his improv blog, I was excited to find out that he recently put together […]
We have all been in those improv scenes where we suffered from the talking statue syndrome. You know, where two improvisers are frozen in the same positions while trying to exchange witty banter. This is improv purgatory. Remember, live improv is not the same as a podcast. It’s a three-dimensional art form, and we have […]
Comedy, acting, and improv can be a hard business. There are so many disappointments and so much rejection that we often forget to give ourselves credit for even showing up. I know I do. I cannot tell you how many times I have been out with a group of friends and someone will have a […]
I love Chinese food, and even though I don't eat sugar, I love opening the fortune cookies at the end. The little pieces of wisdom are the perfect way to end a great meal. So now that the year is coming to a close, I decided we should wrap things up with some improv wisdom […]
Well, 2016 is almost over, and I want to thank you for all your support and encouragement over the last year. As you know, it’s hard for me to find joy in most things that I do, but when I take a look back at this year, even I am impressed with all of the incredible […]
The other day during one of my improv classes, one of my students whose work has been getting stronger and stronger did a series of incredible characters and then said: "I have been doing this for five years. I just want to be consistent." This was not really a question; it was a statement. And the […]
It’s almost the end of the year, which means it’s time to clean the slate and focus on what we’d like to improve on in the coming year. Here are a few simple tips to try in 2017 that will improve your improvising and hopefully bring you more joy as you are doing it. Say […]
I think sometimes as improvisers we forget how brave we are. We were not born that way. We’ve become brave though years of training. Years of falling flat on our face. Years of persevering in spite of self-doubt. There is no other way. We often do not give ourselves enough credit for what we do. […]