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July 27, 2016
Movie Review: Don't Think Twice

I recently had a chance to see Mike Birbligia's latest independent film, Don't Think Twice, which was released in limited theaters on July 22. It's the story of a popular New York improv group and what happens when one of the members gets a big break and gets hired by a Saturday Night Live-type of sketch […]

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July 20, 2016
Meet My Daughter

I would like you to meet our daughter, Betsy Jane Carrane. She was born Saturday, July 2 at 2:51 p.m. CST in Evanston, a northern suburb outside of Chicago. She came out weighing 7 lbs. 10 oz., measuring 20 inches long and looking like an little angry old man. I was worried. Nobody wants an ugly baby, […]

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July 12, 2016
4 Ways To Stop Doing Argument Improv Scenes

Oh, the argument scene. Most of us do them. I know I do, and sometimes they work, but most of the time they don't. I wish I could say that prevents me from doing them, but even after all these years of improvising, when I get scared, it’s my go to type of improv scene. […]

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July 5, 2016
Why We Need Love and Support in Improv

Last week I interviewed Chicago comedian Kelsie Huff for an episode of Improv Nerd, who runs a very popular stand-up class for women called Fem Com. In the interview, Kelsie talked about how important it is to create an environment in class where women feel supported and nurtured and don't have to apologize for what […]

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June 27, 2016
How to Be a Good Supporting Player in an Improv Scene

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 […]

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June 22, 2016
You Are Never Ready

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 […]

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June 14, 2016
Must-see Improv shows in Chicago this Summer

Every summer, improvisers from all over the country and the world flock to Chicago to take summer intensives and immerse themselves in Chicago’s vibrant improv scene. And every year, without fail, I get emails from these out-of-towners about what improv shows they should see when they’re here. So this year, I thought I’d make it […]

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June 8, 2016
Will Hines' new improv book: How to Be the Greatest Improviser on Earth

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 […]

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June 1, 2016
Why it's good to have a small improv class

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 […]

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May 24, 2016
How to Make Great Decisions Every Day

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 […]

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