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Theresa Mulligan Rosenthal is a TV writer and producer, working on such shows as "Lady Dynamite," "How I Met Your Mother" and "Whitney." She started out improvising in the '90s in Chicago and was a member of Second City Touring Company, Second City Northwest and Jazz Freddy. We talked to her about taking improv classes […]

Alright, you have put together a great improv show and you are really excited about it. Now the important part: How do you get people to come and see it? If you’re like most improvisers, you will rely on people magically just showing up. Which in most cases doesn’t work. Some people are fortunate enough […]

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 […]

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Ron West is an actor, writer and director. A longtime director at The Second City in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and LA, Ron also worked as a consultant on "Whose Line is It Anyway?" and has had numerous TV and film credits, including on "Third Rock from the Sun." Jimmy talks to him about how he […]

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 […]

Tonight is the 2016 Emmy Awards. It's a big night for the television industry, and it's also a big night for the improv community. When I was looking at the list of nominees the other day, I couldn't believe how many improvisers were nominated in all categories -- acting, writing, and directing. Here is our […]

I really should not write a blog this week. I am fried and burnt out, and the best thing to do in this situation is just re-run an old blog. But I am not built that way. I am from the school of “push through the pain until something breaks,” and I rarely take my […]

Is improv art? Apparently not in the state of Texas, according to the Texas State Commission on the Arts. When the 15-year old non-profit, volunteer-based Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin recently went to apply for some funding, they were told flat out by the commission that "improv is not art," and therefore OOB […]

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Matt Dwyer is a writer, stand-up and podcaster. He was one of the youngest people to be hired for the Second City Touring Company at the age of 21. He has written for Funny or Die and Jonah Ray's Hidden America on Netflix. We talked to him about hanging out at Second City when he […]

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 […]