Want to know how to become a better improviser, or at least have more fun when you’re improvising? Learn how to improvise with love. Love is the glue. It's the thing that holds a team, a show and even a scene together. It's why the audience is there, even though they don't know it. It's […]
This year, my 4-year-old daughter, Betsy, was really into going trick or treating. She was out of her mind excited about it. Me, not so much. I was just the parent taking her. When she woke up on Halloween morning at 7:14 a.m. the first thing out of her mouth was "When is it going to […]
I have learned in improv that if something is fun in a scene, do more of it. I get that’s how it works in improv, but I’m not as good at applying that same concept in my own life. But the other day, I was driving home from the grocery store with my two-and-half year […]
The irony is not lost on me that I am an improv teacher, which is about teaching people how to play and have fun, which is what I have the hardest time doing in my own life. (This is a classic case where the teacher teaches what he most needs to learn himself). Since I […]
If you haven’t heard by now, last week, after 108 years, the Chicago Cubs finally won a World Series title. Pretty incredible, especially for me who has been a Cubs fan my whole life. But if you have been reading this blog with any sort of regularity, you know that a celebration of any kind […]
You would think as an improviser I would like to play in my everyday life. You would think I would at least know how to have fun and be silly. I am sorry to disappoint, but I don't. A couple of weekends ago it became very clear that this might be becoming a problem. On Saturday afternoon, my […]
Beware of the buzz kill. That person who is in your group or in your class who takes a perfectly good show or class and shits all over it. They do it with their words. They do it with their negativity. Have pity on them; they don't know any better. I should know, I am […]
Years ago there was an actor here in Chicago who used to book a lot of commercials, parts on TV and films and voiceovers. He always had a positive outlook and he was one of only a handful of actors in town making a living at acting. When I’d see him in the waiting room […]
Accentuate the Positive In our last rehearsal for Jimmy and Johnnie, our coach, Jack Bronis, said to me and John Hildreth that we need to play every show with joy. I have been improvising for 30 years and I have never played with joy. I have played with angst and fear and pressure on myself, […]
3 Ways To Empower Your Improv Do you ever get discouraged in your improv and want to quit? Have you tried out for a team and not made it, or watched as other people from your level move up and you don't? If so, you're not alone. I've felt like giving up so many times […]