Charm Scene: Improvised Musicals

Things get 'familiar' as we welcome charming guest Brady Barrow! Inspired by Brady's haunting experience playing Dracula's #1 sidekick Renfield, we travel to the monstrous, blood soaked streets of New York City, where we find collegiate creatures, waltzing werewolves, man-made men, and so much more. It's time to transform on this week's Charm Scene! Brady has been waiting her whole life to be on Charm Scene and is so excited. Its probably all downhill from here. In the past she has been a part of multiple productions such as TMI @annoyance, Made Up Musicals @annoyance, Help! Let Me Out RN! @annoyance, Baby Grand (iO House team), Improvised Broadway @iO, Now That's What I Call F*ck It @secondcity, and more! She is part of a two-person sketch ensemble entitled BUTTERFACE, with her good friend Ollie Grishaber. You can find Brady on Instagram @brady.barrow.comedy or at bradybarrow.com. When she is not performing she is crocheting or annoying her cat. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Brady Barrow Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

April Fools! Oh you thought we'd only have one episode this week, didn't you? Got your ass. It's a twofer Charm Scene April Fools extravaganza, and what better way to commemorate the funniest of holidays than a good old fashioned just us challenge-sode. Reminiscent romance, ear-plugged pianos, and not a single Scheidler sibling in sight. All this and more on this week's Charm Scene! Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

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It's a vegetable revolution as charming guest Jonathan Allsop returns for another fully improvised musical. Don't miss our savoy spectacles, leafy liberation, and Mr. Corn Orville Redenbacher De Beers Diamonds Jr. himself. Lettuce entertain you on this week's Charm Scene! Jonathan Allsop was born and raised in Reading, PA. He is a proud first gen American with his mom/family immigrating from the islands of Trinidad & Tobago. After graduating from UPenn in Philly he moved to Chicago to do business, and act on the side, which eventually took over so much that he went to get his MFA in Acting at NIU. He has worked at various theaters such as: The Second City, Writers Theatre, Court Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Definition Theatre, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, and more. He has done a lot of commercial and film work (a proud member of SAG-AFTRA), and has done improv throughout the city with Anarchy, Phony Award, and Blank. He loves the community and art that exists in Chicago and is so excited to continue to grow and do more. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Jonathan Allsop Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

It's 'Almost' time for an all new Charm Scene! Charming guest Liz McCreight (Tuesday Musical Improv, Teen Girl Book, Tent Peg Productions) returns for a surprisingly grounded improvised musical, inspired by the actual play, "Almost, Maine." Residents of this fictional town include sapphic stitchers, emotional exes, tired toddler parents, and more. Don't go breaking my heart! Liz McCreight is an improviser on her tenth year in Chicago who finally feels comfortable calling herself a Chicagoan. When not performing with TMI, Teen Girl Book, or producing shows with Tent Peg Productions, you can find her watching cartoons with her cat.  Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Liz McCreight Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Magic Mike is back! Charming guest Mike Gospel returns for a spellbinding fully improvised musical, complete with terrifying tricks, dutiful doves, cosmic calamities, and more. Find the magic inside us all, and inside James, on this week's Charm Scene. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Mike Gospel Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

Adjective - of, relating to, or characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to highly intelligent people. We're hot for teacher as charming guest Juliana Zepeda joins the esteemed faculty of Charm Scene High, but she's on the hunt for something else. Musical MILFs, wistful worms, principled principals, and more in this week's fully improvised musical. Class is in session! Juliana Zepeda is really busy, kind of all the time, but this is her favorite podcast and some of her favorite people ever. If you like what you hear please follow her on Instagram and Tiktok @jayz_nottherapper. She would also love it if you came to any of her shows. Wheel of Improv, Shamilton, and Baby Wants Candy at Second City. Improvised Jane Austen, Marquee, and Best of iO Improv at iO Theater, or any of the other shows she does and loves. Slay Always. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Juliana Zepeda Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

We're just a week away from the first annual Fraudway Musical Improv Festival at Chicago's iO Theatre! In this all new episode of Chat Scene, festival creator and organizer Allen Lucas joins us to talk about the festival and his countless new musical improv endeavors at iO (including the amazing new show "Marquee"). We'll see you all at the Fraudway Musical Improv Festival, March 6-7. Tickets are on sale now at ioimprov.com. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Allen Lucas Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

The game is afoot! FIVE TIME charming guest Allen Lucas is back once again, this time with a mystery! We take Allen's real life love of ice cream and friendship and turn it into a devious, delicious dessert of musical improv, complete with vats of vanilla, nosey neighbors, suspicious stains, and more. Get the latest scoop on this week's Charm Scene! Want to hear even more of Allen? Don't miss the first annual FRAUDWAY Musical Improv Festival at Chicago's iO Theatre, March 6-7. Tickets are on sale now at ioimprov.com. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Allen Lucas Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Charm Scene is performed entirely by humans in sunny Chicago, IL. For more on the podcast, follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, visit us online at charmscenepod.podbean.com, or email us at CharmScenePod@gmail.com. In listening to this show, we hope you continue to support live human art wherever you find it. Stay charming!

The cards have spoken! Daryn Robinson ("My Best Friend is Black," "Shamilton," "She The People") is BACK. Through the power of live Tarot readings, and inspired by Daryn's story about her real-life uncle (a member of the legendary band "Earth, Wind & Fire") we set off through the kingdoms of Earth, Wind, and Fire on a quest to rediscover ourselves - featuring bountiful bindles, swollen skunks, vicious volcanoes, and more. The cycle continues on this week's Charm Scene! Daryn Robinson (she/her) is a Chicago-based writer/performer originally from Washington, D.C. She is a performer at @TheSecondCity, where her credits include She The People, the 2025 Black Excellence Revue, the family-friendly shows No Grown-Ups Allowed and Rudolph Runs Wild, and understudying the Touring Company and ETC Stage. Her other improv shows include: @Shamilton_Musical with @BabyWantsCandy, and @ImprovAusten and @Birdlady.io with @iochicago. Daryn proudly co-produces the all-Black comedy show @MyBestFriendisBlackShow at @TheLincolnLodge, voted @Chicago_Reader’s Best Comedy Show of 2023 and 2024! You can follow her at @daryn_2dream and catch her headlining @CityWineryChi on Feb. 24th (her birthday!!!) with My Best Friend is Black ✨ Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Daryn Robinson Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

Welcome weary travelers! Charming dungeon master Jono Mammel is back for a fantastical improvised adventure, inspired by Jono's real work in "Oops! All Bards." Join us as we enter a magical, musical world of swamps & sparrows, rocks & rolls, taverns & telekinesis, and more. Roll for initiative! Jono Mammel (they/them) is an actor, musical improviser, and tabletop game master originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan. Their Chicago credits include "Anthony Rapp: Home for the Holidays," "Benny Bingo and the Evangelikids," "Fan Fiction," "Puffs," "Shark Tank: the Musical," "Oops! All Bards: An Improvised D&D Musical," "Phony Award Winning Musical," and "Blank! The Musical." They can be seen improvising at Second City in "Baby Wants Candy" and "Shamilton," at the Revival in "Faking the Band," at iO in "Marquee," and at the Annoyance in "Tuesday Musical Improv." When not making things up, they enjoy murder mystery novels, televised cooking competitions, and making time-consuming Italian food. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Jono Mammel Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

We're LIVE again from Williamsburg, VA at the 2026 Last Word Comedy Festival! This year, we looked to fiber-rich comedy major Li for inspiration for an all-new fully improvised musical. Copious carrots, vicarious villains, tasty transformations, and more on this week's Charm Scene! What's up, Doc? Special thanks to the city of Williamsburg for sponsoring the event, and to everyone at The Last Word Comedy Festival. Learn more at lastwordfestival.com Recorded January 29, 2026 at PBK Hall at The College of William and Mary Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, with introduction by Adam Stackhouse Music Director: Sam Scheidler Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

Buckle up, Charmers. We've got Richmond's own Sarah Murphy (Bite Sized Podcast, RIFF, Swiped) for a very special improvised musical, inspired by her real life DAD. It's an Uber ride you'll never forget, with curious kids, hazardous heists, troubled townsfolk, and more! Tippity tap that gas pedal for an all-new Charm Scene! Sarah (she/her) is a wife-guy and improviser from Chicago, IL. She cohosts @bitesizedpod_ and performs with @riffimprov and @swipedimprov around Chicago. In her free time, she volunteers at @pawschicago and fosters kittens. So if you need cat advice, Twilight fun facts, or a loud, gangly woman on your stage then hit her up. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Sarah Murphy Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

Step right up! Step right up! See the wonders of improvised musicales as we welcome charming guest and brilliant scientist Christian Pitsch. Motherless mummies, whirling wheels, strange sciences, and more! See something you've never seen before in this all new Charm Scene. Christian Pitsch is a capital-C comedian. You can catch him: hosting "The Open Stage," performing sketch with "Anti Virgin Club," improvising on "TMI," or singing his heart out in his original musical "Pigskin," Saturdays January 31-March 28 at The Annoyance! Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Christian Pitsch Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

Is it hotter in here, or is it just us? It's another INCENDIARY improvised musical as we welcome former member of "The Burn Team" and charming guest Josiah Robinson! Join us as we go undercover, into a world of smoldering secrets, combustible canyons, and torched Texans. Hope you don't get burned on this week's Charm Scene! Josiah Robinson is a improviser, actor, and podcaster in Chicago. You can find his music improv team Anarchy, the Improvised Rock Opera @anarchymusicimprov on Instagram. And check out his podcast How Star Wars Is It? (@howstarwarsisit) available wherever you get your podcasts. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Josiah Robinson Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!"

Let's go to the mall! It's the first episode of 2026, and we've got a DUO. Charming guests Barb Jackson and Hugh Walker (Director and Writer/Composer of "Evangelikids!") join us for an all-new improvised musical, set in the long lost world of US shopping malls. A captive Claire's, a submerged Spencer Gifts, troubling taekwondo, and more. Yay capitalism! Barb Jackson is a writer, performer, and director originally from Northern California. She has called Chicago home for 4 years, but you can still hear her say something is 'Hella cool dude' when she's excited. Catch her perform in "Improvised Jane Austen" at iO Theater, and don't miss the next run of "Evangelikids," opening January 2026 at The Annoyance Theater! Hugh Walker sometimes performs musical improv, sometimes writes stuff, sometimes plays piano, but mostly watches a man build igloos on YouTube. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Barb Jackson, Hugh Walker Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

What better way to celebrate the new year than a CHALLENGE EPISODE? We've got the gang together to ring in 2026 with resolute rhymes, timely time signatures, a charming champaign toast, and so much more - including a special surprise appearance from friend of the pod, Maya Tanaka! Happy New Year from all of us at Charm Scene! Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Maya Tanaka Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

You better watch out. You better not cry. Because this improviser is a heck of a guy. It's our CHRISTMAS EPISODE with charming guest and huge get - Santa Claus! In this week's fully improvised musical, we revisit the true (and dark?) origins of Kris Kringle, complete with radiated reindeer, 70s swag, and a babbling Baby New Year. Happy Holidays! Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Santa Claus Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

BRRRRRR. This week we welcome the abominable Daniel Matthews, as he shares his experience puppeteering "Nigel the Sasquatch" for a series of Chuck E' Cheese music videos. This wintery improvised musical comes complete with miserable misfits, supportive straights, and hungry hungry hippos. Find where you belong on this week's Charm Scene! Daniel (He/Him) grew up in the suburbs of Texas between Fort Worth and Dallas. He started improv back in his junior year of high school and has been performing ever since. He completed the training program at the Dallas Comedy House, co-wrote a couple horror movie musicals, and was a main stage performer at the Four Day Weekend theater in Dallas for years. Eventually Daniel made his way up to Chicago in March of '24 where he was delighted to join the cast of "Tuesday Musical Improv" at the Annoyance Theater. In his free time, Daniel likes convincing people to go do karaoke at weird bars, and trying not to slip on ice. Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Daniel Matthews Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!

To you he's just a sickly kid, but one day he just might be governor. Pod favorite Jessica Joy is back for another fully improvised musical, this time inspiring us with her real life summer stock experience in "The Secret Garden." Sour servants, talking termites, bags of bullets, and more in this week's Charm Scene! Make a wish! Jessica Joy is an actor and sketch comedian originally from Cleveland, Ohio! She is an alumni of the Second City in Chicago, where she wrote and performed in the Jeff Award-winning revue "Sky's the Limit (Weather Permitting)", and toured the country with the Second City National TourCo and aboard the Norwegian Jade and Dawn cruise ships. TV credits: The Playboy Club (NBC), Modern Family (ABC), My Life Is A Joke (OWN), Chicago Med (NBC). Film credits: Screams From the Tower, Janie Jones, Bad Johnson. Jessica is a lifelong fan and employee of Cedar Point Amusement Park, having performed there in the early 2000's, and writing and directing shows there in the 2020's. Watch her solo show at www.jessicajoy.com! Cast: Lily Ludwig, Austin Packard, Jessica Joy Music Director: Sam Scheidler Drums: Chris Ditton Follow us @CharmScenePod on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or shoot us a message at CharmScenePod@gmail.com!