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© 2025 Shiny Things Improv Podcast
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A place to chat all things improv with some of the best lonform improvisers from around the world. Hosted by London based improviser Aram Balakjian
9 Episodes
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Send us a text In this episode I chat to Patti Stiles — legendary improviser, actor, director, and author who began her improv journey training with Keith Johnson in the 1980s. She has since gone on to perform, teach, and direct countless improvisational theatre companies all over the world. I caught up with her at the GBG Improv Festival in Gothenberg, where I had just seen her and Joe Bill perform an incredible improvised play. We chatted about the her incredible four decades of experience,...
Send us a text In this episode I chat to Sam Roulston — improviser, standup, and character comedian. Having trained and then later taught at Second City Toronto, he returned to the UK a few years ago and has since starred in critically acclaimed shows like Winner and Sam and AJ. He recently joined the Artistic Committee at the Free Association in London. I’ve always been inspired by the way Sam performs, effortlessly committing to characters and finding fun in unlikely places, so it was a ple...
Send us a text In this episode I chat to Graham Dickson — founder of The Free Association in London and original cast member of west-end hit improv show, Austentatious. Graham has been improvising for nearly 20 years and has far too many accolades to list here. Most recently he’s been performing with Cool Story Bro, Kiell Smith-Bynoe’s hit improv show that just did a sell-out run at Soho Theatre’s new 1000 seat venue. In this episode we cover Graham’s long-standing love affair with impr...
Send us a text In this episode I chat to David Elms — long standing teacher at The Free Association in London and member of El Classico team The Cartel. David has been improvising for 15 years and has recently started running his own workshops under his brand Leap Day. He’s also just come off the back of a 5 night sell-out run of his solo improv show, David Elms Describes a Room. In this episode we cover David’s approach to justification, finding the fun in a scene, get a scoop on his n...
Send us a text This episode I chat to Alex Holland — head teacher at The Free Association in London. Alex has been improvising for over a decade and was one of their first teachers. As head teacher, he is now in charge of the FA’s curriculum, as well as casting their Harold teams, and performing in countless headline shows, such as Groundhog, 666 Hell Lane, and The Cartel. In this episode we cover the best way to approach learning improv, what is “game”, what makes a good teacher, and h...
Send us a text This episode I chat to Laura Riseborough — actor, comedian, and improviser. Laura built a career as an actor including high-profile productions with with the Royal Shakespeare Company, before establishing herself as an improviser. Show now has many hit shows under her belt, including Austintatious, Sliding Lives, and 666 Hell Lane, as well as teaching at The Free Association in London, including a course she devised focussed on Acting for Improvisers. In this episode we c...
Send us a text This episode I chat to Naomi Peterson, former Artistic Director at The Free Association in London, and star of many critically acclaimed improv shows such as Three and St. Doctors Hospital. We cover how to be a more playful voice of reason, her workshop on bringing shows Back from The Brink, the state of improv in the UK, and what it's like having a husband from a rival improv school.
Send us a text This episode I chat to Alex Berg, member of the legendary Convoy, and a long-time teacher at UCB. We cover the secret to Convoy' 20 year history, Alex's recent workshop Make a Goddamn Choice, as well as his thoughts on how to help a sticky scene, his feelings on the Harold, and the fact the he can't play first-person video games.
Send us a text In the first ever Shiny Things Podcast, I chat to Matt Cuter, the UCB legend who performed with long-running weekend team Bucky, on ASSSSCAT, and now with The Old Yorkers. We cover what to do when you get in your head, how to use your everyday life experiences to enrich your scenes, how to respond to when you don't know specific references, Matt's time working at dating app Hinge, and much more!
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