Improv in Real Life

How do you stay emotionally grounded in high stress moments? In this episode, Jude speaks with Justin Drogos and Jonathan Webb from Northwestern University. Together, they explore how improv builds emotional regulation, teaching clinicians not just what they feel, but how to express it with the right intensity in complex, real-world situations. *Connect with Jonathan - LinkedIn, The Laughing Academy House Team, Cutthroat Improv (FB) / Cutthroat Improv (IG) *Connect with Justin - LinkedIn  Northwestern Physical Therapy & Human Movement Sciences - Instagram, Facebook, website This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do stories help us process change? In this episode, Jude speaks with Kenn Adams, creator of the Story Spine, about how stories can reveal deeper truths about ourselves. Together, they explore how storytelling and improv aren't just tools for communication, but ways to reflect, connect, and move forward. *Connect with Kenn - Synergy Theater, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. Upcoming shows:  Improvised Noir: Unscripted Theater, So Funny it's a Crime! At Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco Improvised Clue: An Unscripted Murder Mystery based on the Cult-Classic Film! At the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek Study about morbid curosity: Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID 10 pandemic, Personality and Individual Differences, January 2021 This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Who holds the power in a room and what does that do to your voice? In this episode, Jude speaks with applied improv pioneer Kat Koppett about the subtle (and not so subtle) power dynamics that shape careers, relationships, and identity. They examine how power can silence, distort, or transform and how to wield it with the help of improv. *Connect with Kat - Website, Mopco Improv Theatre, Training to Imagine, LinkedIn This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Taking risks is uncomfortable, especially in environments where playing it safe feels smarter. In this episode, Jude speaks with applied improviser Ed Reggi about how practicing creative risk in low stakes games, especially in the classroom, helps us build confidence and resiliency. *Connect with Ed: Website, LinkedIn, Instagram This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn  

Why do we shut down the people we love most? In this episode, Jude speaks with improv performer and educator Rachel Rosenthal about how improv teaches us to really listen in our relationships, fostering collaboration as opposed to critique. Together they explore how "yes, and" creates lasting connection with the people closest to us. *Connect with Rachel - Website, Love Shakespeare, Kickstand Comedy, LinkedIn Upcoming shows: Cliffbanger Musical Improv - Feb 7 and Feb 14th  Love Shakespeare - March 9 This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What if it's not failure we're afraid of, but what failure says about us? In this episode, Jude speaks with therapist and improviser Salma Soliman, who shares how playful risk-taking can loosen the grip of fear and open us up to real, lasting change. *Connect with Salma - Brave You Therapy, Instagram, LinkedIn  This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What do working artists know that the rest of us need to learn? In this episode, Jude speaks with Peter Michael Marino, creator of Show Up Kids, about the improvisational mindset that builds resilience, activates resourceful creativity, and leaves us open to receiving.  *Connect with Peter - Website, LinkedIn, Instagram, "Show Up, Kids!" Interactive Family Comedy for 3-10 year olds at ShapeShifter in Park Slope / Brooklyn, NY. Every Saturday in February. Info at: showup-theshow.com This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

In this special holiday episode, Jude shares a true story about her first December in New York, a season of struggle, heartbreak, and unexpected magic. What unfolds is a series of unpredictable moments that remind us: life can throw us curveballs, but if we accept what's offered, the surprises can be beautiful. This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What do you do when staying silent protects the relationship, but speaking up protects your truth? In this episode, Jude speaks with Kathy Klotz-Guest of Keeping It Human to explore how improv helps us navigate the tension between authenticity and harmony. They unpack the practice of truth-telling without burning bridges, and how conflict leads to deeper understanding. *Connect with Kathy - Keeping It Human, LinkedIn, Instagram This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Empathy thrives when we meet each other in our imperfections. In this episode, Jude speaks with Louis Kornfeld of Kornfeld and Andrews, about how improv comedy reveals the flaws in human behavior, which helps us see ourselves more clearly with humor and compassion. *Connect with Louis - Kornfeld & Andrews Show, Kornfeld & Andrews Podcast, The Truth Podcast, LinkedIn  This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What if the best way to prepare kids for an unpredictable future is to teach them how to improvise? In this episode, Jude speaks with Beth Hagenlocker, Executive Director of the Detroit Creativity Project. By bringing improv into schools, their organization helps teens grow more imaginative and emotionally resilient, all while discovering themselves in a space built for creativity and connection. *Connect with Beth - Detroit Creativity Project, Instagram, YouTube To learn more about these concepts, check out: Improv Training as a School-Based Mental Health Intervention Improv experience promotes divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and affective well-being This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

We think we're listening, but are we really? In this episode, Jude speaks with Rick Andrews, Magnet Theater faculty and applied improv facilitator, to explore how listening is an active choice. They unpack how hearing another person's perspective is a powerful act of empathy, and how improv trains us not just to react, but to understand. *Connect with Rick - Website, LinkedIn, Kornfeld & Andrews show, Kornfeld and Andrews podcast This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

In real life, there's no stage. So how do we learn to play our part with presence? In this episode, Jude speaks with Patricia Ryan Madson, author of Improv Wisdom, about how improvisation teaches us to accept what's given, quiet our inner critic, and appreciate the overlooked gifts of daily life.  *Connect with Patricia - Improv Wisdom, LinkedIn, Facebook. Check out Patricia's book Improv Wisdom.  This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Improv has a way of turning strangers into lifelong connections, often in the span of a single scene. In this episode, Jude speaks with Michelle Gilliam about how improv builds community, fosters belonging, and helps us move from anxiety to connection. *Connect with Michelle - Improv MKE, Instagram, LinkedIn This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Many of us second guess what to do in social situations. In this episode, Jude speaks with Caitlin Steitzer - a fellow improviser, therapist, and social worker - who explains how improv's focus on the group can help people overcome social anxiety, shifting attention away from self-criticism and into the present moment. *Connect with Caitlin - website, Instagram, LinkedIn To learn more about these concepts, check out: The Brilliant Genius: Using Improv Comedy In Social Work Groups  by Caitlin Steitzer  Comedic Improv Therapy For The Treatment Of Social Anxiety Disorder This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Many of us resist change. In this episode, Jude speaks with Belina Raffy, who uses comedy and improv to help us reframe that mindset. She takes on daunting challenges like climate change and social justice, showing how even the toughest issues can feel approachable and manageable. *Connect with Belina - Sustainable Stand Up, Giggling with Earth, Maffick, LinkedIn, Instagram, Courses: Clarity and Flow, Complexity, Compassion and Comedy, Sustainable Stand Up This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Parenting doesn't come with a script, which is why flexibility and a sense of play, the heart of improv, can be a game-changer. In this episode, Jude speaks with improvisers (and parents) Mary Theresa Archbold and Pat Shay who share how the principles of improv can transform family life.  *Connect with Mary & Pat - Funny Parents Podcast,  Website: Home | True Play Improv and Blog | funnyparents,  Facebook, LinkedIn: Mary, Pat, Instagram To learn more about these concepts, check out: Yes, and … Clean Your Room This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Improv isn't just for the stage. It's showing up in hospitals, clinics, and memory care centers. In this episode, Jude speaks with medical improv trailblazer Beth Boynton, who shares how principles like "yes, and" are helping caregivers build connection, reduce stress, and bring more humanity to people with cognitive decline. *Connect with Beth - website, Facebook, LinkedIn, free workshop, more about Medical Improv. Purchase her book The Medical Improv Toolkit. To learn more about these concepts, check out: "Just Join Them": Improv and Dementia Care Pilot of a Communication Program for Dementia Caregivers Using Improvisational Techniques Effects of Improv Training on Older Adults in a Long Term Care Facility This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Emotional intelligence is learning how to be responsive, not reactive. In this episode, Jude speaks with Elana Fishbein, professional improviser and facilitator, about how improv can help us develop the self-awareness and flexibility we need to handle those tougher life moments.  Connect with Elana - website, Instagram, LinkedIn To learn more about these concepts, check out: Intelligent play: How improv can improve clinician's emotional intelligence Be real, open, and creative: How openness to experience and to change mediate the authenticity-creativity association This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn  

Positive emotions aren't just pleasant, they're powerful. In this episode, host Jude Treder-Wolff speaks with facilitator and improviser Gary Ware about how improv-based play can build resilience, ease stress, and strengthen our sense of self.  *Connect with Gary - website, Instagram, LinkedIn. Purchase his book Playful Rebellion.  To learn more about these concepts, check out: Progress in Brain Research Failure With A Side Of Funny: How Improv Helps Us Deal With The Messy Unknown This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.  *Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn.