For The Love of Improv

13 Episodes

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Stage Acting in Improv

2023-06-1401:07:31

To be or not to be? That is the question that William Shakespeare asked, but in this 7th episode of Season 2 of For The Love of Improv, we are asking: To act or not to act in improv?! Amelia Giles, improv teacher and player at Reno Improv is the perfect guest to answer this question and many more about the relationship between acting and improvising! She is a seasoned actor who began in the theater AND THEN came over to improv so she should know the answer to questions like: Are improvisers a...

Where Stand Up and Improv Meet

2022-11-1601:10:09

What does Stand-up comedy and improv have in common? Well, let’s break it down. If one is the loneliest number, carry the two for duo improv, multiply by an improv team of 7 and divide and conquer. What do you get? Um….a really weird math problem that makes no sense. Don’t worry, in this episode of For The Love of Improv, stand-up comedian, Kat Simmons, is going to sort it all out for us. Not only has she performed standup professionally for decades, she dabbled in improv for many years. If a...

Improv As It's Own Artform with Lisa Woods

2022-10-2501:19:55

This episode will focus on Improv as an ongoing artform. Speaking with Lisa Woods who has delved into nearly every class that has been available to her in all different types of improv, Lisa takes her craft seriously. We at For The Love of Improv have a strong belief that Improv is never perfected, and is always being learned. We can all improve and we are all perfect as we are right in this moment.Lisa started improvising as a New Year’s resolution. Starting at a Playground Night at Reno Imp...

Clowning & Improv with Chad Damiani

2022-10-1101:08:47

Improv and clowning have gone hand in hand for centuries, even before improv as we know it in America was invented. Tonight we will speak with world renowned clown, Chad Damiani about how improv affects clowning and what improvisers can learn from the ancient art of the clown. Support the showVisit ForTheLoveOfImprov.com for more!

Improv in Real Life with Joe Van Haeke

2022-09-2101:11:31

Your life is one big improv stage and you get to play any character you want. In any given situation, most of us are just making it up as we go anyway. Why not make improv off-stage as fun as it is on stage? From supporting your scene partner, to active listening, to getting to the real relationship behind the words, improv skills seriously translate to real life. Joe Van Haecke has dedicated his life to sharing improv skills with the world for personal and professional development among fell...

Solo Improv With Mike Brown

2022-09-0754:37

Imagine a world where you didn’t need a scene partner, a world where you could perform improv with yourself, you, thee, thou. That’s right! Just you, yourself and ye. “Is that possible?” you ask. A question of many we ask Mike Brown in this, our first episode of the Season 2! Listen as Mike tells us all about Solo improv, his experiences as an improv teacher, performer, podcaster and all around amazing guy._________________________“Mike Brown’s Biography is the biography of Mike Brown.”...

Jason Sarna | Sketch Comedy

2019-12-1601:08:28

We talk with Jason Sarna about sketch comedy and how it relates to improv. Jason studied at Second City, IO, and The Annoyance. Most recently, he taught a year-long sketch course at Reno Improv which culminated in the 60-minute sketch show, Herd Immunity. We discuss the process of writing a sketch, character creation, heightening, and much more! Support the showVisit ForTheLoveOfImprov.com for more!

Courtney Ropp | Finding What The Scene Needs

2019-11-0801:13:47

Courtney offers some tools and tricks to use on stage when a scene falls flat, gets stuck in negotiation or is just plain boring. We also discuss how to know when to add something or when it’s a good idea to just leave a scene alone. When one of us royally messes up an improv game (what? there are no mistakes in improv, I say!), we talk about the very fundamental improv concept of “listen and respond” and turn the clock back to 1974 when John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd became a stron...

Aurora Boles | Short Form & Beginner Improv

2019-10-1901:03:21

Most improvisers start by learning fundamentals through short form games. It is where we can quickly fall in love with the sport of improv and find our communities. In this episode, we talk with Aurora Boles, a co-founder at Reno Improv who also teaches their short form beginner class. We chat about the evolution of short-form into professional troops and its relationship to long-form. Today's game explores heightening scenes and is a clear example of the this concept throughout th...

Tim Mahoney | Narrative Improv

2019-09-2801:11:21

The basics of storytelling inherent in every player get to the root of how long-form improv magic works. Tim Mahoney talks about the 8-step process that makes narrative improv come to life. In this episode we talk with Tim about narrative improv, secondary characters, Theatre Sports, and much, much, much, much, much more. (Let’s just say, Tim is never at a loss for words and that’s why we love having him on our podcast!).Tim Mahoney is an improv coach and teacher at Reno Improv. He would...

Justin Kavanagh | Processing Grief & Trauma

2019-08-2201:09:21

We all have to deal with complex emotions regarding loss and tough situations at some point in our lives. In this episode, we talk with Justin Kavanagh about how we can use improv off-stage to process those feelings and work through the grief and trauma life throws at us. Today's game explores how we listen to and respond to emotions on stage. In our history segment, we will chat about Del Close, and how he views the process of emotional connection with and through the audience. Today's...

Taylor Riedeman | Character Building

2019-08-1157:58

On August 9th, we discuss character building. We delve deep into things like building a platform and how to use emotion and physicality to create a character. Listen as our guest, Taylor Riedeman, demonstrates some of her quirky and out-of-the-box characters and explains how she conceptualizes them. Our history segment presents the story of the birth of Saturday Night Live (yup, improvisers started that sh*t!) along with a Gilda Radner quote that brings out our inner child. Finally, we ...

Chris Thigpen | Community & Impact

2019-07-2001:06:53

In this episode, we go deep talking about our community and the value of having a strong one. We talk about why loving the people you play with is so important, even if they are not your favorite folks to begin with. We talk about the place of competition in improv, how you can support your fellow players, and how that affects us all on-stage. We will get into a bit of history, introducing you to Viola Spolin, the fore-mother of improv in the US. We will talk about beats and how to recognize ...

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