Claim OwnershipThe ComedySportz Podcast
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© Christine Capriolo and Kyle Hanneken
Description
Enjoy up-close and personal interviews with some of improv comedy’s greatest minds. The ComedySportz Podcast charts the history of ComedySportz from its inception in 1984 to the present day.
41 Episodes
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Steph DeWaegeneer has spent the majority of her professional life entertaining audiences by embracing humor and the creative imagination of the human spirit. She is a graduate of Chicago’s Second City Conservatory Program and the iO Training Center, and has been fortunate to perform on numerous stages throughout the US & UK including: The Manchester Comedy Festival, The Traverse City Winter Comedy Festival, and numerous ComedySportz World Championships. She is also the reigning Ms. Plus America Lifetime VII, and former 2009 Ms. Plus America. Each weekend, she can be seen performing with CSz Houston.
Tim Harrison has been a player and referee with CSz Indianapolis for twenty-five years. Tune in as we discuss Tim’s role as a workshop instructor and Rec League Coach, examine how improv helps in his highly analytical day job, dissect his deep love for puns, and—perhaps most exciting—explore Tim’s brilliant show format in which he combines short-form improv with the world’s most popular board games.
Beginning as a founding member of CSz Spokane, Rick Steadman would go on to perform on the CSz Los Angeles roster for nearly two decades—including serving as their Education Director and Rec League Coach—and become the Artistic Director of CSz Seattle. In today’s episode we have the distinct honor of not only examining Rick’s extensive improv and acting career, but we get to hear both his experience taking an improv class with Alan Arkin, as well as Rick’s authentic vs. ComedySportz German-accent.
A co-owner of CSz Portland, Ruth Jenkins has been improvising for over thirty-five years and has been a speech language pathologist for nearly thirty. She soon learned to combine the two, frequently using improv activities with people who have speech and language disorders connected to Parkinson’s disease or the after effects of strokes and head injuries. Not only do we chronicle the trajectory of Ruth's improv career, but she shares numerous case studies describing how the uniqueness of her practice has changed hundreds of lives for the better.
Performing ComedySportz since 1986, Glenn Packman is a co-owner and co-manager at CSz New York City. Join us as we chart Glenn’s voyage from the East Coast to the West Coast and back again, in which he performed on the mainstage roster with 5 distinct CSz locations. We also get to hear his reflections on attending the first ever ComedySportz World Championship, as well as Glenn’s thoughts comparing and contrasting long-form improv with short-form.
An original ComedySportz player, John Leicht performed with CSz Milwaukee from 1984-1987. Tune in as we explore what it took to bring the original troupe together, how John became Playwright-in-Residence with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater for ten straight years, and why looking back he calls his time at ComedySportz “the University of Life.”
Join us in Season 3 as we celebrate 40 years of ComedySportz! Recorded live at the 2024 ComedySportz World Championships in Milwaukee, Christine interviews Dick Chudnow—the creator of ComedySportz—reminiscing on our collective four-decade long journey, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
Courtney Pong is the Owner and General Manager of CSz Boston, and the owner of The Rozzie Square Theater. Courtney has been performing and teaching improv and ComedySportz since 2001, starting with CSz San Jose and moving to Boston in 2016 to co-own CSz Boston with Betse Green, until Pong took over full ownership in 2019. A Northern California / Bay Area native, she loves crossword puzzles, running, and is dust-intolerant.
Mike Kauth was baptized into the world of improv in 1999 at CSz Milwaukee, where he currently works as a full-time improviser and coach. In addition to ComedySportz, he’s studied and performed at Improv Olympic in Chicago, and trained at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. In today’s episode we explore the importance of supporting our teammates, celebrating our failures, and living in the moment; and to boot, we learn what Mike regards as the #1 most important thing to do before a show.
Alan Guszkowski has performed with CSz Milwaukee for over 20 years, but has been weird for attention for much longer than that. He is a member of the Midnite Show, Voyager, and has been honored to guest with many other improv groups around Milwaukee. He has been an improv instructor at every level from ComedySportz Kidz Camp to the High School League and all adult workshops. He currently teaches improv for the UW-Milwaukee Theatre Program.
Brainne Edge has been running CSz Manchester since its inception in 2001. As well as performing improv with ComedySportz, she is also a full time lecturer in performance at the University of Salford and regularly performs and teaches around the United Kingdom. Tune in as we examine the enchanting nuances of British vocabulary and investigate the differences between ComedySportz matches in the United States vs. England.
A member of CSz Chicago for 22 years, Matt Elwell has served as their Artistic Director, President and CEO, and would go on to be the Executive Director of CSz Worldwide from 2015-2022. Join us as we explore everything from the liberating power of perceiving our teachers as guides rather than sages, to how improv enables us to show up as our true selves, celebrate others, and be a force for good in our community.
Beth Melewski has performed with CSz Milwaukee, CSz Chicago, and CSz New York City. She’s also performed with Improv Olympic, including the renowned improvised musical group Baby Wants Candy, and has been a performer/writer with The Second City for nearly 15 years. What’s more, she was the host of Cash Cab Chicago and has appeared on both Arrested Development and Work In Progress. She’s currently finishing her MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling so she can therapize (not a word) all comedians.
Tim Higgins co-founded The Midnite Show in 2001, and founded the stand-up/improv hybrid show Voyager in 2016. Tune in as Tim and Christine chart their beginnings on the same High School League team, to Tim joining CSz Milwaukee and teaching High School League himself; and for good measure, Tim shares strategies and techniques for streamlining our improv.
In this episode our host becomes the guest as Kyle interviews Christine Capriolo. With over thirty years of improv experience, Christine shares her start in CSz High School League, her first official show in CSz Madison, and her return to Milwaukee. She discusses being a female comedienne in a male dominated group, how improv has helped her become a better teacher in the classroom, and reveals her unique approach to audience suggestions and character development. Some may argue this is the longest game of Switch Interview ever played.
With initial dreams of being a dinosaur-cowboy-rider, Al Oldham would go on to be an educator for over twenty years. In this episode we dive into everything from the transformational effects of excellent teachers, to letting go of failure, to how confidence and commitment grant us the ability to face any challenge head-on.
Peter Alberts joined CSz Milwaukee in 1990 and would go on to form The Dead Alewives alongside the likes of Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. After moving to Los Angeles, his troupe Old Milwaukee won 67 consecutive cage matches at Improv Olympic, with an uncontested reign lasting over 2 years. Let’s dig in.
Buckle up for this incredible improv odyssey. Tune in as we chronicle Mike Rock’s remarkable theater career, beginning as an original member of CSz Madison, to founding CSz New York City and co-creating The Bert Fershners, to his extensive acting career with credits that include Chelsea Lately, Black-ish, Modern Family, and much more. Mike has served as the Artistic Director and Producer of both CSz Madison and CSz New York City, and is currently a director/producer at Impro Theatre in Los Angeles. For more, he’s @itsmikerock on social media.
To kick off Season 2, we’ve brought back Dick Chudnow, the creator of ComedySportz. Join us for a trip down memory lane, reminiscing on the long journey from the original Milwaukee players to the establishment of dozens of other CSz locations worldwide. Dick describes what he would do differently if he could go back in time and do the whole thing over again, and shares what it was like doing stand-up and improv with the one-and-only Robin Williams.
David Bogan is the Educational Director, Roadshow Manager, and a current performer at CSz Seattle. Prior to moving across the country, David performed, taught improvisation, and managed the ComedySportz Rec League at CSz Milwaukee for nearly twenty years, and has been co-managing CSz Seattle since 2015. He has performed in thousands of shows, and has also taught thousands of individuals the art of improvisation in a wide variety of skills, including improv comedy, Applied Improvisation for the workplace, public speaking, and CSz Seattle’s Improv For Anxiety.
To all of our listeners, thank you so much for 20 joy-filled episodes. New episodes coming 2022.
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