Breaking Ground: A Groundlings Podcast

This week on the podcast we’re bringing you another special compilation episode with clips from episodes that have featured the amazing writers and writing teams that have been formed at the Groundlings. From having their scripts picked up to winning prestigious awards for their work, you’ll find the stories and advice from these writing teams illuminating and inspiring. You can listen to these full episodes and many more at groundlings.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

This week on the podcast we’re bringing you another special compilation episode with clips from the 45th anniversary panels that were featured last year as part of the Groundlings anniversary celebrations. The panelists discuss a huge range of topics, from embracing the Groundlings as a place to discover your comedic voice, to creating solo shows, to how improvising and performing sketches at the Groundlings can help your writing career. You can listen to these full episodes and many more at groundlings.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Kevin Kirkpatrick, a Groundlings alumni, and Allison Dunbar from the current main company, have the kind of collaborative partnership that the Groundlings is all about. They are both huge admirers of each other's work, and when they come to write, their similar sensibilities mean that the writing process is a total joy for them. In this episode, Kevin and Allison talk about their co-written sketches, their enormous talent for structured improvs, and why you should never trust Kevin with your spare house key.

This week on Breaking Ground we’re bringing you a special compilation episode with past guests as they reveal how they discovered the Groundlings and what their first steps were like in the Groundlings training program. From enormous excitement to intense fear, everyone’s beginning to the journey is unique, but there are as any many similarities as there are differences. You can listen to these full episodes and many more at groundlings.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

In episode two of a special two episode series, Groundlings co-founder Tom Maxwell talks about the development of the Groundlings style of sketch and improv, the creation of classic exercises and drills that are still performed in student shows to this day, and how the company transformed from a roving band of improvisational actors to find its permanent home on Melrose Ave.

In episode one of a special two episode series, Tom Maxwell and Don Woodard talk about the creation of the Groundlings theater dating all the way back to the first workshops run by Gary Austin. Tom discusses the growth of the theater, what it was like for Don to have Tom as his teacher, and how they later came to form their extremely successful writing partnership.

Maryedith Burrell is one of the early members of the Groundlings troupe and went on to have an extraordinary career, starring in ABC’s Fridays and Ron Howard’s Parenthood, writing on the Peabody Award winning Faerie Tale Theatre, and recurring on Seinfeld and Home Improvement. In this episode, Maryedith talks about being part of the comedy renaissance in Los Angeles, performing with Phil Hartman and Laraine Newman and why improv is ultimately a philosophy for life.

From his time in the Groundlings main company to being an original cast member of one of Los Angeles' longest running improv shows to his dozens of film and television credits, Brian Palermo has been entertaining American audiences for decades. In this episode, Brain talks about being part of the iconic Groundlings Beverly Winwood show, his love for improv and how he developed a speciality for teaching improv to non-actors.

In this week’s special episode, host Michael Churven brings you a panel discussion with the main company women of the Groundlings Theater as they talk about working to find your essence, having confidence in your comedic point of view, and the importance of breaking through negative expectations.

George McGrath is a national treasure. He was a member of the Groundlings main company in the 1980s and 90s and went on to an acting and writing career that has spanned over four decades. His first writing job earned him an Emmy nomination on Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and was nominated several more times, in particular for his work on HBO’s Tracey Takes On that he wrote with the brilliant Tracey Ullman, for which he also won a GLAAD award. In this episode, George talks about his early days in the Groundlings Sunday company and Main Company, his love for directing, and what it was like to be able to give some of his fellow Groundlings their first writing and acting jobs in Hollywood