"Improv gives us a means for everyone to bring their life experience to the table"

I had the chance to catch up with Jim earlier this year in San Jose, California. We talked about his approach to teaching, and his work bringing improvisation to with children and teenagers with autism, and how it can be used to highlight and aid communication and interaction. We also touched on the broader aspects of improvisation as a tool in therapy, Jill Bernard mindfullness in improv workshop that we both attended and the legacy of Keith Johnstone.

http://johncooper.org.uk/podcasts/JimAnsaldoBAB.mp3

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The host John Cooper is a professional stand-up comedian, improviser, tutor & illustrator based in Manchester, UK.

Click here to listen to previous podcast interviews  with other experts who use improvisation. 

The post Podcast: Jim Ansaldo - Teaching improvisation to teenagers with autism appeared first on John Cooper.

In this episode I recap what I've called  'series 2'. The last eight interviews with some great people who use applied improvisation (improv, impro...that particular way of thinking and responding, and using mental agility). Beginning with Paul Z. Jackson and culminating  with Pam Victor. There's a wealth of information to be had, on a load of different topics, and I thank all the wonderful guests who gave their time.

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The post Podcast: Series 2 Summary | Question and create appeared first on John Cooper.

She has her own podcast, Conversations with Funny Feminists. We chat about honesty and authenticity in improv, facts versus belief and using improv for personal development to overcome fears and increase learning opportunities.

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The post Podcast: Pam Victor | The Zen of Improv appeared first on John Cooper.

In conversation we talk about the cost of change in the workplace and how similarities in agile and improv allow for efficiency in fields like software development. How adapting is as much about a given project as it is the people involved, and introducing improv for learning. We also touch on the geographical differences in recognition of improv in the US and UK for the  approach agile and improv use to introduce game play as a tool.

"Scrum master". Number 8 in the 10 weirdest job titles in the UK.

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The post Podcast: Paul Goddard | Improv in Agile development appeared first on John Cooper.

She's the author of Performance Breakthrough' A radical approach to success at work.

In conversation with Cathy we chat about her work at POAL, and how treating life as a great performance can be a strong catalyst for growth and change. How her company has developed over time using performance, improvisation and psychology  to create a safe 'playground' and lead to a diverse range of projects including working with inner city 'cops and kids' to to improving the doctor/patient relationship.

Direct Link (MP3 file)

Links: Performance of a lifetime | Cathy on Linkedin |  Performance Breakthrough

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The post Podcast: Cathy Salit | Performance of a lifetime appeared first on John Cooper.

I'm a massive Doctor Who fan, and seeing Dan improvise some online shorts for Doctor Who, a big TV production,  made want to delve into how that came about and find out more about Dan's work.

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Links: Dan on Twitter | Dan on IMDB

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The post Podcast: Dan Starkey | An Actors Foundation appeared first on John Cooper.

"We are going to break your ideas". Adam uses improv theatre techniques to drive design and innovation and is the co-initiator of the world's largest service innovation event, the 48 hour Global Service Jam.

In this interview we discuss how Adam brings his skills in theatre, marketing and design together with improvisation. Using the 'yes and' in service design,  showing client's how to embrace uncertainty, understand the world they sell to and deliver a better product and service. We touch on the subjects of conformation bias,  big ideas versus cheap experiments and allowing flexibility within structure.

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The post Podcast: Adam St John Lawrence | Improvisation for Innovation appeared first on John Cooper.

He has a string of well known movie and television credits appearing with other improv alumini. Just as impressive is the list of companies he's worked with, where he has brought improv theatre techniques into businesses like Barclays and Google.

In this interview we talk about Second City and the early days of the comedy store players. We also dig into Neil's work applying improvisation and performance in his workshops. How he encourages people to enjoy uncertainty and identify offers, and re-frame a 'yes but' into a 'yes and'.

We cover a lot of ground in our conversation:

The show notes for this episode are pretty extensive. Neil has an encyclopedic knowledge of improv and I've tried to capture most of the reference's that came out during our conversation below.

Direct Link (MP3 file)

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A lot of mentions in this show, here a most of them;

The post Podcast: Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation appeared first on John Cooper.