Bring a Brick with John Cooper

Bring a Brick with John Cooper

By https://www.johncooper.org.ukEducation
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Bring a Brick with John Cooper episodes

  • Podcast: Jim Ansaldo - Teaching improvisation to teenagers with autism
    Jim Ansaldo is a Research Scholar at Indiana University Bloomington, a member of Comedysportz Indianapolis and an instructor at Camp Yes And, which teaches improv Teenager on the Autism Spectrum.

    "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

    Direct Link

    Bullet Points

    • Creating a safe space for improvisation without the pressures of 'performing'.
    • Working with educators at Camp Yes And.
    • Improv Camps and Classes for Teens on the Autism Spectrum and Educators
    • Using improv to facilitate discussion on how to improve teaching methods and generate new ideas.
    • The core values of CSZ worldwide - Collaboration, Inspiration, Values, fun.
    • Musical improvisation - The Yes And band.

      • Links

      • Benjamin Bloom, Blooms Taxonomy
      • The Applied Improvisation Network

        • 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.

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      • Podcast: Series 2 Summary | Question and create

        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.

        https://www.johncooper.org.uk/podcasts/Series-2-recap.mp3

        • Paul Z. Jackson is one of the founders of Applied Improvisation Network, we talked about his work and digressed on the topic of improvisation on television.
        • Mary T. Curtis works in behavioural health, coaching people with issues such as stress and anxiety and the YES AND, accepting and building in therapy.
        • Neil Mullarkey didn't need any introduction. We chatted about the business of improv,  story structure, character comedy and how to bring improv into a training session by giving examples. Loads in this one.
        • Adam St John Lawrence is a Customer experience consultant, who uses improv to generate ideas, break them and get better questions. Loads of great content here about understanding the world you’re selling to.
        • Dan Starkey is an actor appearing in television series such as Doctor Who, and insode No.9. We chat about how a foundation of improv can help an actor approach a role.
        • Cathy Salit is CEO of Performance of a Lifetime. Among the many thinks we talk about, Cathy explains her view on 'performative psychology' and how everything we do - our life -  can be seen as a performance.
        • Paul Goddard is a coach in agile development and certified Scrum trainer. We touch on the geographical differences in recognition of improv in the US and UK and how improvisation can be applied to agile development
        • Finally I interviewed Pam Victor on her 'Zen of Improv'. Her mission it is to make the world a happier place through improv.

          • Links to All episodes

          Bullet points:
          • Comedysportz World Championship 2017 in San Jose
          • The Applied improvisation conference 2017
          • The Liverpool 8th Annual Improvathon

            • Direct Link

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

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          • Podcast: Pam Victor | The Zen of Improv
            Pam is the founder of Happier Valley Comedy whose mission it is to make the world a happier place through improv. She's co-author of "Improvisation at the Speed of Life", with Chicago's TJ & Dave and uses improv to teach personal and professional growth.

            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.


            Bullet Points

            • The Zen of Improv
            • TJ and Dave.
            • Honesty and authenticity
            • Improv for personal growth
            • "I suck". The evil mind meanie - The voice of unhelpful judgement.
            • Beliefs vs Facts
            • Susan Messing
            • Annoyance Theatre
            • IO
            • "You can't be brave and not be scared"
            • Big Booty, cheering when someone fails, redefining failure as learning.
            • 'Can I make a living doing what I love'
            • Conversations with funny feminist's - 'Bitches get stuff done'.

              • Links:

              Happier Valley Comedy | Pam Victor on Linkedin

              Direct Link

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

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            • Podcast: Paul Goddard | Improv in Agile development
              Paul is a coach in agile development and certified Scrum trainer. He's the founder of training company agilify and his book 'Improving Teams' brings together his work in agile and improv theatre, highlighting the overlaps and connections between the two.

              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.

              https://www.johncooper.org.uk/podcasts/PaulGoddard-BABpodcast.mp3

              Paul's book on Amazon: Improv-ing Agile Teams: Using Constraints To Unlock Creativity

              Bullet Points

              • An overview of Agile and Scrum.
              • The agile manifesto.
              • Scrum coaching.
              • Traditional software development vs agile.
              • Technology, culture and the dilemma of linear planning.
              • Seeing what you don't want, to find out what you do.
              • Making the cost of change lower.
              • The comedy store players / Neil Mullarkey.
              • Connecting improv and agile.
              • Keith Johnstone.
              • Agile conference 2012.
              • suffer fromt he same legacy agile and improv.
              • Being open to learning and client rapport.
              • Fear of failure in computer science.
              • There is one truth, one outcome.
              • Preparing for change, adapting personally and professionally.
              • Slowing down to reflecting on a process and make improvements.
              • Scrum masters, putting games in timeboxes.
              • Scrum master - The 10 weirdest job titles in the UK - The Independent.
              • Relating back to the personal - Paul's book examples.
              • Storytelling and the agile product owner.
              • Good companies have compelling narratives.
              • The Applied Improvisation Network.
              • US vs UK, Regular improv and agile approaches are built into the fabric of large tech companies. 10 years.
              • The sprint retrospective
              • Working with a group and creating in a safe environment for gameplay
              • Inspiring others through improv practices
              • Pixar, agile and storytelling.

                •  

                Links:

                www.agilify.co.uk | Paul on Linkedin

                Direct Link

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

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              • Podcast: Cathy Salit | Performance of a lifetime
                Cathy Salit is CEO of Performance of a Lifetime. She has delivered hundreds of keynote speeches on how using performance in everyday life helps with growth and productivity.

                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

                Bullet Points;

                • The human side of business strategy
                • Performative psychology
                • Who we are becoming; tapping into the natural ability to perform from childhood
                • Choose to Grown blog
                • Cathy the Jazz singer
                • The All Stars Project - Cops and kids finding common ground
                • Elisabeth Cleaners street school
                • Art and business building together
                • Form of life -  Ludwig Wittgenstein
                • David Nackman, Fred Newman
                • Your life story in one minute
                • Devising improv for medical residents - improving  the doctor patient relationship.
                • Using improv to create a 'playground' to approach emotionally difficult. conversations such as doctor patient DNR (do not resusitate).
                • Stephen Nachmanovitch, Free play.
                • Emotinal intelligence...why the need to prefix "intelligence"?
                • "The Sales Whisperer" - Daniel Pink, author of To Sell is human.
                • Bringing performance to the sales pitch.
                • Our ability to change is a performance choice.
                • We need weird! Doing something new to find change.
                • The art of selling, networking and other schmoozy things.
                • Don't worry about the sale.

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

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                • Podcast: Dan Starkey | An Actors Foundation
                  Dan Starkey is an actor appearing in television series such as Doctor Who, inside No.9 and Class Dismissed on CBBC. He's performed with many improv groups and done improv marathons.

                  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.

                  https://www.johncooper.org.uk/podcasts/DanStarkey-BABpodcast.mp3

                  Bullet Points

                  • improv, Keith Johnstone
                  • Spontaneity shop, Tom  Salinsky, Debra Francis-White
                  • Bristol Old Vic
                  • Be generous to your audience and don't stare at the floor
                  • Start the scene with silence, creating character
                  • Getting a reaction - Improvised comedy and Christmas carols
                  • On the set of Doctor Who, Sleep no More, Bethany Black and Mark Gatiss.
                  • David Tennant, Peter Capaldi and Russell T. Davis ..and me.
                  • London improvathon, Lord of thrones
                  • Liverpool improvathon, Impropriety
                  • Die Nasty Theatre, Soap-a-thon
                  • How long can we sustain being present?
                  • Buskin the magic cobbler
                  • Class Dismissed.
                  • Attribution of improvised lines in a scripted piece
                  • Big Finish Audio

                    • Links: Dan on Twitter | Dan on IMDB

                    Direct Link

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

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                  • Podcast: Adam St John Lawrence | Improvisation for Innovation
                    Adam is a customer experience consultant with a background in stand up comedy and psychology.

                    "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.

                    https://www.johncooper.org.uk/podcasts/AdamLawrence-BABpodcast.mp3

                    Bullet Points

                    • The handicraft of emotion
                    • Treating design prototypes as offers
                    • The iterative stages of innovation & customer centric innovation
                    • Removing risk in product design
                    • Using improv to generate ideas, break them and get better questions
                    • "We've got this idea, how do we sell it?" - understand the world you're selling to.
                    • Confirmation bias. Defending our own ideas and getting precious about them...
                    • ideas generated by a group are my readily accepted.
                    • Get up and try stuff, get your hands dirty and enjoy the uncertainty
                    • Micheal Schrage, The Innovators Hypothesis - "You don't need big ideas, you need cheap experiments"
                    • Service design & design thinking - moving away from a linear approach
                    • How do you lead a non-linear, improvised approach to design?
                    • A brief word on agile design & scrum
                    • What works for you might not work for me; Allowing the flexibility for a great performance.
                    • Tom Peters - If it's rock and roll you can smell it.
                    • Global service Jam

                      • Links:

                      www.workplayexperience.com | Adam on Twitter

                      Direct Link

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

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                    • Adam St John Lawrence | Improvisation for Innovation
                      Adam is a customer experience consultant with a background in stand up comedy and psychology. “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.… Listen Now The post Adam St John Lawrence | Improvisation for Innovation appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.
                      45 min
                    • Podcast: Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation
                      Neil Mullarkey is one of the founding members of the Comedy Store players and probably one of the most recognisable faces in the world of improv.

                      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:

                      Structure in improv, the 7 stories.
                      'Get on with it', introducing improvisation into a workshop.
                      L Vaughn Spencer, costume disguise in character comedy.
                      Agile workflow for teams.
                      VUCA: Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

                      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.

                      https://www.johncooper.org.uk/podcasts/NeilMullarkey-BABpodcast.mp3

                      Direct Link (MP3 file)

                      Links:

                      www.neilmullarkey.com | Comedy Store Players | L. Vaughn Spencer

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

                      • The Comedy Store
                      • Comedy to go
                      • Keith Johnstone
                      • Desmond Jones
                      • Mike Myers & Kit Hollerbach
                      • The Second City
                      • Jim Sweeney, Steve Steen, Justin Case & Peter Weir
                      • Voila Spolin
                      • Dan Patterson, Hat Trick Productions
                      • The Free Association
                      • Bridie Connell
                      • Whose Line is it anyway, Australia
                      • Arthur Smith
                      • Josie Lawrence
                      • Robert Poynton, Everything's an offer
                      • Showstoppers
                      • David Pearl - Impropera
                      • Peter Drucker "Culture eats strategy for breakfast"
                      • Love, Food, Power...The 7 Stories
                      • Comedia Del arte
                      • Cariad Lloyd, Ruth Bratt, Joseph Morpurgo, Kirsty Newton
                      • Mike McShane
                      • Greg Proops
                      • Provocative thearpy
                      • Agile workflow
                      • Paul Goddard
                      • VUCA: Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity
                      • Brenne Brown, The Power of Vunerability

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

                        0 min
                      • Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation
                        Neil Mullarkey is one of the founding members of the Comedy Store players and probably one of the most recognisable faces in the world of improv. He has a string of well known movie and television credits appearing with other improv alumini.… Listen Now The post Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.
                        50 min

                      About Bring a Brick with John Cooper

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                      Interviews with professionals who use improvisation in thier work