How to Handle Anything

By Mary Lemmer

Welcome to How to Handle Anything, the podcast where we talk about, well, how to handle anything.

There’s one certainty in life, and that’s that it’s filled with *uncertainty.* One of the things that... more

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FAQs about How to Handle Anything:

How many episodes does How to Handle Anything have?

The podcast currently has 22 episodes available.

How to Handle Anything episodes:

March 02, 2026 Introducing "How to Handle Anything"
What do you do when life doesn’t go according to plan?
You improvise!
How to Handle Anything is a podcast hosted by me, Mary Lemmer, longtime improviser, entrepreneur, and author of the forthcoming book How to Handle Anything. This show explores how real people navigate uncertainty, stress, reinvention, and the unexpected.
Each episode features thoughtful, honest conversations with writers, leaders, creatives, and improvisers about the real moments they’ve had to navigate, such as layoffs, stress, injury, midlife pivots, contentious conversations, reinvention, and more.
Subscribers receive monthly Bonus Elixirs, short, intimate reflections designed to help you try the ideas brought up in the episodes and in the book in your own life.
If you’re navigating change, uncertainty, or just the everyday curveballs of being human, you’re in the right place.
Follow the show and join us. Because you don’t have to have it all figured out to handle whatever comes next.
...more
2min
November 27, 2023Alice Lemmer on Being in the Moment, Embracing Change, and Mary's Dog
This week’s episode features Alice Lemmer (aka Mary’s Mom).

Alice Lemmer is a mom, dog whisperer, and volunteer who has brought a pretty awesome improviser into the world (that’s Mary in case that isn’t clear :)

Prior to retiring she worked at places including Edward Jones, the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, Iorio Gelato, Hotel Information Systems, Lansing Community College, and the American Red Cross. She has a Bachelors of Science in Child Development, Child Psychology, and Spanish from San Diego State University.

During this episode we discuss…
What inspired Alice to take an improv class

How taking improv classes has helped her in her life

Mary’s dog, Magi’s emergency vet visit and how Mary’s mom handled it

How Mary’s mom reminds Mary to improvise

Improvising as a mom and teaching kids how to accept versus fighting the reality around them

Embracing the “scenes we’re in”

Children are natural improvisers

How to foster more of the ability to improvise as we get older

Adapting to new environments, like living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan after San Diego

Embracing change

Alice’s “mom-ism” that inspires presence

Worrying

Balancing caring and concern with presence

How improvising has improved her relationship with her adult children

How the world would be better if everyone took improv classes — spoiler: it involves listening!

The gift Mary’s mom always asks Mary to get her as a holiday/birthday gift

From Alice, when asked how improv has improved her life offstage, “Improv has improved my mental flexibility and ability to ‘pivot mentally. It has improved my outlook by helping me to ‘see the whole picture’ and choose the perspective that is positive and empowering.”

Connect with Alice on LinkedIn and Facebook.

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
37min
November 20, 2023Kim Bryden on Food Entrepreneurship, Growing Teams, and Holiday Dance Videos
This week’s episode features Kimberly (Kim) Bryden.

Kim Bryden runs a small business called Cureate where they focus on shifting the dollar back into our local communities by building an empowered supply to meet a changing consumer demand. They do this through food & beverage entrepreneurship education and local procurement for institutional foodservice.

During this episode we discuss…
Her business, Cureate, helping food and beverage entrepreneurs grow their businesses

Mary’s first business, a gelato business, and how as a food entrepreneur she benefitted from improvisation

The connection between starting and building a food business and improv

Kim’s 4th grade improv class and the outfit she wore to it

Reading the room

Improvising to improve listening

Shifting mindsets

Taking a “no” somewhere with more curiosity

Meetings with food, really good food (shoutout Zingerman’s!)

How founders of food businesses could benefit from improvisational skills

Building self-awareness as an entrepreneur

How Kim adapted, as an entrepreneur, in her business

Growing teams

Her family’s holiday dance videos

From Kim, when asked how improv has improved her life offstage, “Stress relief, adding whimsy to my day, speaking confidence”

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn and Instagram @kimbryden. To learn more about Cureate visit cureate.co

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
35min
November 13, 2023Max Housner on Engineering, Conflict, and Improvising in Space
This week’s episode features Max Housner.

Max Housner works as an aerospace engineer focused in digital mission engineering, but creatively, he is also a musician, writer, and improvisor. Max has a passion for space exploration, discovery, and gets to work with a variety of exciting space programs, but also has a passion for the art of improv comedy and music. Max's experience in improv ranges from masterclasses at iO Chicago, Second City, to classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade in LA for both Harold and musical improv. He's taught improv workshops for long form, short form, and musical improv and previously performed all through college at the University of Michigan, with ComCo, Michigan's oldest improv troupe. Max is now currently performing long form, short form, and musical improv in Los Angeles at UCB, The Clubhouse, and other small theaters with a variety of teams. Outside of work and comedy, Max loves breweries, a good cup of joe, live music, hikes, movies, traveling, doing the crossword, and having a good laugh with good friends.

During this episode we discuss…
When and why he started practicing improv

Being a band kid and theatre kid

The University of Michigan marching band and engineers in marching band

What about improv surprised him

Skills he gained onstage that he took offstage

How he uses improv skills as an engineer

Improv, aerospace engineering, and music — what they all require and have in common

Improvising in space

Coffee in Los Angeles

Simple joys

From Max, when asked how improv has improved his life offstage, “Improv has allowed me to express myself creatively in the best ways, has immensely improved my listening, communication, and creative skills, and has allowed me to be a more honest and open version of myself.”

Connect with Max on LinkedIn and Instagram @maxhousner

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
36min
November 06, 2023Gayaneh Davoodian on the Ability to Quickly Adapt in Startups and in Life
This week's episode features Gayaneh Davoodian.

Gayaneh took improv classes in high school, college, and the Upright Citizens Brigade. Currently she works as a venture capital (VC) Scout for an accelerator and a couple of seed stage funds.

Previously she was Chief of Staff at Sequel.io, Head of Enablement at a Stealth Startup, and Program Manager of People Operations and Talent Acquisition at Curated, where she developed the company’s Talent and People Operations department at the start of Series B, through Series C, oversaw headcount growth of nearly 3x employees, built processes from scratch as well as identified and implemented necessary tools to maintain this rapid growth.

She has a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from USC, and an Associates degree in Fashion from the Parsons School of Design.

During this episode we discuss…
When and why she first took an improv class

Improvising as a media buyer

Overthinking

Improvising as a recruiter at a Series B startup

Her ‘aha’ moment

Career paths outside of being an engineer, doctor, or lawyer

The unknown of startups and the need to improvise

The Chief of Staff role

Working with different kinds of people

Reacting in improv and what it teaches us about reacting in the workplace

Using improv as a venue to practice expressing yourself differently

The toppling over of suppressed emotions

Creating 2 creative t-shirts

From Gayaneh, when asked how improv has improved her life offstage,

“In a work setting, it helped me stay dynamic. You end up working with all different kinds of people (especially in startups). The improv skills I learned allowed me to listen and react to a person/situation as opposed to assuming/staying rigid in my thoughts and expressions. It helped me connect with people more.”

Connect with Gayaneh on LinkedIn and Instagram @gaya_dav

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
43min
October 30, 2023Matthew Goodman, Ph.D. on Mindful Leadership and Letting Go of Control
This week's episode features Matthew Goodman, Ph.D.

Matthew Goodman, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (PSY32423), consultant, speaker, and mindfulness teacher. He is Founder of The Middle Way Consulting, where he supports organizations with wellness, team-building, and communication skills through purposeful play (including improv!), awareness-based practices (e.g., deep listening), and behavioral science principles. Dr. Goodman was previously Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, where he provided clinical care, teaching, and supervision within the psychiatry residency program. He has expertise in mindfulness-based interventions and has taught mindfulness to children and adults in hospitals, clinics, schools, and to the general public for 10+ years, in addition to authoring several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on mindfulness and creating a documentary film on “the dark night of the soul” phenomenon in the context of meditation. His Zen-prov! classes create a nonjudgmental space for people to practice mindfulness, self-compassion, and other Zen principles such as “not knowing” through fun and interactive improv exercises.

During this episode we discuss…
His improv origin story

When he noticed the shift in himself after starting an improv practice

Internal changes versus external changes

Parallel life pursuing psychology studies and improv comedy

Why he lived in Alaska

Psychology, improv, and mindfulness

What’s going on in the mind when improvising

Control - wanting it and relinquishing control

Improv showing how much we rely on control and better enabling us to let go of it

What improv has enabled him to do because of improv

His year at a Zen Buddhist monastery

The documentary he made

Improv as an outward mindfulness practice

The struggle to be present

How he brings improv into his work as a psychologist

Mary’s good questions

The importance of learning to listen and be present with people

The opportunity for hospital settings to benefit from improvisational principles

What the world might be like if everyone practiced improv

Improv exercises that help us practice letting go

The future of leadership

From Matt, when asked how improv has improved his life offstage, “Creating more present-moment awareness. Confidence in taking risks and speaking what's on my mind/heart. More joy, spontaneity, and flexibility. Taking myself less seriously. Connection to others ”

Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn Instagram @matthewgoodmanphd

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
46min
October 23, 2023Ali Farahnakian on Improvising as a Way of Life and the Source of Happiness
This week's episode features Ali Farahnakian.

Ali is an American actor, writer, and improvisational comedian. He is the founder of The Peoples Improv Theater in NYC. Ali studied improv in the 1990s at the ImprovOlympic and was a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. He was a writer on Saturday Night Live during its 25th anniversary season and received a Writers Guild Award Nomination. Ali’s television credits include “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “Special Victims Unit,” “All My Children,” “Third Watch,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “30 Rock,” and numerous national commercials. He is an alum of SNL, The iO Theater, and Second City.

During this episode we discuss…
Ali’s improv origin story

His original career pursuit

The feeling he had during his first improv class in Chicago

The star studded fellow improvisers he performed with

Improv isn’t public speaking

How improvising impacted his life

Yes, and no thank you

Where saying “yes, and” has led him in life

Ballet dancers in NYC

How he keeps strengthening his improv muscle

“What would you do if money didn’t matter?”

Improvising with intention — having goals

The most surprising thing improv has brought into his life

Craft, community, career

Happiness, gratitude

A magic trick in the English language

Improv, sports, walking as forms of meditation

From Ali, when asked how improv has improved his life offstage, “Improv has been a part of my life for over 33 years. It’s my way of life.”

Connect with Ali on Instagram @alialinyc and check out The People's Improv Theater in NYC.

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
43min
October 16, 2023Alec Brown on Happy Accidents, Creativity, Trust, and Pumpkin Bread
This week's episode features Alec Brown.

Alec Brown is a content creator, writer, improviser, stand-up, and musical comedy entertainer. His latest project is the viral TikTok series “Challah At Ya Goy!”A play on words celebrating delicious bread and a Yiddish term for gentiles, “CAYG!” takes viewers on double entendre-laden two-minute riotous recipe revues that climax in tasty test fests: oy vey!

In pre-Covid times, he co-wrote and co-starred in the musical comedy show Peter, Paul and Carly which played a dozen sellouts at NYC’s Duplex Theatre. Alec has performed stand-up at venues like The Broadway Comedy Club and was invited to join Upright Citizens Brigade’s prestigious Academy. He appeared monthly in 2019 at the Peoples Improv Theater and has since become an Associate Producer at Story Pirates, specializing in children’s improv and writing. His voiceover work is featured on several episodes of their iHeart Radio Award-winning podcast; his sung vocals can be heard on their song “Cheese Quest.” He’s currently in the Writing Lab at The Groundlings.

Alec’s writing has been featured on numerous online platforms, most notably on theatre satire site The Broadway Beat (recently acquired by Coil with Reductress and The Hard Times). Articles include “Man Disappointed Nothing Spooky Happened After Seeing Beetlejuice A Third Time” and “Gazillion Bubble Show Faces Controversy After 6-Year Old Counts.”

During this episode we discuss…
The ACTs and SATS

Alec’s improv origin story

The moment he realized improv was improving his life offstage

The benefits of improvising on focus and receptivity

Paying attention

If this is true what else is true

Letting your guard down

How improvising influenced his friendships

Alec’s go-to baked good to make for friends

Creativity

Happy accidents

Performance blacking out

Trusting other people while improvising versus trusting people in real life

How improv has helped him with anger

Everything can be taken less seriously

“Comedy brings joy and there’s nothing we need more in this world than joy”

From Alec, when asked how improv has improved his life offstage, “It's really trained me to listen to what others say in a broader spectrum (i.e.-tone, word choice, timing, and intention)”

Connect with Alec on Instagram and TikTok @challahatyagoy

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
38min
October 09, 2023Mel Rubin on Creativity, Silence, and Being Nice to Yourself
This week's episode features Melanie (Mel) Rubin.

Mel Rubin is a tech support specialist, hip hop improv performer, instructor and beatboxer based out of New York City. She studied long-form improv and musical improv comedy at the Magnet Theater (NYC), and is a performer on the hip hop improv team North Coast, who has been featured in The New York Times and Time Out New York. Mel is also an active performer, workshop facilitator and public speaking coach with Freestyle+ and loves to travel across the country bringing the joy of improv to anyone who will let her.

During this episode we discuss…
Mel’s improv origin story — why she started taking improv classes

How improv improves creativity

How bringing yourself and versions of yourself to characters is a way to practice skills you want to get better at in life and work

How you can get better at something when there’s no wrong way to do it

Breaking rules

Acceptance

T-shirt ideas

A funny story about a time Mary was struggling to play the scene she was in

The challenge of society to be present

Shadow characters

Setting boundaries

Expanding our capabilities and character range

Rebranding “straight man” to “grounded human”

The best skill to have if you want to be a great conversationalist

First Word, Last Word — a great improv exercise to improve listening

Pre-improv Mary versus post-improv Mary

Improvising TED talks

Sitting in silence

Improv as social meditation

Competing for space in a conversation

Listening different

A Without the B — a great improv experience to improve creativity and quick thinking

Being nice to yourself
From Mel, when asked how improv has improved her life offstage, “It's given me the super power of my very good memory, I'm sure of it! The active listening element has translated into my real life and I have such a visual and detailed memory because of it. It's also helped me be so much more present because if you think too far ahead, you miss what's right in front of you (just like in improv).”

Connect with Mel on LinkedIn and Instagram @melrubin2

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.
Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.
Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com
...more
48min
October 02, 2023Gus Vieweg on Being Yourself, Feeling Enough, and Choosing Where to Live
This week's episode features Gus Vieweg

Gus is a musician, micro-entrepreneur, programmer, student, playwright, and, of course, improviser.

He got his start with improv in college with the Comedic Improvisational Alliance (CIA) at North Carolina State University. He has also improvised in San Diego and North Carolina, where he started an improv Meetup group and performed in the 2019 North Carolina Comedy Festival with his improv trio Broken Compass. He has also taken improv classes at ComedyWorx and the People's Improv Theater.

A North Carolina native, Gus now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

During this episode we discuss…
Why he started taking improv classes

How he found friendships through improv

Being yourself

The rap he did as a 9 year old

The unique way he chose a new place to live

How leaving the comfort of his apartment empowered spontaneity

Relinquishing control and choosing uncertainty, in life, and how improv prepares us for those moments

Small talk

Listening

Sitting in problems and solving problems

Improv as the antidote to self doubt

Why saying “I am enough” isn’t enough to actually feel like enough and how to actually feel it

The importance of improvising in offstage environments

Bonus: Listen and see if you think his voice resembles the same famous comedian I think it does!

From Gus, when asked how improv has improved his life offstage, “Improv has helped me learn how to lose, how to delegate, and pick your battles. I think of most of my life as ‘side support’ with some very intentional mainstage performance.”

Connect with Gus on LinkedIn and Instagram @GusVieweg and on his website gusvieweg.com
...more
39min

FAQs about How to Handle Anything:

How many episodes does How to Handle Anything have?

The podcast currently has 22 episodes available.