Improv Interviews

Carol Bleackley Sills, director of Sills/Spolin Theater Works has been an influential force behind improvisational theatre since 1960. Carol studied with Viola Spolin, acting as her editor since 1983. In collaboration with her husband Paul Sills, they went on to create innovative theatres that included The Compass, Playwrights Theatre, Second City, The Game Theater, Story Theater, The Body Politic, Century Hall, The Learning Theater and Sills & Co. Carol presents workshops annually at the Wisconsin Theater Game Center and directed The Tao of Chuang Chou at New Actors Workshop in New York. She is also a painter and educator.

You can learn more about Carol Sills at: https://www.paulsills.com/sillsspolin-theater-works/

Sean A. Mulvihill is currently directing the documentary feature film, “Act Social” featuring Colin Mochrie (Whose Line is it, Anyway?). The film follows Sean and his team on a mission to bring improvisation-based peacemaking skills to world leaders and communities in need.

Sean resides in New York City and is the Artistic Director of the Exuberants Improv Comedy Team which performs in Times Square New York City at the Broadway Comedy Club every Sunday at 6pm. The troupe also tours the greater NYC area.

Sean is well known around the globe for creating and starring in the 2007 docu/drama feature film, Living Luminaries: On the Serious Business of Happiness. The film stars Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now), Marianne Williamson, don Miguel Ruiz (The Four Agreements), and Michael Bernard Beckwith.

He is also recognized as the voice of the main character, Prometheus, in the Sony Playstation Virtual Reality game, “Loading Human.” The game is written and directed by Italian actor/director Flavio Parenti, star of Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love.” Sean also appeared in an upcoming episode of RAI Italy’s “Questo Nostro Amore” with Neri Marcore’.

You can learn more about Sean and how to support his film and work at seanamulvihill.com.

Aretha Sills is the granddaughter of Viola Spolin. She studied theater games for many years with her father, director Paul Sills (creator/director of The Second City and Story Theater), and has conducted workshops for Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theater Game Center, Bard College, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Stockholm International School, Sarah Lawrence College, and Northwestern University. She has worked with Tony- and Emmy-Award winning actors and has trained faculty from Northwestern, DePaul, Columbia College, The Second City, The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, LAUSD, CETA, and many other institutions and schools. She is the Associate Director of Sills/Spolin Theater Works and she directs The Predicament Players.

Learn more about Aretha Sills: Sills/Spolin Theater Works, Associate Director

www.ViolaSpolin.org

www.PaulSills.com

www.facebook.com/sillsspolin

www.instagram.com/sillsspolintheater/

Spolin Improvisation Sidecoach * Acting & Writing Coach

"My vision is a world of accessible intuition." -Viola Spolin

Part 2 of my podcast with Gary Schwartz, an award-winning TV and film actor, director, comedian and a master improvisational acting coach whose 30 years as a performer and improv teacher has helped transform the lives of thousands of people, both on- and off-screen. He studied and worked with Viola Spolin,the mother of modern improv, and is the only master teacher to have ever earned an endorsement from both Viola Spolin and her son, Paul Sills, the co-founder and director of The Second City.

I met John Dawson through our mutual friend Nick Johne from Chicago's Second City. They had worked together at Toronto's Second City before they both immigrated to Chicago & Dublin. His first foray into using improvisation for improved mental health was 7 years ago when he was approached to design and facilitate a series of Dramatic Arts for Wellness Workshops for D.C.U. (Dublin City University) in association with St. James Hospital Dublin’s mental health division. John’s taught his improv-based workshops in Critical thinking, Creativity and Effective Communication/Collaboration Skills for corporate and institutional clients such as Google, Airbnb, DropBox, Twitter Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, H.S.E. (Health Service Executive, Ireland) and political party Renua Ireland.

He has served as writer, story consultant and script editor on many film and TV projects. He lectured on screenwriting at Trinity College Dublin and has taught acting and improvisation for over 21 years in three countries. This has included facilitating for Toronto’s Equity Showcase Theatre, The Actors Center in London, Ireland’s Animation Skillnet and Screen Training Ireland, well as for employees of Ireland’s Academy Award nominated animation companies Brown Bag Films and Cartoon Saloon. You can learn more about John Dawson at: [email protected]

Email: [email protected]

I met John Dawson through our mutual friend Nick Johne from Chicago's Second City. They had worked together at Toronto's Second City before they both immigrated to Chicago & Dublin. His first foray into using improvisation for improved mental health was 7 years ago when he was approached to design and facilitate a series of Dramatic Arts for Wellness Workshops for D.C.U. (Dublin City University) in association with St. James Hospital Dublin’s mental health division. John’s taught his improv-based workshops in Critical thinking, Creativity and Effective Communication/Collaboration Skills for corporate and institutional clients such as Google, Airbnb, DropBox, Twitter Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, H.S.E. (Health Service Executive, Ireland) and political party Renua Ireland.

He has served as writer, story consultant and script editor on many film and TV projects. He lectured on screenwriting at Trinity College Dublin and has taught acting and improvisation for over 21 years in three countries. This has included facilitating for Toronto’s Equity Showcase Theatre, The Actors Center in London, Ireland’s Animation Skillnet and Screen Training Ireland, well as for employees of Ireland’s Academy Award nominated animation companies Brown Bag Films and Cartoon Saloon.

You can learn more about John Dawson at:

Email: [email protected]

Website: [email protected]

Margot Escott speaks with improv master Craig Price who is using his 30+ years of experience (including training with the great Del Close)in wellness classes that use improv to improve the lives of those who are differently abled. Craig shares with us the wisdom he learned from both Second City and IO with Del Close - To always play at the top of your intelligence, to encourage each other, to play intelligently and to lift each other up.

Marshall C Stern by Margot Escott

Nancy Walker Podcast by Margot Escott

Cameron Algie - Improv for Anxiety by Margot Escott