I learned a great deal about improv from two teachers---Martin Harvey Friedburg and Del Close---both who started as actors with The Second City in Chicago. Since its debut in 1959, the Second City has consistently been a starting point for comedians, award-winning actors, directors, such as Bill Murray, John Candy, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Cecily Strong among many hundreds of others.

In this podcast, Second City improv school folks talk about improv and business---great tips for lawyers, also.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Joshua Karton---teacher, actor, trial consultant, author at the New Jersey Association for Justice conference in Atlantic City. 

JOSHUA KARTON, president of the Santa Monica, California firm COMMUNICATION ARTS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL, specializes in bringing the personal communication techniques from theatre/film/television to the art of trial advocacy. As the former Director of Education and co-creator of the Applied Theatre Techniques Workshops™, he developed its unique step-by-step system for transforming courtroom presentation into persuasion, which trained over 8,000 attorneys nationwide (Harper's Index). He has served on the faculties and developed curriculum for AAJ's National College of Advocacy, Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer's College, the National Criminal Defense College, multiple National Institute for Trial Advocacy colleges, ABA and APA programs, and numerous state trial lawyer association presentations. He designs and conducts training programs for private firms, law schools, CLE programs, as well as providing individual case consultations. He is the director of the Effective Courtroom Communication Training for the Judge Advocate General's Corps, where his work culminated in the preparation of the winning argument to the US Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

"Yes, And! Harnessing the Power of Improvisation to Transform Your Life and Work."

If everything went as planned, you wouldn’t need to improvise. But, it doesn’t, so you do. Sharing the secrets improvisers use to solve problems quickly and well on stage, Mary Jane equips you to do the same at work and at home. Stories, examples, and more than 60 exercises provide a humorous, practical approach to ensuring you don’t just manage change or merely survive the unexpected. Instead, you can seize opportunity and thrive.

"This book is brilliant! I learned so much about how improv techniques can help at work and play. It's counterintuitive that improvisation requires a ton of preparation but it now makes a world of sense to me. Using the concept of "Yes, And" is simple yet powerful. Anyone who leads a team, is part of one or just wants to understand themselves better will find great value in this wonderful book.

"A valuable guide to using improvisation to bring people together and reach new goals with a fun and focused approach."

Lauren Fraser is the director of Blue Suit Strategies: Experienced personal injury trial attorneys ready to help your team succeed.

At the heart of Blue Suit Trial Strategies, contains two key elements: careful preparation and a simple, clear presentation of the case. Successful personal injury trial strategy begins with establishing a strong relationship with each client. Our proven methods for handling personal injury litigation from intake through trial can maximize the recovery for your personal injury clients.

Our strategies have enabled our law firm to obtain large jury verdicts and settlements for “soft tissue injury cases” even in the most conservative jurisdictions in New Jersey and throughout the United States.

Blue Suit Trial Strategies can help maximize the recovery for your personal injury clients. We want to work together with you.

In the early days of improvisation in New York City, you could not find a funnier or more experienced comedy improvisor than Bill McLaughlin. Bill was trained by master improv guru, Del Close and came to NYC from Chicago with Chicago City Limits improv troupe, modeled after Second City. They performed short form improv and put on full sketch shows. Bill was the comedy cog that made the group 'tick'. Bill was also Workshop Director of New York’s First Amendment Improv Company for seven years, during which time he taught none other than actor and comedian John Leguizamo.

In this podcast, we explore the benefits of improvisation in mediation. Del Close, improv guru, Improv Olympic founder, workshop director for comedy legends Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray (and hundreds of other actors) said, "For every interpersonal situation, there is a solution in which both parties win." Thinking "win-win" is the basis for all successful mediations. We talk about the rules of improv and how they apply to mediation; how to bring a "Yes, and..." orientation to your mediations.

Jeffrey Sweet has been a playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, critic, journalist, teacher, theatre historian, and sometime songwriter and director. He is the author of the classic book about the history of improv, "Something Wonderful Right Away".     This is not a book on how to play Improv; it describes, in a series of interviews, the history of Chicago`s Second City, the theatre where Improv in the US more or less started. Although it won`t teach you much about Improv, the book is still an interesting read.For several reasons: it is kind of amusing to hear about famous people`s less eh - interesting character features, and it`s also instructive to read how people discovered basic rules of Improv (like Accepting ) by trial and error.

Hal Peller is a former student of mine, who has gone on to teach the work of Viola Spolin from the classic improv manual, "Improvisation for the Theater". We discuss the importance of maintaining a "Yes, And" orientation in improv, along with the three basic rules Hal teaches in his Spolin workshops. The application for lawyers is a strong sense of observation; creating an environment of 'agreement' and collaboration.

#I IMPROV FOR LAWYERS 1.15.16AN INTRODUCTION INTO THE BENEFITS OF IMPROVISATION FOR TRIAL ATTORNEYS, MEDIATORS IN THE AREAS OF APPLIED LEGAL STORY TELLING, TEAM BUILDING, ADVOCACY AND PERSUASION.

The benefits of improvisation for lawyers. Listening Organically.