Magnet Theater Podcast

John O’Donnell, longtime friend of Magnet Theater and kind onstage powerhouse talks about how he first fell in love with performing, improv, and stumbling upon the early evolution of musical improv.

John has appeared in pilots for Comedy Central, the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival, on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, as well as numerous commercials.

He has also written and performed a trilogy of one-man shows, O’Donnellogues, Son of O’Donnellogues, and Beneath The Planet of The O’Donnellogues. At the Magnet Theater he has made appearances in Thursday Night Out, The Armando Diaz Experience, The Tiny Spectacular, and currently improvises weekly in Magnet’s ‘The Made Up Musical‘.

John has a Masters Degree in Education and has been teaching in New York City for over a decade.

Subscribe to the Magnet Theater Podcast via iTunes here.

Enjoy Episode #13 on iTunes or below via SoundCloud.

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The post #13:John O’Donnell appeared first on Magnet Theater.

18-time Moth StorySlam Champion (2-time GrandSlam Champion) and Magnet instructor, Adam Wade, as interviewed by Alex Marino. Adam Wade is an actor and storyteller based in NYC. He was recently seen on Comedy Central’s ‘Inside Amy Schumer’. Adam has been featured on The Moth Podcast numerous times and has performed at renowned NYC shows such as The Moths Main Stage, The Nights of Our Lives, The Rejection Show, The Liar Show, Mortified, Stripped Stories, Speakeasy Stories, and True Tales From College (which he is the co-producer and co-host of). He has appeared on the NFL NETWORKs Top 10 Football Follies, ESPNs Mayne Street and ESPN CLASSICs Classic Now where he interviewed such legends as Mike Ditka and Reverend Run from RUN DMC. He was a featured performer on Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and NBCs Late Night with Conan OBrien. He has written for NY Times, NY Press, Glamour Magazine, ESPN The Magazine and Hoboken Reporter.

Subscribe to the Magnet Theater Podcast via iTunes here.

Enjoy Episode #12 on iTunes or below via SoundCloud.

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The post #12:Adam Wade appeared first on Magnet Theater.

The post #11: Craig Cackowski – Archive Interview appeared first on Magnet Theater.

Greg Hess is an actor, writer and comedian in Los Angeles. He is an improviser with The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Cook Country Social Club and performs at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade in LA.

Greg talks with guest host Rick Andrews about making a living as an improviser and how he’s been ‘giving it a year for the last eleven years.’

Rick confesses that he felt like quitting improv after seeing an Improvised Shakespeare Company show.  But Rick didn’t.  And now he’s hosting this great interview!

Subscribe to the Magnet Theater Podcast via iTunes here.

Enjoy Episode #10 on iTunes or below via SoundCloud.

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The post #10: Greg Hess appeared first on Magnet Theater.

Listen to the insights and observations of this master teacher about what keeps her drawn to improvisation, seeing characters as energy, and seeking out new ways to challenge yourself.

Enjoy Episode 9 on iTunes or below via SoundCloud.

Subscribe to the Magnet Theater Podcast via iTunes here.

The post #9: Rachel Hamilton appeared first on Magnet Theater.

Reductress.com is the first and only fake women’s news magazine. They parody the entertainment, advertising, and other media sources that women consume daily. Forbes named it one of the top 100 websites for women last year.  And it’s super funny.

The Magnet Blog interviewed them back in January – Check out out :

Now you can listen as Magnet’s Alex Marino interviews these smart and funny writers on the nuts and bolts of creating a comedy platform, their process, how you can submit your writing, and where they are headed.  This episode was recorded earlier this year at Magnet Training Center.

Enjoy Episode #8 on iTunes or below via SoundCloud.

Subscribe to the Magnet Theater Podcast via iTunes here.

Learn more about Beth and Sarah after the jump!

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Beth Newell is a member of the sketch group “Dumbkowsky” whose work has been featured on The Huffington Post and The Best Week Ever Blog. She has directed several shows at the Magnet including the “Lady Sketch Show” and “Breakfast for Dinner.” She also performs improv at the Magnet with “:Kiss*Punch*Poem:” and “Sad Kids.” Once upon a time she was a member of the cult classic improv group, “Bombardo,” and starred in the web-broadcast reality show, “Project Improviser.” She has contributed writing to The Onion News Network, McSweeney’s, and The Bygone Bureau. @bethnew

Sarah Pappalardo has been writing and improvising since 2005, and studied with all the folks at Annoyance and IO Chicago, and was a Musical Director at Second City and around town. While finishing an M.A. in English and B.A. in Film, she wrote and performed in the serial play, The Ville and was a member of DSI’s The Beatbox and CIF’s Storybox. @yourpappalardo

The post #8: Reductress appeared first on Magnet Theater.

Louis Kornfeld interviews Magnet Musical Director Frank Spitznagel! They talk about everything from Annie to Zorba including musical theater, musical improv, and what makes a good scene- all while Rick Andrews laughs loudly in the background!

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The post #7: Frank Spitznagel appeared first on Magnet Theater.

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The post #6: Megan Gray appeared first on Magnet Theater.

Charles is a loving member of the Magnet house team The Music Industry and the host of his own show, Prank Calls with Charles Rogers, in which he live calls victims suggested by the audience. He also performs around town with his indie team Orange Augustus.

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The post #5: Charles Rogers appeared first on Magnet Theater.

In this episode of The Magnet Theater Podcast, Louis Kornfeld talks with Chet Siegel.  She was raised in West Virginia, and now lives in New York City. And she’s a girl.  Find out how on the latest episode. She’s an improviser, teacher, sketch writer and newly named director of the Magnet Sketch program. She performs with The Armando Diaz Experience, The Weave, Kiss:Punch:Poem, Magnet TourCo, & her sketch team, The Misses. At UCB, she performs with the Harold team, Women & Men.

Find out what she’s doing with the sketch program at Magnet, the mechanics of a good sketch, and how performers can succeed when tackling sketch when coming from improvisation training.

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