Jen Hansen, this week’s guest on the After Improv Podcast, is a longtime improvisor and resident artist at Go Comedy!, a member of Human Amusements and co-stars in the upcoming Planet Ant student sketch show Maddie and Maggie’s Torture Circus. She’s also an example of why kindness counts and a big reason why this podcast exists at all. Tony explains why, then Jen talks about her journey to the stage, including how she never intended to be a performer, her mother pranking her and her brother at the cemetery every Halloween, working at haunted houses, sneaking into the former Second City training center in Novi for stealth rehearsals, why she took a break from improv and how improv made her a better writer. All this, and so much more: Kindness counts * Writing first * Comical beginnings

* Not the performing type * The cemetery prank

* Prank calls * College-go-round * One degree of Jen * Old haunts * Second City * Hayden’s hand * Make it real * First * Novi! * Kevin McDonald * What a character * Better writing through improv * Breakin’ * Fibromyalgia * Snapchat * Maddie and Maggie’s Torture Circus * Favorite sketch * Transmissions From The Darkside * Heather’s feelings * John’s face * Fact of the week * Farm Team * Comments or whatever: @tonyaugusty