The Improv Teachers

Hi and welcome to what I hope is the first of many episodes!

I'm your host Lauren Morris. I am also the founder and director of AdLib Theatre. Just like with the Improv Teachers podcast, I wanted to take a closer look into the world of artistic directors. What do we look for when performers take to the stage? How can we give clear notes? What goes on behind the scenes?

These are some of the questions we will be examining in these short episodes. Every week or so, I will give you a recap of our show, what the expectation was, how it turned out, and some tips and tricks on bringing your improv to life on stage!

I hope you enjoy this new experiment and I look forward to this adventure with you.

About Me (Lauren Morris):

Lauren Morris is the founder and director of AdLib Theatre Company as well as the Executive Producer for the Central Florida Improv Festival.

Lauren studied improv at The Annoyance Theatre & Bar with Mick Napier and with Paul Vaillancourt (co-Founder of iO West) at iO West. She has taken workshops and classes with such improv notables as Kevin Mullaney, Jill Bernard, Rebecca and Rich Sohn, Adal Rifai, Susan Messing, and Mark Sutton and members of the UCB Theater in New York City.

Lauren hosts The Improv Teachers (winner of Best of Improv Podcasts, 2017, PlayerFM). A podcast dedicated to discussing the art of teaching improv.

Additionally, she is a veteran of numerous improv festivals where she has been invited to perform and teach. As a writer, Lauren has been featured in publications such as Weekly Humorist, Slackjaw, Belladonna, MockMom, Points in Case, and Robot Butt. She honed her satire skills via Second City.

To learn more you can visit www.adlibcomedy.com or www.laurenhasthree.com

It's Tuesday and... Louis Kornfeld is our guest!

Louis Kornfeld began improvising way back in 2003, when both his phone and online presence were at the forefront of millennium culture. He's been a proud member of the Magnet Theater since it opened its doors, having logged countless hours as a performer, intern, house manager, member of 'The Boss,' Megawatt director, and (for the past twelve years) teacher of improvisation. What can he say? He loves it.

In addition to improv, Louis is also an award winning writer and actor whose work is routinely featured on 'The Truth' podcast. Check it out, why don't you?

You can see him performing every Sunday night with the great Rick Andrews in 'Kornfeld & Andrews.' They have some short videos online you might enjoy.

He thinks you're doing great.

It's Tuesday and... Caitlin Kunkel is this month's guest!

Caitlin Kunkel is a comedy writer and satirist. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Public Radio International and other places on the vast internetz. Caitlin is represented by Susan Raihofer of the David Black Agency.

She is the co-founder and editor of the comedy and satire site for female writers, The Belladonna. She created the online satire writing program for The Second City and teaches monthly classes for them.

Caitlin's first book, NEW EROTICA FOR FEMINISTS, co-written by The Belladonna editors, will be published by Dutton Books in the US and by Sceptre in the UK in November 2018. SHE'S EXCITED!!!

You can find Caitlin at:

https://caitlinkunkel.com/

https://twitter.com/KunkelTron

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525540407/prhca-20

It's Wednesday and we have a special episode!

Join Max McCal of Endgames Improv on this deep dive into coaching and the form known as the Slacker!

It's Tuesday and... Woody Fu is our guest!Woody Fu is an actor, sketch comedian, writer and improviser living in Brooklyn. He has performed on the Boom Chicago stage in Amsterdam. His one-man show Asian Gracefully has gone up at the UCB, PIT, Magnet, and Annoyance Theaters in New York, and toured in Phoenix, Austin, and Philadelphia.

He draws comics, made an online choose-your-own-adventure dating game called Escape From F–k Zone, and is a professional DJ.

Find Woody at www.woodfu.com

It's Tuesday and... Josh Nicols is back as our guest!

We invited Josh back to discuss more teaching and coaching improv! Josh has been performing improv for 25 years. He co-founded Spectacles Improv Engine, created the Orange County Improv fest and co-founded The Improv Cup, a charity improv tournament in its 7th year. He performs with Ounce of Behavior and Community Theatre 3000. He focuses on organic grounded improv as a student, teacher, and performer.

You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and SoundCloud!

Episode 41:

Our guest is John Gebretatose!

John rose from the ranks of a HUGE Improv Theater student, to a HUGE Improv instructor. He trained and worked at Brave New Workshop.

He has performed stand-up comedy in the Twin Cities for over nine years. He is currently part of one of the hottest new improv groups, Blackout, and also a founding member of Late Nights Minneapolis With Joe Rapp.

John has taught improv workshops internationally, coached improv groups and currently teaches at HUGE in addition to heading up diversity and inclusion programs.

He is the founder and creator of the Black and Funny Improv Festival

It's Tuesday and... Laura Manasewich is our guest!

Laura hails from East Hartford, CT. She holds a BA in Communication from Western New England College, which is now a University! She has studied improv in CT with Hartford Stage, and Claire Zick, and in NYC at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, where she is a student in their Advanced Study program. She has studied stand-up comedy with Improv Boston, and comedic writing with Gotham Writers’ Workshop and Second City. She has performed throughout the Northeast and has been a participant at comedy festivals in NYC, Boston, Baltimore, Washington DC and Cleveland. She is also a co-founder of the Hartford Improv Festival. Laura loves improv! Teaching, performing, watching, talking, the whole enchilada.

Laura loves her family, her friends, her dog Mr. Beans, Hartford, dancing, dinner, planning trips and following her well coordinated Google calendar. She’s pretty nice to talk to, if you ever wanted to do that sort of thing.

It's Tuesday and... Neil Curran is our guest!

Neil has been teaching and performing improv both in Ireland and abroad for many years. Aside from running improv courses for people from beginner to advanced level, Neil also runs bespoke courses. Outside of Ireland, Neil has taught in London, Brussels, Shanghai, San Francisco, Barcelona, Krakow and San Jose.

Neil has taught at the Slapdash Festival London, Barcelona Improv Festival, Improfest Krakow and San Jose Improv Festival.

Neil has also provided key training solutions and workshops to many well known organisations both in Ireland, UK and the US including Google, Facebook, IMI, Smurfit Business School, Dropbox, AdRoll, AIB and UCD, to name but a few. He is a certified Personal & Executive Coach. Neil is currently in the middle of a Masters in Training & Education.

Neil has trained with the following instructors in Improv and Theatre.

Our August episode is ready!

Betsaida LeBron is our guest. Here is her bio from her website:

My passion is creating art as a performer and helping others create art as a teacher. At a young age I began entertaining family and friends performing improvised productions in my parents’ living room and staging elaborate improvised puppet shows with homemade puppets and sets with my siblings throughout Northern California.

I discovered improv by accident in 2009 while studying in Spain and never looked back! I studied theater, psychology, and education in college and am an alum of iO-Chicago and Bay Area Theatre Sports (BATS). I began performing at ComedySportz. In 2011 I co-founded Blacktop Comedy Club in Rocklin, CA. There I had the opportunity to perform in weekly improv shows, taught beginning to advanced improv classes, and directed several improvised genre shows, including a Shakespearean romantic comedy, improvised musical, improvised western, and improvised teen slasher horror film. I also began performing in two indie improv troupes, Yada Yada Yada and Kooky Pants. I've also studied stand-up comedy with Keith Lowell Jensen and performed stand-up sets at Laughs Unlimited Comedy Club, Blacktop Comedy Club, California Comedy Festival, and various other venues throughout Northern California.

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I strive to be an animated and engaging improviser and enjoy creating characters and vivid worlds on stage with my scene partners. Combining over 10 years of experience in improv and a background in psychology and education, my workshops include a unique blend of acting and life skills, reflecting my philosophy that improv is all about life. Some of the workshops I've given include Improvised Storytelling at the Auburn Hip-Hop Congress, Improvised Musicality at San Francisco’s 2016 Femprov Festival, Bold as F**k at the 2016 California Comedy Festival, and my regular workshop series Improv Playhouse.

I feel fortunate to do what I love and help others (re)discover their potential.