The Improv Chronicle Podcast

How can we use lighting and sound better in our improv. In this episode, you hear from two improvisers who also do tech and who give you a view from the tech box. This episode aims to help on-stage improvisers and …

Is the medium of improv too often confused with the genre of improv? Surely improv isn’t one thing in the same way that theatre isn’t one thing. The genre is not the medium. This episode explores how we make the …

Why is it that some improvisers avoid playing with an older improviser, or when they do get to play with them, they make them their grandparents? …

Moving your life to a new town or city is a big undertaking - there’s a lot to sort out. So what’s it like getting settled in a new city’s improv scene? Hear from three improvisers who have moved their lives to another …

Improvisers from different cities across the world talk about the many and varied changes that have happened to their scenes. From theatres closing to new ones opening - from scenes losing improvisers to those who are …

Whether you are an improviser who hesitates to walk on, or someone who just can’t resist entering a scene, you know a walk-on has the power to change what is happening on stage. 

Marcel Blanch-de Wilt is a Sydney-based …

Slowly, gradually, in some parts of the world, live shows are coming back. For some performers it’s their first shows back in front of a live audience in 16 months. That sort of gap between shows is something many …

What happens when two improv organisations in different parts of the world happen to have the same name - and then discover each other exist?

This is the story of The Improv Place, USA and The Improv Place, UK. Last …

How do we turn a scene around when it isn't going as well as we intended. This episode, host Lloydie gets voicemails from improvisers around the world with top tips on how to rescue a scene that's not going well.

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How much do external factors like the space we play in or the audience have an influence on what we do on stage as improvisers - and how much impact …

From time to time, many (if not most) improvisers find themselves stuck inside their head and thinking too much. How can we identify when it is happening, and how can we moderate any negative impact it might be having …

What exactly does improv give to the corporate world and how is it benefitting workplaces, even during (or especially during) the pandemic! This episode we explore the ways improv is helping the business world become …

What happens when you get stage fright and how have some improvisers overcome it? This episode features personal stories about how people have overcome their own anxieties about performing at a time when some others are …

The Game Of The Scene is one of the more debated improv concepts. Part of that debate has simply focused on defining what we mean by ‘the game of the …

As we continue talking about the move towards getting back to improv in real life, what will happen to online improv? To begin with it was a stop-gap for most, but one year in, it’s fostered an international community …

As the vaccine rollouts happen around the world, announcements are beginning to be made about when theatres might be able to open later in the year. 

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Go to a lot of improv theatre websites and alongside the classes in improv, you’ll often see classes in sketch comedy too. Why are improv and sketch …

Show notes:

The words improv and comedy are so regularly used together, but comedy doesn’t have to be the goal. How do we define what ‘dramatic …

Just as our art form adapted by going online, online shows have adapted with the technology. As people realise that online improv is going to stay …

It's nearly ten months since most live improv shows around the world paused. Some improvisers have taken their short form shows online and adapted them, other improvisers have decided to move from long form to short …

Extended interview material from 2020's Improv Chronicle recordings plus some words of wisdom worth repeating.

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This …

What do improvisers hope 2021 brings to our artform and to their own projects? Improvisers from across the world have sent messages to The Improv Chronicle and some of improv's next generation reflect on what they want …

Object work - is it just a necessary evil or is the creation and continuity of imaginary objects in scenes vital. What power does object work have when it comes to affecting us, our scene partners and our audiences and …

The phrase ‘take care of your scene partner’ is used so many times in improv but what do we really mean by it? What is it we need to do to make sure our scene partner is ‘taken care of’? This episode, you hear different …

Many people advise that to be a good improviser, you need to have an interesting life… so what are the things have people done, what hobbies have they taken up or professions have they worked in or life habits they’ve …

Any art form is subjective and can lead practitioners to question themselves, but how do experienced improvisers and improv teachers deal with the phenomenon of imposter syndrome? 

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Status - some schools of thought talk about status in improv a lot - but what do we mean when we ask someone to play high or low status and how much …

If you have been in a show where everyone else came out on stage doing a great accent and you’re there thinking “oh boy, I can’t do that” this …

As a form, the Harold is lauded by some and treated less reverentially by others… there’s no doubting that it’s had a huge impact on improv but, all …

Physicality in improv - usually a rich topic but how do we address it when we are improvising online in little boxes?

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Last episode you heard from improvisers who weren’t improvising right now due to the current pandemic. Today, more …

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Online improv has become a big thing during the pandemic but not everyone wants to take their improv online or teach …

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As the world struggles to find connection during a pandemic, does being part of an improv community give you a head …

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Very gradually, one or two improv venues are tentatively opening up their doors again. As some countries feel they have …

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While improv has made huge efforts to get online during the global pandemic in either Zoom or podcast form, musical …

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Two person shows have been a growing trend in improv and with the release of a three part Netflix special from improvisers …

Two person shows have been a growing trend in improv and with the release of a three part Netflix special from improvisers Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz, there is a now a mainstream spotlight on improvised duos. …

In the past couple of episodes you’ve heard from people who have moved their improv online using Zoom - all the improv that you’ve heard covered in this podcast has been visually led. But what about podcasts? Unlike …

In the second part of this series on online improv, we re-visit some of the voices you heard last episode - improv practitioners who have taken their work onto visual online platforms like Zoom in order to still teach …

In the midst of a global pandemic, improvisers have had to make huge shifts to continue any sense of work, and for many, huge swathes of income have disappeared in a heartbeat.

In this, the first of two episodes on the …

Whether you teach improv classes, put on or attend shows, or you run an improv festival, the impact of the Corona Virus around the world will have …

How we transition from one scene to the next is something some improvisers spend a great deal of time talking about. So why are so many in the improv world nerds for editing in certain ways when no one chooses a show …

Improv shows are known for taking audience suggestions in order to inspire the performance but what makes a good suggestion and do we really need them anyway? Hear from Megan Gray of The Magnet Theatre in New York, …

Loving improv is one thing but when does it start to become too much of a good thing? Hear from improvisers who are loading their lives up with the art form and the mental health professional who advises caution.

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A jam is an event where anyone can put their name in the hat in order to play an improv scene in front of the audience. As improv grows, so do jam nights. It's as if an improv jam is part of the fabric of the art form. …

How your last improv show went sometimes isn't as important as how and when you find out about how good it was. Getting notes in improv whether it be …

You've heard from some incredible improv voices since this podcast launched in July. We've not been able to include everything everyone said in every …

The concept we call Yes And has been at the heart of improv and at the heart of how improv is taught for decades. There are books about it, and the phrase is synonymous with improv. The basic idea is that you say yes to …

What do we mean in improv when we talk about support and how do we quantify what on stage support and off stage support is needed in our art form. As the number of shows and teams grows around the world, how much do we …

If there's one thing that can divide a group of improvisers quickly, it's the subject of warm-ups. Some people hate them and don't want to do them. …

Experiencing and improv dip and a bout of imposter syndrome isn't uncommon in improv - in fact many people recognise it as part of being an improviser and, more generally, a performer. But in improv, where you never do …

Many improvisers enjoy success not just in improv, but in the realm of scripted work. Does their experience in improv bleed into their creative processes when they write or even when that written work gets performed? …

You can have the best improv show in the world and still not have an audience. How do you get people to come to see your show and how many of them are going to be non-improvisers? This episode you will hear from people …

How does an improv musician view the improv show? What do they add? And what should those of us who take to the stage to work with them know about …

While some of us are blessed with cities that have a large improv scene with multiple groups or even multiple theatres, some cities have barely …

What makes a good independent improv night, and what do you get out of putting on something that isn't connected to an established improv theatre or …

Every year, a growing number of improvisers take a creative and financial risk on the Edinburgh Fringe. What are the benefits of taking your work to the world's largest open-access arts festival, and is there a secret …

A new improv festival has just opened this week in the UK. As improv festivals continue to spring up around the world, what makes a good festival for audiences, improvisers and improv scenes?

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