Join me and meet the multi-talented improviser, actor, and true gentleman Brian Palermo. In his early days at the Groundlings, Brian was lucky enough to play with, learn from, and direct a gaggle of Big Name Comedy People that include Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, Lisa Kudrow, and many others.
I met Brian at the Vintage Improv Festival this fall and loved his style of teaching. In our chat, we talk about his career in film and TV and his many years with the Famous Groundlings improv group. He is a beloved improv teacher; he’s been a regular in The Crazy Uncle Joe Show – which is The Groundlings’ weekly long-form set – every Wednesday for 19 years! The longest-running long-form set in L.A. https://www.groundlings.com/showsLearn more about Brian: IMDB
Brian’s Improv training at Palermo Improv Training
BRIAN PALERMO – ABOUT HIMSELF
I’ve been deeply into improv for over 30 years. Started with bar-prov in the French Quarter of New Orleans then moved to L.A. In Hollywood, I studied and performed with The L.A. Connection, TheatreSports, and The Groundlings, which I consider my home theatre. I parlayed my improv addiction into a career as a professional actor, gratefully working in TV, film, and commercials for over 20 years. Also got some pro writing work out of it. (IMDB if interested, https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0006488/).
At The Groundlings, I was lucky enough to play with, learn from, and direct a gaggle of Big Name Comedy People. (Gross Name Dropping begins….Now!) Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, Lisa Kudrow, and many others. Through my further improv adventures, I’ve extended my tribe to include learning from and playing with Razowsky, Joe Bill, Dan O’Connor, BOTH Cackowskis, Jamie Moyer, Nick Armstrong, Vallaincourt, Jay Sukow, and more. I hope to continue to learn from and play with many others in our global family – this opportunity has been a rare silver lining of the pandemic. I’ve been a regular in The Crazy Uncle Joe Show – which is The Groundlings’ weekly long-form set – every Wednesday for 19 years! I think we’re the longest-running long-form set in L.A. The side-hustle of facilitating corporate workshops became a really unexpected joy for me. I love teaching corporates almost as much as I love teaching comedic/theatrical improv. And my absolute favorite niche is using improv to train science communicators! I’ve done this for a decade and have worked with a slew of (ahem) impressive science agencies. https://www.palermoimprovtraining.com/
You might want to listen to my fascinating discussions with other improv teachers and innovators including Ed Asner and Deana Criess *Improv Interviews podcast‘ is introduced by Susan L. Parker of yourinternationalvoice.com