What an honor it was for me to chat with Ed Greenberg about his journey and his love and enthusiasm for improvisational theater. Ed is an improvisational director, actor, and teacher. He began his career as an actor at the legendary improvisational theater “The Committee” in San Francisco, where he worked with his mentor and life-long friend Del Close on the beginning experiments in long-form improvisation. Ed also worked with Viola Spolin and Paul Sills. Ed has directed The Second City, Chicago, worked as an actor in movies and TV, as well as a voice actor in hundreds of radio and TV commercials. their lives quickly and easily.
Ed has taught improv, acting, and voice acting at USC School of Cinematic Arts, UCLA, and Pasadena Community College. As a Cultural Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, Ed traveled to post-genocide Rwanda to lead improvisational comedy workshops for young people to, in the words of his host, “help my people learn to laugh again.” Inspired by this experience, Ed founded the non-profit Laughter for a Change to bring healing, education, and a sense of well-being to communities around the world through improvisational play. Ed leads improvisational comedy and creativity training intensives, coaching business executives, medical professionals, and educators in using humor to enhance presentation and storytelling skills. Ed has traveled internationally to teach improv in the U.K., France, Sweden, and China.