EPISODE 147 & 148 Bill Chott is a fabulous human being who is a writer, improviser and actor. And a very hardworking one! He is an alumnus of ComedySportz, IO and Second City. He toured with the Second City troupe in the ’90’s. He played with many well-known improvisers and his talent with musical improv is second to none! In our chat we explore his career which includes films and Television like The Ringer, The Wizards of Waverley Place, Young Sheldon, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and This is Us. His writing credits include The Dana Carvey Show, SNL and recently “Too Funny to Fail” The Life and Death of The Dana Carvey Show”. He shares his audition story with SNL that didn’t get him in the cast but landed him on The Dana Carvey Show. Bill is a generous, kind soul and has a big, big heart. I know you’ll love him as much as I do.
PART 1
PART 2
Welcome to Part 2 of our chat with the wonderful Bill Chott. We had so much to talk about and continue learning about Bill and his story. In Part 2, Bill shares his struggles with obesity and how he has overcome them today.
Visit my website where I speak to today’s leading innovators of improv. My guests are improvisers and therapists from all over the world who share their stories and offer insight into the unique ways they use improv. Our Audio Editor for Improv Interviews is Bright Su.You may enjoy hearing from improv teachers and innovators including Colin Mochrieand David Pasquesi
What an enjoyable and informative interview with Kenn Adams. He is a high-energy person with a wealth of experience in improv and playwriting and we had a lively chat.
He is the creator of the classic short-form improv games Sit, Stand and Kneel and The Family Dinner (a.k.a. Ding/Buzz or Biography) as well as The Story Spine, a simple exercise for understanding story structure that has been embraced by improvisers, writers and teachers the world over. I got to play Story Spine with him and had so much fun!
What a treat to interview Jane Morris again! We first spoke with this well-respected actor, writer, improviser, and comedy legend in March 2019. Jane is a very, very funny person and I learned so much about her improv philosophy. She is also a very gifted writer and director! We spoke about her ongoing career as an actor in film and TV and also about the actors and directors she worked with that including Gary Marshall. Marshall was especially taken with her character work and they worked on several projects together. You may remember her as Nora O’Dougherty from her many appearances on the Drew Cary show.
What a delight to chat with beloved improviser, Jonathan Pitts. We chatted about improv, mythology, Joseph Campbell, and psychiatrist Car Jung who were some of his influences.
My interview with Jonathan was so much fun, I’m posting it as a two-part interview with our fascinating guest!
I’d taken a few classes with Jonathan, whose 30-plus years as an improviser and coach make him a master artist.
Jonathan is an award-winning international improv theatre artist and storyteller. He’s performed and/or taught in 25 countries and 81 cities in more than 1,200 improv performances. He’s the former Executive Director of Chicago Improv Productions; Co-Founder/Producer – Chicago Improv Festival; Creator/Producer – College Improv Tournament; Founder/Producer – Chicago Podcast Festival; Founder/Producer – Teen Comedy Fest. His experience also includes being a teacher/Director of children and teens with physical and/or cognitive disabilities.
Robert Moyer has devoted his life to playing and teaching Improvisational Theatre with Viola Spolin and Paul Sills. He tells his improv story about when he first met Paul Sills and later worked with Viola Spolin.
Robert and I met at Spolin workshops with Aretha Spolin Sills. His accomplishments are inspiring and after a long career of acting, directing, and teaching, he took up performance poetry in 1998 and has since won many poetry slams, including the 2011 and 2012 Poetry Slams conducted by the Poetry Council of North Carolina. He also won an honorable mention in the 2012 Free Verse(written) competition held by the Poetry Council. In 1999 he won a Head to Head Haiku Slam and began writing haiku in earnest.
Robert began publishing in 2005 and has since had hundreds of poems published in major haiku journals including Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Simply Haiku, Bottle Rockets, and many others. He has been anthologized widely, most notably in the tenth-anniversary collection of Acorn, and the seventh cycle. For the past 22 years, he has been the theater artist-in-residence, and resident poet at the Arts-Based School, a K-8 charter school that integrates the arts into the teaching of the standard course of study. He conducts projects in a variety of areas including, but not limited to, poetry, puppetry, history, Shakespeare, sequencing, stories, and, of course, theater.
Part 2. ROBERT MOYER – IMPROVISATIONAL THEATRE PIONEER
Our fascinating interview with internationally recognized artist Robert Moyer focuses on his relationship with Carol and Paul Sills and their gifted daughters. Bob shares Viola and Carol’s love of children and for the past 22 years, he has been the theater artist-in-residence, and resident poet at the Arts-Based School, a K-8 charter school that integrates the arts into the teaching of the standard course of study. He conducts projects in a variety of areas including, but not limited to, poetry, puppetry, history, Shakespeare, sequencing, stories, and, of course, theater.
Mr. Moyer founded and directed the United Stage, a participation story theater company, while teaching creative dramatics both undergraduate and graduate as well as theater at Grand Valley State University (MI). That company over the years has performed for audiences numbering over one million, including appearances at the Smithsonian Institution (6 times), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Mr. Moyer has directed over 50 productions using the non-verbal, non-psychological approach developed by Spolin. He co-founded and served as chairman of the International Performing Arts for Youth for six years.
You might want to listen to my fascinating discussions with other improv teachers and innovators including Colin Mochrieand Anne Beatts*Improv Interviews podcast‘ is introduced by Susan L. Parker of yourinternationalvoice.com
Ira Sakolsky is a professional actor, musician, and composer, writing and performing for film, theater, television, and industrial shows. His Riverway Recording Studio in East Haddam, CT, has garnered many awards, including Parent’s Choice Award, Global Music Awards, and a Grammy nomination. Ira has studied Viola Spolin’s improvisational theatre games for 47 years. We first met at a workshop with Aretha Amelia Sills and I was struck by his energy, playfulness, and compassion. His love of drama and improv started at a young age.
From founding a not-for-profit to provide music therapy for hospice patients to being a stand-in Al Pacino and Woody Allan’s films to co-writing a new musical based on the online dating experience, Ira has shared his talents around the world. In college, his acting teacher, George Morrison, had been part of the Compass Players with Paul Sills and Mike Nichols, which led to Ira performing in Sills’ Story Theatre. He continues to have a busy career writing music, playing, and acting. He is currently co-writing a new film in which he’ll co-star and serve as the composer.
You might want to listen to my fascinating discussions with other improv teachers and innovators including Susan Messingand Anne Beatts*Improv Interviews podcast‘ is introduced by Susan L. Parker of yourinternationalvoice.com
Cameron Dee is a lovely improvisor from one of my favorite places, Edinburgh, Scotland. We met when he was a substitute coach for Class Act curated by Jay Sukow at todayimprov.com.
Cameron started doing Stand Up Comedy at age 20 and was surprised how well received he was! He enjoyed the laughs for 7-8 years until he realized he just wasn’t having fun.
We chat about his path to improv starting when his family moved from Perth, Australia to Scotland. He continued with standup but found himself losing interest. Took his first 6-week course and has been doing it for the past ten years. We spoke of our mutual admiration for Jules Munns, at the Nursery.
Cameron gives his improv philosophy. “You have nothing to lose, and nothing to gain.” Check out his FaceBook and drop into one of his jams!
Cameron is planning a world tour. Check it out at: https://camerond.net/world_improv_tour.html
You might want to listen to my fascinating discussions with other improv teachers and innovators including Susan Messingand Anne Beatts*Improv Interviews podcast‘ is introduced by Susan L. Parker of yourinternationalvoice.com
This is our second interview with the fabulous Daniel DeWalt of Covered Bridge Studios and Theaters in the Chicago area. He has recently created a series of FREE Master Level Improv Sessions with their newest enterprise, Generations On The Bridge Improv Playground. Combining the talents of children, teens, and adults who have graduated from their conservatory Comedy & Drama Improv Program in a single group, this promises to be something quite unique. Daniel, along with other professional instructors, is emphasizing advanced improv concepts and they will be opening these sessions soon to graduate-level improv students from all over the country. For more information about these exciting masterclasses and other projects at Covered Bridge, contact Daniel at MycoveredBridge@aol.com
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.
Amey Goerlich is one incredible improviser and human being. We met through our mutual friend, Jay Sukow and I’m so grateful! We chatted about her Improv Story and how she taught kindergarteners to make a movie! She is so full of life and comfortable to speak with. I felt like I’d known her forever! She shared stories of her early days as an improviser and our mutual love of the fabulous Jane Morris.
After being in LA, Amey made the move to Denver where she runs her theatre, Chaos Bloom. While we were speaking there were finishing touches being made to her theatre and wait till you hear about her wallpaper in the bathrooms. Amey has practiced inclusivity for many years and is a pioneer in online improv as the artistic director of e-mprov.com. She was so generous with her time – we even did a 20- minute scene. Please take a listen and explore the happy world of Amey Goerlich!
EPISODE 147 & 148 Bill Chott is a fabulous human being who is a writer, improviser and actor. And a very hardworking one! He is an alumnus of ComedySportz, IO and Second City. He toured with the Second City troupe in the ’90’s. He played with many well-known improvisers and his talent with musical improv is second to none! In our chat we explore his career which includes films and Television like The Ringer, The Wizards of Waverley Place, Young Sheldon, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and This is Us. His writing credits include The Dana Carvey Show, SNL and recently “Too Funny to Fail” The Life and Death of The Dana Carvey Show”. He shares his audition story with SNL that didn’t get him in the cast but landed him on The Dana Carvey Show. Bill is a generous, kind soul and has a big, big heart. I know you’ll love him as much as I do.
Robert Moyer has devoted his life to playing and teaching Improvisational Theatre with Viola Spolin and Paul Sills. He tells his improv story about when he first met Paul Sills and later worked with Viola Spolin.
