Join me today and meet Emma Bird, the creator of Liverpool Comedy Improv, a leading improv teaching school. Emma founded, developed, performed, and directed three improv teams: BossBirds (current); The Unscriptables, and The Hee Ha’s.creator of Liverpool Improv Comedy. Emma is an improviser, teacher, and professional actor and director. She has been improvising since 2007. She was trained in improv by The Maydays (Brighton/London) and has been on training courses and workshops led by world-renowned improvisers: Rachel Mason & Susan Messing (Second City, Chicago); Rich & Rebecca Sohn (Annoyance Theatre, Chicago); Michael Gellman (Second City, Toronto), Shawn Kinley (Loose Moose Improv Theatre, Canada), Armando Diaz (iO, Chicago & Magnet Theatre NYC); Jaime Moyer, (Second City Hollywood and Westside Comedy LA) at Copenhagen International Improv Festival (Apr 2019)
Miki Manting and why her “Vintage Improv Festival” is a gift for improvisors over 50
Peter Margaritis is the Accidental Accountant who proves Improv is No Joke
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Patrick McCartney and the gifts of learning and teaching improv
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Deana Criess on the Joys of Musical Improv
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Clay Drinko Theatrical Improvisation, Consciousness, and Cognition
Join me and meet Clay Drinko who is an educator, an improviser, and the author of Theatrical Improvisation, Consciousness, and Cognition. He earned his Ph.D. in drama and theatre studies from Tufts University and a Master of Science in education and a Master of Arts in performance studies. Clay started improvising over two decades ago and experienced firsthand the powerful effects of finding flow onstage. This started a lifelong journey to understand how improv affects the brain and how to harness this understanding to improve our everyday lives.
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Izzy Gesell Applied Improv in the time of COVID19
Join me and meet Izzy Gesell, an organizational alchemist who helps individuals and organizations transform their thinking from commonplace to extraordinary. He is skilled at delivering meaningful material in a way that makes participants enjoy their time with him.
Izzy is also the author of Playing Along: Group Learning Activities Borrowed From Improvisation Theater, a co-author of Humor Me: America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter, and a contributor of a chapter on Improvisation as a facilitation tool in the IAF Group Facilitators Handbook. His latest project is a deck of cards with improv games on them. Learn more about Izzy at izzyg.org
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Kristin Krueger P.h.D. Neuropsychologist and Research Scientist Studying Improv’s Therapeutic Benefits
Join me and meet Dr. Kristin Krueger who inspired me to use improvisational theatre techniques in my own practice. She is an internationally known Research Scientist at Rush University Medical Center and a Chicago based neuropsychologist who wrote the first evidence-based research paper on the effectiveness of Improv for Anxiety. The results of the study conducted by Krueger along with two Illinois Tech research collaborators were published in the paper “Thera-Prov: A Pilot Study of Improv Used to Treat Anxiety and Depression” in the Journal of Mental Health (July 2017).
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Jay Sukow Improv Interviews
Join me today to meet Jay Sukow, an actor, director, filmmaker and improviser, who has been performing scripted and improvised work professionally for over 20 years. Jay has trained with improv legends that include Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Jon Favreau, David Razowsky, Keith Johnstone, Dick Schaal, Del Close, and Mick Napier. Jay is a faculty member of The Second City and has performed regularly as part of their “Those Who Can’t” Faculty Jam.
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Robert Cochrane Using Improv with Parkinson’s
Join me and meet Robert Cochrane, an award-winning filmmaker, with numerous narrative and documentary features to his credit. His touching relationship with his father who has Parkinson’s was the inspiration for Robert’s Parkinson’s-themed documentary series, Boys of Summer. He is a Ph.D. student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) studying the effect of improvisation on Parkinson’s Disease and Co-Owner of ComedySportz Las Vegas, which is part of an internationally-acclaimed improvisation league.
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