Next At Bat Philip Simondet and Matthew McCloud

Alexis Camille, Maggie Sotos, and Sean Dillon of Off Book (unfortunately Molly Chase couldn’t join us) talk about prod-recting(?) a show that pairs an actor performing their half of a scripted piece with an improvisor who has no idea what play they are supposed to be a part of. They also discuss fun in failure, meta communication between performers, the inherent structure of scenes, the audience’s innate desire to see the performers succeed, and the importance of bold declarations.







Also, we are invaded by babies.







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Juliet & Juliet (Meghan Wolff and Sami Haeli) join us to discuss presenting Shakespearean-themed improvisation in an accessible way. They talk about focusing on relationships instead of just imitating tropes, submitting the their subconscious brains, and being #iambicfrauds.







Also, we hear the story of Kennith from Venice.







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Will Frazier joined us to discuss his podcast, History Made Up. On the podcast he travels the nation listening to local history stories, then uses them as inspiration for improvised scenes along with improvisers local to that area. He talks about the inherent cooperative nature of improvisors, the differences he’s seen in style between different cities, and dealing with storytellers who may or may not be performers themselves.







Also, we visit a bar with a plaque for everything.







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Chris Fair of The Laser Comedy Show joins us to talk about his unique, visual form. He also discusses building tension, the difference between an audience of adults versus and audience of kids, how studying sketch will improve your improv, promoting shows, and being heckled by children, as well as bands that are actually one person.

Also, we see the origin of a snakewolf.

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Valerie Vasilas, Christina Lopez, Marianne Smith, and Allison Reese of Melissa?! joined us while they were in town for the Twin Cities Improv Festival. They talked about the importance of letting your form evolve, pushing yourself to gather new life experiences to draw from, doing improv for the joy of it, impressions, and being inclusive.

We also sing some Katy Perry and Marianne spends a lot of time with her very best friend.

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Grant Ertl and Justin Bettencourt (unfortunately Kenneth Pierce couldn’t join us) of 2017 Troika winners, We Have Faces, join us to talk about how three strangers who have never met can quickly develop chemistry and evolve a form to become champions. They also discuss types of improvisers, the importance of support, grounded absurd-ism, how small groups require members to jump more, and the effectiveness of gimmicks.

Also, we observe the rise of acronyms.

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