For The Love of Improv Jesi Wicks & Katie Welsh

To be or not to be? That is the question that William Shakespeare asked, but in this 7th episode of Season 2 of For The Love of Improv, we are asking: To act or not to act in improv?! Amelia Giles, improv teacher and player at Reno Improv is the perfect guest to answer this question and many more about the relationship between acting and improvising! She is a seasoned actor who began in the theater AND THEN came over to improv so she should know the answer to questions like: Are improvisers actors? Should improvisers study acting to improve their skills? What skills can theater actors teach improvisers? Join us as we talk to Amelia about “Acting & Improv” Afterall, as Shakespeare himself would say: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…”
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What does Stand-up comedy and improv have in common? Well, let’s break it down. If one is the loneliest number, carry the two for duo improv, multiply by an improv team of 7 and divide and conquer. What do you get? Um….a really weird math problem that makes no sense. Don’t worry, in this episode of For The Love of Improv, stand-up comedian, Kat Simmons, is going to sort it all out for us. Not only has she performed standup professionally for decades, she dabbled in improv for many years. If anyone can help us understand the connection between stand-up and improv, it’s Kat Simmons.
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This episode will focus on Improv as an ongoing artform. Speaking with Lisa Woods who has delved into nearly every class that has been available to her in all different types of improv, Lisa takes her craft seriously. We at For The Love of Improv have a strong belief that Improv is never perfected, and is always being learned. We can all improve and we are all perfect as we are right in this moment.
Lisa started improvising as a New Year’s resolution. Starting at a Playground Night at Reno Improv eventually led to classes, and performing, leading jams, and teaching. Falling in love with the art of it, Lisa became a Jack of all trades in her craft taking classes as far as they could go, leading online jams through COVID, doing stand-up, and even clowning. Lisa has written sketch comedy and performed her own shows. Like Katie, her latest passion is clowning and absurdity in performance art. 


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Improv and clowning have gone hand in hand for centuries, even before improv as we know it in America was invented. Tonight we will speak with world renowned clown, Chad Damiani about how improv affects clowning and what improvisers can learn from the ancient art of the clown. 
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Your life is one big improv stage and you get to play any character you want. In any given situation, most of us are just making it up as we go anyway. Why not make improv off-stage as fun as it is on stage? From supporting your scene partner, to active listening, to getting to the real relationship behind the words, improv skills seriously translate to real life. Joe Van Haecke has dedicated his life to sharing improv skills with the world for personal and professional development among fellow humans. 
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For over 20 years, Joe has studied, performed, and coached improv. As the Chief of Inspiration at Inspire Me Mr V, Joe brings improv into business, education, and 1:1 coaching. Improv skills help us be better communicators, better collaborators, and stronger leaders. Improv is not just for actors anymore!
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Imagine a world where you didn’t need a scene partner, a world where you could perform improv with yourself, you, thee, thou.  That’s right! Just you, yourself and ye. “Is that possible?” you ask. A question of many we ask Mike Brown in this, our first episode of the Season 2! Listen as Mike tells us all about Solo improv, his experiences as an improv teacher, performer, podcaster and all around amazing guy.
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“Mike Brown’s Biography is the biography of Mike Brown.” – Perd Hapley

Mike is an improviser, teacher, producer, casting director, and YouTuber living in New York City who occasionally moonlights as a flight attendant just, you know, to pay the rent.

His impressive toy collection seems to impress only himself, and he takes much pride in it.

Though not the founder of Solo Improv, Mike considers himself a pioneer in this area, and has made it his signature style of improvisation since 2009.

In 2017, he was brought on to teach full time at the People’s Improv Theater (NYC), and simultaneously produced a running monthly show (Fury: Earth’s Mightiest Improv), and a yearly Halloween themed show (The Improvised Escape Room) on the same stages.

In the months leading up to the global pandemic, Mike took a job touring internationally with BeerProv, a short-form improv show performing nightly aboard the MSC Meraviglia, a cruise ship sailing through Eastern Canada and the Caribbean.

Mike met his wife in improv class. They once did an improvised musical together about ants bravely defending their colony against scorpions. Mike’s character turned out to be a traitor. All the ants died.
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