The Elise & John Show Elise Rodriguez

Our penultimate Season 1 episode is here for you with Bita Joudaki!

We open this episode in March of 2022 and we talk about how creating our own platform and making room for our own voices has fostered our individual growth.

Then, in an episode recorded in August of 2021, we welcome Bita onto the show to chat about the things that bring her creative delight, and how she brings her lived experience into her comedy.  We chat about creative processes, what it has been like for Bita living in Canada, working in writing rooms, and more.

Bita Joudaki is an Iranian-Canadian comedian and filmmaker who has been writing and performing comedy for the last fourteen years. 

Bita was also a member of Bad Dog Theater’s featured players and has performed comedy across Canada, at festivals like Vancouver International Improv Festival, and Combustion Festival in Toronto.

She holds a BFA in film, video, and integrated media from Emily Carr University, and an MFA in film production from York University. Her films have screened across North America, at LA Webfest, where she was nominated for best comedic actress, and at the National Screen Institute. Bita has worked as a story coordinator and writer on several comedic tv shows in development and is currently working on a feature length horror comedy with development funding from Telefim.

We hope that after you hear this episode you, like Bita, will be inspired by the simple things that amuse and inspire YOU!

Follow Bita for more tweets at @bitajoudaki !

A basic hang-out with three diaspora kids. Join us!

Follow The Elise & John Show on Facebook and Instagram @eliseandjohnshow 


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It’s been one year since we started this podcast and like Biggie once said- THINGS DONE CHANGED. In this episode we talk about the importance of reflecting after such a jam packed and pivotal few years.

We connect on what it’s like to be the Directors of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at established improv theaters and the concept of this kind of role in general.

Reflecting on the past also leads us to think about the future and we share how we are discovering our new and changing relationship to improv and creative work going forward.

A huge thank you to all of our listeners, supporters and Patrons who have been with us for the last year and a big welcome to new listeners- WHERE YOU BEEN?!

Follow us on socials @eliseandjohnshow and on Patreon!

Mentioned: Latins on Ice, HUGE Theater, Curious Comedy Theater


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Excited to share this episode featuring BS & J.Ellis from Freestyle Love Supreme Academy!

David “BS” Bradshaw has been an active emcee, beatboxer, and event host for the past decade. His primary focus for the better part of the last five years has been refining his craft as an educator, teaching artist, curriculum developer, and programming specialist. He has toured regionally, performed at the Apollo, been featured on BET's 106&Park, RedbullTV, Beatbox The Movie, and The Today Show. 

BS is a BEAT Global T3 certified instructor with a background as a Dual Language teacher. He currently facilitates freestyle rhyming, songwriting, and beatboxing workshops for learners of all ages and abilities including full-time emcees, hobbyists, incarcerated youth, and special needs learners. 

J.Ellis is an Ohio made & Harlem molded actor, improvisor, instructor and musician, who has coached, directed & performed on Broadway, for “America’s Got Talent”, in the historic main-stage of Carnegie Hall, and at Off Mic Comedy School. He most recently created and directed the fully improvised hip-hop musical “BARS”, produced by Playhouse Square & Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory. 

J.Ellis is grateful to be a proud advocate for LGBTQ+ artists’ perspectives in hip-hop! 

Speaking of Hip-hop- this episode is a big ol' geek out session on music. We get into how we as humans and artists can mold our communities by simply showing up to move tolerance and progression forward in the hip-hop genre and in all creative spaces.

Elise shares her own experience in Freestyle Love Supreme Academy and we all chat about how freestyle rap & psychologically safe spaces can bring about healing. We also get into experiences we’ve had having to code switch in different areas of our lives and how that parallels the duality we experience in hip-hop culture. We even address how masculine societal emphasis has impacted our willingness to be emotional, heart-led humans. LISTEN- this episode has it ALL!

You can find BS teaching at Freestyle Love Supreme’s Freestyle Rap Academy or at his own Freestyle Fitness and Beatbox Express workshops. Keep up with him by visiting TRUSTBS.COM or following him on socials @trustbs .

J.Ellis can currently be seen directing (“Got Your Back 5: I Got PRIDE”), instructing (Foundations of Freestyle/Recess of Color/youth programming) for the freestyle love supreme academy as well as performing with TONY award winning Freestyle Love Supreme. Follow him @jellis14. 

Mentioned: FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME ACADEMY ; @flsacademy

Don’t forget to follow The Elise & John Show on socials @eliseandjohnshow and if you can, Patreon. 










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Hello friend! 

Today we welcome the formidable Stephanie Rae, founder of The Black Improv Alliance. Stephanie has been studying traditional and musical improv for eleven years. She has directed a Boyz II Men themed show for UCB'S Del Close Marathon,  guest performed in tons of shows, and taught classes and workshops for improvisors from Louisiana to Liverpool. These days she directs the Black Improv Alliance, performs with International Players Club & Wakanda v Everybody, is an ambassador for Freestyle Love Supreme Academy, and runs the 100 black improvisors program. A program which has created scholarships for black improvisors at more than 60 theaters from around the world. She also has a law degree from Georgetown - but mostly uses it to win arguments online.

On this episode we ran a real life boundary check-in to illustrate how check ins and boundaries can be done before a show or in a classroom. We also chat about how those boundaries can shift depending on what kind of space we are in.

Stephanie shares the Black Improv Alliance’s journey from where it began to becoming the organization it is today- offering scholarships and enrichment to the black improv community.

We chat about social dynamics in the improv community including improvisers dating improvisers as well as navigating the social and interpersonal aspect of being both a performer and a leader.

We also get into finances, and what it’s like to run a nonprofit organization that… well… requires funds! That paper! 

Keep up with Stephanie on Facebook and Instagram & support the Black Improv Alliance by following on social media and donating via Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, or Patreon @blackimprovalliance. 

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Make sure to subscribe to our show on your favorite podcast platform and follow us on social and Patreon @eliseandjohnshow! 


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A reflection on our first IRL festival since the pandemic began, set in Minneapolis, MN! 
On this episode we talk about the practical actions that contribute to the creation of a safe space in improv and what it was like to be back in person performing and teaching at the Black & Funny and Twin Cities Improv festivals. 
We reflect on the duality of being at a festival filled with joy against the backdrop of our realities today, and how the courage to experience joy in the midst of chaos is essential in 2021. 
We also take a drive through Minneapolis and talk about everything from hip-hop to social justice, to bodycon dresses(?), and dumb fights among neighbors in FB groups.
Shout out to Beth K Gibbs for running tech on our almost live show and to Jill Bernard for “pod-crashing”!
Mentioned: MN Fairplay, Burden of Civility, Black & Funny Improv Festival, Twin Cities Improv Festival, Mudcoven, Blackout, The Provettes, HUGE Theater 
Support our show by joining our PATREON, and follow us on FB and Instagram @eliseandjohnshow . 


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You’ll need to play this episode back SEVERAL times cause C. Michael Menge is dropping that WISDOM and teaching us to discover ourselves into existence!

C Michael Menge is an actor, improviser, and devised theatre artist based in Minneapolis, MN. They currently have a naked stage fellowship through Pillsbury House + Theatre, co-starring Jay Owen Eisenberg. You can catch him there this December! Link to tickets below.

On this episode we discuss gendering (and NOT gendering) each other in improv and the importance of grounding scenes in emotion versus gender. We talk about the meaning of embodiment and of aligning ourselves with our values both as artists, and as humans.

C. Michael also shares his take on the necessity of resilience in a world that is constantly changing and evolving. Are you willing to change and evolve with it?! Let’s Go!

Follow and support C. Michael on Instagram @cmaasirm where you can also donate to help them get more BODIED!

Learn more about C. Michaels upcoming December show here: Naked Stage Tickets

Want to support The Elise & John show? Join our Patreon!

Catch the LIVE taping of this episode HERE & follow us on FB & Instagram @theeliseandjohnshow !


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