Improv Interviews

238 Improv Interviews Thea Marie Thorkildsen by Margot Escott

Meet the fabulous Rachel Rosenthal! We met several years ago at the Sarasota improv Festival when she was part of the North Coast Hip Hop Improv! She is so fun and generous and we did an online class teaching me the basics of Hip Hop way before the pandemic.! Today, she resides in Portland OR where she teaches and performs at Kickstand Comedy, where she founded and wrote their Musical Improv progr...

Meet the fabulous Mary Lemmer. She is a brilliant person who has accomplished so much in her young life! Our paths crossed at a meeting with improvisers who had conducted evidence based research on the neurological and psychological benefits of improv! We talk about her improv journey and the challenges she faced along the way. She is definitely an entrepreneur , starting her own business as a you...

Meet Dr. Ron Harvey , an improviser and professor of Psychology at the American University in Bulgaria. He is also the faculty co-sponsor for the student improv troupe, the 1st English language improv club in the Balkans. Dr. Ron studied improv in Chicago at The Second City as well as iO Chicago, The Annoyance Theater, and CiC Theater. His love of improv started in the 1990s at the iO theater in C...

Meet the wonderful improviser/coach/facilitator/musician Patrick Short! We had a stimulating chat about his 39th year anniversary as a player with ComedySportz. For 32 years he served as co-owner (with his wife, Ruth Jenkins) and GM CSz Portland, the producers of ComedySportz. He's currently the Director of Client Services for CSz Portland, now part of Portland Comedy Theater. Patrick serves on th...

I met Ruth Jenkins a year ago and was immediately fascinated by her work in improv as a Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP). She describes using her SLP and improv skills for people with Parkinson's and other neurological disorders. She has been improvising and teaching for over 35 years. She and her husband Patrick Short were the founders of Comedy Sportz Portland where she remains an active pe...

Meet the incredible Dan Protess - award winning documentary film maker and writer. Dan and I met after I watched his fantastic documentary "Inventing Improv". He and his team did a fabulous job of highlighting improv history, featuring our good friend, Aretha Sills! He has also make other films you'll want to check out including the Edward Norton-narrated documentary From Rails to Trails, and the...

I met Cooper at a Dialect class and loved her teaching style and her skills! We chat about her growing up in St. Louis and her early influences. She received a degree in Theatre Arts from New Mexico and eventually made her way to Chicago. A friend suggested that she take classes at Second City and she auditioned for and was a member of the Conservatory with Michael Gellman. I know you'll enjoy thi...

Meet my friend Bob Dassie! We had such a great chat! He is, and I don't say this often, a brilliant and kind person! We talk about his legendary improv-duo show WeirDass with his wife of 25 years, Stephanie. Next month (August 2026) he's be teaching at the WGIS! Thanks to Jay Sukow for introducing us! You can see Bob in action in some of these clips! WeirDass - LIVE! at the 2025 Laugh Out Longview...

Meet my dear friend Karen Derrah! We met through our mutual friend Max Schaeffer and more recently in a Musical Improv Show directed by Steph McCullough. She lives in Guelph, Ontario and has been playing and teaching piano for many years. Her love of improvisation and music was a natural fit to become a Musical Director. We had a lovely chat about her improv journey and even did a short musical sc...

Meet the incredible Amy Angelilli, owner and ringleader of Third Space Improv. They are in St. Augustine, Florida, one of the coolest places in Florida! Since arriving in Florida in 2015, she has facilitated cooperative play experiences for people from 9 to 92 and every age in between. She’s also a certified laughter yoga leader. If you don't know what Laughter Yoga is, check out this video. https...

Peter Barg has spent his life building creativity in high-pressure environments. Beginning as a messenger in New York City during the final era of physical film editing, he learned every aspect of post-production before advancing into advertising production with McCann Erickson, where he worked on major campaigns for brands including Coca-Cola, AT&T, L’Oréal, and Miller Brewing. By his mid-twentie...

Meet the brilliant and charming improviser, teacher, filmmaker and so much more, Ian McLaughlin. He started his Improv career on a rainy night in London (see our interview with his partner Beverly Fox) and began an incredible improv journey. Ian was so easy to chat with and he describes his method of teaching improv, starting with the first class. I felt like I was in an improv class, learning fro...

I first met Rita a few years ago, during the pandemic when I learned about the Global Play Brigade – an organization right up my alley! She is a powerful woman who exemplifies how one person can bring positive change to so many people! Rita Ezenwa-Okoro is a dynamic creative culturist, and visionary leader who harnesses the transformative power of play and performing arts to raise and nurture lead...

Meet my good friend Bob Mann. We met during the pandemic and I had the good fortune to teach with him online at his alma mater, University of Oklahoma School of Social Work on "Improv and Therapy". Bob is an amazing human being who has dedicated his life to helping others. Bob has an Associate’s Degree in Nursing from Tulsa Community College and a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in Social Work from The...

Meet the wonderful Bev Fox! Bev has run Boho Arts’ School of Improv in Newcastle-upon-Tyne UK since 2003, serving a vibrant creative community of people from all walks of life. Bev’s improv journey began in 1988 on a rainy night in London when, as aspiring actors, she and her young sweetheart - now long-term partner - Ian McLaughlin ventured out through the storm to an improv class. That “sliding...

I first met Emma with a T during the pandemic online and was immediately taken by her energetic and playful improv. We chat about her improv journey starting in Bristol , including studying with The Bristol Improv Theatre, https://improvtheatre.co.uk She was able to continue to study the Art of Improv with wonderful teachers like Patti Stiles and Jay Sukow during the pandemic. She plays in person...

David Escobedo is definitely an Improv treasure! Since we last spoke he received a Ph. D. in Improv Training in the UK. We chat about what that process was like and he gives great tips on anyone pursuing any kind of Ph. D. David is well known around the world as a fabulous improviser , author , father, podcaster and the creator of The Improv Boost, https://www.facebook.com/BoostImprov The Improv B...

Meet Alex Mann, Improviser, Actor, Author and a Corrections Officer with a Sheriff’s Office for 28 years in Boston, Massachusetts. I was particularly interested in his use of improv with first responders as I had spent several years as a Critical Incident Stress Responder in Florida. He has authored "The Law of Improv": Yes, and for First responders" which you can see on YouTube at https://www.you...

Meet my dear friend Vishok, Verma from Bangalore, India. We've been colleagues for several years and he has even been a substitute coach for my Improv for Parkinson's Classes. He is continually bringing improv to his community and the world! He has recently started his "Yes, Let's Improvise for 15 minutes" which I played with him last year - so much fun! Yes-Let's Improvise for 15 Minutes!! - http...

We're starting the New Year with our good friend the talented and stunningly transparent Hillary Kane! I met Hillary through Billy Merritt (player with the original Upright Citizens Brigade) who created the BIT Comedy Network, https://bitcomedynetwork.com. Billy praised her leadership role at BIT, "Hillary is amazing, she’s the COO, chief organizing officer. We would not have BIT without her." Hil...

Meet the dynamic Kim Thanh Le ! Many thanks to my producer, Bright Su ,for introducing us. We had such fun getting to know each other and learning about her improv journey! She was born and raised in Hanoi and loves her city. She is a Hanoi-based improviser/writer. She is the founder and director of The Improv Hub, Vietnam's first community space dedicated to improv, and the Vietnam Improv Festiva...

In our second hour with Dr. Steph we explore her improv journey, starting as a musical director at Chicago theatre such as IO, Comedy Sports and Second City. We shared our love of the "mother of improv" Viola Spolin and discussed the myriad improv schools and forms that we see today. She studied musical improv with, Mike Descouteaux, legendary founder of the celebrated Music Program at The Second...

Carlisle is the only city In County Cumbria, UK and one of the oldest cities, spanning 2,000 years. Someone who hasn’t been there quite that long is the marvelous Dr. Steph McCullough, world renowned musical improv director! In this first of a two-part interview, Dr. Steph describes her love of her husband James and her new hometown of Carlisle. In her unique and melodious way, Dr. Steph describes...

Marc Watzecha is my friend and teacher and today we talk about all the great classes available at The Sketch School. Marc is the founder of this online training ground dedicated exclusively to sketch and short form comedy. Improv Interviews hosted Marc in August 2023 when I first started taking classes there. We spoke about his improv journey back then. Today's episode is all about The Sketch Scho...