Philosophy vs. Improv

Important announcement for Chicago-area listeners : On Wed. 8/21, Mark and Bill will record a live episode of PvI at iO Theater  (1501 N Kingsbury St.). Our show runs from 6-7 pm followed by a Bill-hosted regular improv event called The Green Room . Admission is free, parking is plentiful, no reservations required. Come meet us! Internationally best-selling author David  wrote a book &nb...

Danny was in a sketch troupe called Maximum Party Zone back in the day with your improv host Bill, and they’ve now revived that trio to create the MPZ Listening Party podcast , which workshops sketch ideas in real time as a fun form of conversation. So we try out some of their tricks, such as combining two properties (in this case nominally The Apprentice  and Argyle to create a pretent...

Tamler teaches philosophy at The University of Houston and hosts the Very Bad Wizards podcast . He joins Mark and Bill to talk about personal identity and whether the “self” is necessarily co-extensive with a particular body. Plus: meditation, Daniel Day Improv’s method acting, All of Me  vs. Regarding Henry , what does “metaphysics” mean to YOU, dreams as improv, uns...

The actor/writer/comedian  joins us to talk about the philosophy of fashion, from the ancients to the present: Is clothing a mode of self-expression or something more (or less)? What does retro fashion say about the current state of culture? Should you wear clothes that you have to be sewn into? If you only had one little piece of cloth to wear, where would you put it? Are philosophers anti-f...

The philosopher and entertainment journalist direct from Mark’s Pretty Much Pop podcast  joins PvI for an hour of merriment. We talk parenthood, philosophy of race, the RULES of improv (or the singular answer to a philosophy question), old 9th graders, one black Peggy, using racy improv in a classroom setting, and more. Here’s an excerpt from the essay Lawrence refers to by philos...

The Hitchhikers and Appetizers  co-host joins Mark and Bill to talk about cultural relativism. We talk about foreign-ness, what parts of ethics seem to apply to all cultures, the Museum of Soup, pushing back tactfully in a scene, and more. In my culture, listening to this episode while in a work meeting is polite. Everything you want to know about the torturer droid . Hear more PvI . Support...

David is co-host of the excellent  Overthink podcast , popular among the young people today, and so we have him monologue to children as an anti (?) drug speaker. How can drugs change us, our sense of self, and the ways we see the world? Can some drugs be considered “natural”? Also, legally defensible drug use at work, and Nancy Reagan the Heel. Follow David @DrPenaGuzman1 . You c...

The co-host of the Those Who Aunt podcast joins Mark and Bill to joke about the family as the fundamental political unit and its special place in ethics. On the flip side, what questions should you ask yourself about your character at the start of a scene? Plus, Jan. 6, Platonic eugenics, transcending physical desire, a story that doesn’t quite get started, a military upbringing, and the rea...

It’s another TEAM PLAY episode, with our returning champions, star of improv stages and podcasts Chris and College of Southern Nevada philosophy prof Cole receiving NOT THE INFORMATION THEY EXPECT and gettin’ all rational and such when consoling a friend and wrangling about a math quiz. Luxuriate in the rich characters and philosophy tools! Cole photographs nature (her Insta is @super_...

If people would be uniquely healed by your blood, how much would you charge for it? Would it make a difference if they were wealthy vampires? Bill entices Mark to join a cult. You can watch video for this episode, including all our post-game chatting, all ad-free, just by visiting our Patreon page; you need not subscribe. The episode image was snatched from here . Hear more PvI . Support the podca...

Jonny taught philosophy at Oxford, wrote the international bestseller Mini Philosophy , and now writes for Big Think . We talk Kierkegaard and act out some scenes about scouting and military recruitment. Do we have to live within labels? Does one have to leap to a label, without justification? For much more Kierkegaard, see our series on The Partially Examined Life . Watch Jonny do mini philosophy...

Katie is the co-artistic director of Chicago’s IO theater and used to do Comedy Sports improv with Bill. She also took a lot of classes in philosophy and religion, so we talk some about cults, Kierkegaard, tolerance, and more. In our scenes, a family contemplates celebrating Christmas differently this year, and people debate the appropriate gift for a newborn king. Follow @KatieCaussin...

It’s our office holiday party, where we engage in chit-chat then enter into a few holiday scenes. Is there any philosophy content in this one at all? We do talk a bit about status and authority. Was there any particular improv lesson? We forgot to actually lay out our lessons at the end, and (SPOILER) declined to name a winner. Our Post-Game discussion is a mere 2.5 minutes long, so we&#8217...

Sukaina teaches philosophy at U. of Pennsylvania , combining work from ancient Greek, contemporary moral, and feminist philosophy. She lets Mark and Bill know about critiques by feminist philosophers of the idea of consent. We talk a bit about moral agency, teaching dynamics given these kids today , Aristotelian virtue, and testing personality types by turning them up to 11. Also, did our last epi...

Kevin is the creator and host of the storytelling podcast RISK! and is the alphabetically foremost member of the MTV-televised, newly reformed, celebrity-infested sketch comedy troupe The State . He tells us he was also the creative director of an improv troupe for a year, but it’s not his primary jam, so we talk about that before launching into a scene about a suspicious hotel. How does one...

Recorded on 9/11 (a date not known primarily for its improv activities), only now making its way to you, this discussion between Mark and Bill talk child deification, pop philosophy vs. pop improv, foreign accents, and guns in schools in the hands of improvisers. The image is from this Reddit article asking for ideas on how to “spice up” a potential tattoo drawing of mice by the poster...

Returning freedom fighters Andrew and Linda and join Bill and Mark to talk about philosophical liberalism: Its rationales and varieties. Plus, preschool orientation, and Greek gods creating a new world. Follow Linda @IrisCutter . Her weekly improv show is with the troupe Dumb John . Listen to Andrew’s philosophy podcast, Reductio , which has dwelt further on Rawlsian liberalism , as has Mark...

The New York University Prof and author of many influential books including the new Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy joins Mark and Bill to simulate debates about AI, cybersex, actor vs. character, and keeping children safe from reality. We refer to Nick Bostrom’s argument that we’re most likely now in a simulation . In a past episode , we discussed Robert Nozick...

The author of The Accomplished Creative , a sort of anti-self-help book based around Jeremy’s improv experience and what he learned as a philosophy major, joins Mark and Bill to talk impostor syndrome and benign violations, get real meta about Die Hard scenarios, and have a cheese intervention.  Follow @JeremyRichards . Listen to Jeremy’s podcast Think Like An Improviser . His Sea...

It’s our season three premiere, and the elephants are in the room! It’s St. Lawrence University philosophy prof Jenny (a frequent PEL guest ) in the ring with UIC Theater instructor /Podcaster with Hey Riddle Riddle and Hello From the Magic Tavern Adal, along with Mark and Bill, of course. And the Bullshot is flying! Who will be hit? Who will master the rings? Who will shoot from the h...

Philosopher Matt, host of the Elucidations podcast and frequent PEL guest, finally gets in on Philosophy vs. Improv in this, our Season Two Finale. And many is he a de dicto. Or is he a de re? Slowly learn the difference as we make things personal through scenes of shit-talking and crime reporting. Follow @ElucidationsPod . The image is from a story about Hong Kong . Hear more PvI . Support the po...

How does new technology affect ethics? Anthony (who is on strike, but that doesn’t apply to improv) is an improviser with a computer science degree who now coaches kid TV actors . We talk personal identity, transhumanism, genetic engineering, AI, organizational ethics, Black Mirror, Beastars, and transporter virginity. Listen to more transporter talk on The Partially Examined Life’s ep...

The guests are away, and so Billy and Markaroony will play. This fast-paced, sweet-moving discussion covers the genius individual artist and how that might or might not allow collaboration, genres and definitions, strife, and more. Mark just can’t WAIT for a canoe, and getting CRAZY at the salad bar. Oops, we forgot to determine a winner, so YOU decide. The image was pulled from Reddit and i...

Watch this episode as a video . This includes the full post-game segment, so you can see what you’re missing by not being a supporter to this podcast. Don’t you think it’s time you became one ? Monica is an actor and writer who ran a live-on-stage philosophy podcast called The Happier Hour , and so naturally we talk about happiness, or flourishing (eudaimonia). Can babies with ca...

Watch this episode in its unedited video form . Chris has an act called “I Am the Show” where he improvises to a film that he hasn’t seen that’s playing silently, making up all the dialogue and sound effects. Here’s an example . Mark and Bill talk to Chris about being a spectator or critic of art: To understand a work, is it good or necessary to try to divine the arti...