Yes, Also

Stephnie Weir (MadTV, Second City) talks about her colorful upbringing, playing a character's passion, finding levels, JANE, iconic characters, big lessons from Mick Napier, the nuance of status, auditioning for SNL, Mad TV, the origins of WeirDass, The Lifeboat form, playing broken people, and more!

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Joel Spence (Sentimental Lady, Big Little Lies) talks about resting the game, trusting Yes And, formative theater experiences, the post-show blues, finding comedy in tragic plays, The Groundlings, favorite teaching exercises, serving the whole, agency vs. bulldozing, avoiding conflict, map-overs, improv slumps, warm-ups, improvising with Robin Williams, green room mishaps, memorable scenes, and more!
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Lyndsey Frank (Lohan, Planet Weird) talks about being a physical player, finding personal beacons, how cancer changed their improv, going from short form to long form, becoming fearless, using real people to inform characters, give and take with unusual POV’s, ways to get unstuck in monoscenes, discovery vs. scenic math, pulling premise from sound and movement, playing manipulators, killing the cringe, and more!
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Bob Dassie (Dasariski, Weirdass) talks about how he approaches the top of a scene, active patience, his first class with Stephnie Weir, performing without a ceiling, an argument for openings, playing tension, the Evente form, truth over comedy, the origins of The Pretty Flower, meltdowns vs. conflict, outside-the-box object work, choosing to care, playing reveals, and more!

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Laci Mosley (Scam Goddess, Going Dutch) talks about finding balance, her journey from Texas to Hollywood, four clear paths to an acting career, choosing improv over standup, letting go of the rules, embracing voice of reason, the diversity scholarship, funny Hollywood stories, her most memorable Harold, the first dates opening, meaty interview questions, inspiring moves, stellar improv advice, producing what you want to see on stag...

Santina Muha (UCB, One Day at a Time) talks about the overlap of improv and game-playing, status in scenes, giving disability a comedic voice, the specific challenges of improvising in a wheelchair, why she loves sitcoms, her near death experience, making theaters accessible, adaptability in improv, the crucible of Harold night, using the Harold as a writing framework, playing the “bitchy yes”, monoscenes, working with Amy Poehler,...

Brian Stack (Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) talks about the Chicago scene in the early 90’s, Jazz Freddy, the dawn of tags and sweep edits, two back / one forward, turning mistakes into gold, heightening a scene with back line support, group physicality, his years on the Conan O’Brien staff, Gravid Water, the gift of emotion, big swings, hilarious tales of bombing onstage, how improv has changed,...

It's our very special One Year Anniversary episode, and we flipped the script by having Ryan interview Suzi!

Suzi Barrett (Sentimental Lady, Comedy Bang Bang) talks about treating your brain like a scene partner, evolving games, unlocking creative play, Sentimental Lady, the space between the laughs, her early days in Chicago, improv as a metaphysical experience, favorite moves that teammates have made, killer improv exercises, appl...

Colton Dunn (Superstore, Key and Peele) talks about his short form roots, taking big leaps, seeing UCB before they had a theatre, wild memories from Boom Chicago, why he loves straight-manning, finding a scene’s tempo, his approach to teaching, Superstore, Key and Peele, how genre informs his play, performing at Radio City, favorite scenes, strange corporate shows, and more!

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Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) talks about how improv informs her writing, her Netflix special, surprising an audience, finding a show’s tone, coaxing your confidence, balancing cerebral comedy with emotion, contact improv, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the role of a song’s bridge, her love of villains, the perception of leading ladies, imposter syndrome, how motherhood has changed her comedy, sketch vs. improv characters and more!

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Hot off the presses... UCB just bought ColdTowne Theater from Dave Buckman and Rachel Madorsky, and Austin will now have a UCB theatre. Dave and Rachel are here to give you the skinny, and talk about the exciting future of ColdTowne and what's next for improv in Austin.

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Dave Buckman (Executive Producer of ColdTowne Theater in Austin) talks about climbing the ranks at Second City, major takeaways from The Annoyance / Second City / iO, impactful play, the back pocket, fulfilling your promise to an audience, constructing a killer running order, directing at Boom Chicago and Second City, the unlikely origins of ColdTowne, the challenges of running a comedy theatre, the necessity of compromise, masteri...

Mike McLendon (Second City, iO, UCB) talks about being an army brat, finding Comedy Sportz, the Second City cruise gig, improv bootcamp, making everything matter, end-of-show payoffs, the discipline of tags, McRib scenes, what to listen for in monologues, being a good show host, avoiding conflict, slice of life exercises, being funny vs. jokey, group games, improvised sitcoms, the future of improv, and more!

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Beck Drysdale (Key and Peele, Second City) talks about writing jokes as a kid, quitting school to move to Chicago, lessons from Second City, being daunted by the talent of others, the necessity of being bad, improvising vs. fast writing, where smart meets dumb, The Muppets, twoprov, unlearning, playing what’s already there, finding the unusual in the mundane, the anatomy of listening, the “and” of “yes and”, heightening vs. inventi...

Dan Lippert (Big Grande, ManDogPod) talks about nerves, his early practice groups, funny tour show fiascos, family dynamics informing improv choices, the why of comedy, sustaining collaborative relationships, making playable choices, committing to silliness, telling an audience what’s funny, the many dimensions of trust, why he loves hosting shows, using empathy to play jerks, his favorite coaching exercises, and more!

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Tao Yang (Dropout, UCB Harold night) talks about Improv Boston, finding balance in training styles, short form limitations, themed Harolds, a nerdy mathematical improv theorem, the improv/sketch paradox, generational humor, the movie form, Harold auditions, College Humor, a riff on the rant opening, a hot take on living rooms, selling the voice of reason to an audience and more!

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Ben Schwartz(Parks and Rec, Sonic) talks about fear of failure, his first laugh, doing what you find funny, weathering rejection, how venue sizes affect improv, his tour shows and Netflix specials, winning an audience, how he landed Parks and Rec, favorite shows from DCM, how to advance a game as the straight man, top lessons from Ian Roberts, why he loves doing restaurant scenes, and more!

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Susan Messing (Second City mainstage, iO, the Annoyance) talks about discovering Improv Olympic, earlier iterations of the Harold, adding specificity to ambiguity, working with Mick Napier, the early days of the Annoyance, loving hard notes, improv as a sociological study, playing the simple reality, finding your scene partner’s sh*t delicious, justifying vs. inventing, ditching agenda, how she accesses characters, loving to lose, ...