Improv Nerd With Jimmy Carrane

TJ Miller, a hilarious stand-up and star of HBO's Silicon Valley, sits down with Jimmy at The Annoyance Theater in Chicago to talk about why physicality is important in comedy, how he developed his great work ethic and his unique approach to acting and auditioning.

Bob Dassie is a legendary improviser and teacher. He performs with his wife, Stephanie Weir, in Weirdass, and has also been improvising with the group Dasariski for 17 years. We talk to him about his incredible work ethic, he philosophy on getting better and making the positive choice in a scene.

Marty DeRosa is a comedian who is considered the king of Chicago crowd work, using a lot improvisation in his stand-up act. He is a founding member of Comedians You Should Know and he co-host the hilarious podcasts Marty & Sarah Love Wrestling, and Wrestling with Depression. Jimmy talks to him about experiencing the death of one of his siblings and a parent at a young age, his dad, and how he uses improv in his stand-up.

Jeff Quintana is the Artistic Director and co-founder of The Villain Theater in Miami. He is a respected teacher and improviser who has studied in New York and Chicago. In this episode that was recorded live at The Villain Theater, Jimmy talks to Jeff about his dream of opening up an improv theater, being homeless in New York, and how to create a character immediately at the top of an improv scene.

Joe Bill is an international improv teacher and performer. He is a co-founder of the Annoyance Theater and tours with Mark Sutton in Bassprov. He has taught at Second City, The Annoyance and iO Chicago and continues to teach around the world. Jimmy sat down with him in this live episode to talk about The Annoyance, the day he quit stand-up, and his unique psychological approach to improv.

Simon Helberg is best known as Howard from the hit CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. He is currently staring in the new film Florence Foster Jenkins with Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. We talked to him about following in his father's footsteps at The Groundlings, how acting is like improv and the importance putting your stuff up.

This is our 200th episode of Improv Nerd! To acknowledge this milestone, we have compiled 15 of our favorite past guests' advice for people who are going into improv or comedy today. You will hear wisdom from people like Adam McKay, the ladies from Broad City, Lauren Lapkus, TJ and Dave, Jill Soloway, Bob Odenkirk, Jon Favreau and more. Take a listen!

Matt Dwyer is a writer, stand-up and podcaster. He was one of the youngest people to be hired for the Second City Touring Company at the age of 21. He has written for Funny or Die and Jonah Ray's Hidden America on Netflix. We talked to him about hanging out at Second City when he was high school, how getting fired at Second City led him to stand up, and the importance of writing for improvisers.

Mike Birbiglia is the writer, director and star of his latest independent film, "Don't Think Twice," about a popular New York improv group where one of the member gets his big break. Jimmy talks to Mike about some of themes in his film, like jealousy, self-sabotage and fame. Also, Mike talks about falling in love with improv and why it's so important for him to create his your own projects.

Peter Grosz is best known as one of the two guys in the Sonic commercials, but he has also written for The Colbert Report and Late Night with Seth Meyers. He has performed at The Second City etc., the UCB, Boom Chicago, and iO Chicago. Jimmy talks to him about why he still loves improvising, getting hired to write for Colbert and why he likes to play the unlikable Sidney Purcell in HBO's VEEP.