Improv Interviews

Wow! What a fabulous trip chatting with Anděl We laughed so much and she reminded me how playful improv really is! She is a highly sought after improv coach and director and her performances are truly inspiring! Anděl Sudik is a director, improviser, actor and writer based in L.A. and Chicago known for her explosive energy onstage and in the classroom as well as her experiential teaching style. She considers herself proactively pessimistic and infused all her work-no matter how abstract- with organic honesty and emotional grounding. She was born in Chicago, raised in California and moved back to Chicago at the tender age of 17 to study comedy and improvisation. She is a faculty member of the Second City Training Center programs; A-E, Conservatory, Health and Wellness, Advanced and Teen and Youth program and has taught her workshops all over the states and the world(The Nest OH, The Improv Shop St. Louis, Monkey Business Institute Madison, OLLIE Northwestern, CLIP U of C, OKC, The Improv Retreat, WI, Improv Utopia East, Providence Fest, Red Rocks Fest, Gladstone Fest, The New Movement NOLA, Iceland, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Ireland, N. Ireland, BIG IF, Neverending, Oslo Fest etc.) As an actor she is an alum of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, the Second City Touring Company and performed in the Jeff Award award winning Second City ETC revue “We’re All in this Room Together.” She has also produced countless successful two-man shows as Arch&Anděl(The Public House, Annoyance, OoB Festival) and improvisational experiences(Obits a theatrical experience exploring the lives of those that have passed) as well as directed in Chicago at Second City, iO and the Annoyance. Anděl’s deep well of performance experience and her hands-on, in depth work within the disciplines of long form improvisation, short form, sketch and theater make her a thoroughly well-rounded and open minded conduit for art, creation, polish and playfulness. She values time efficiency, and recognizes that the most powerful thing we bring to the table is us. Whatever we are. She does not update her website enough. Connect with her at: website: https://www.yesandel.com insta @the_proactive_pessimist

What an incredible delight to spend an hour with Singer/Songwriter Harold Payne! Harold is also known as an Improvised Songwriter and wherever he performs he uses audience suggestions to create an incredible improvised song! In fact, Harold creates a song in this podcast! Harold has an impressive career of songwriting for such diverse artists as Rod Stewart, Patti LaBelle, the Temptations, and long time collaborator, Bobby Womack—literally from Peter Paul and Mary to Snoop Dogg. Most recently, Rudimental reached #1 on the UK album charts containing the Womack/Payne song “New Day”, “Daylight” charted with Kelly Rowland plus the CD “Bravest Man in the Universe” which was co-written by Payne, Bobby Womack, Damon Albarn (Gorillaz) & Richard Russell (XL Recordings) received the prestigious “Q” award in the UK for “Best Album of the Year.” You can learn more about Harold at https://haroldpaynemusic.com/news/

Meet my sketch writing buddy, Debby Bloom! Debby is a fantastic writer and we've been in many of the same classes and writer's rooms at The Sketch School with Marc Warzecha. She has spent a lot of her life in finance and accounting but several years ago she decided to spread her wings and learn new things. A very funny lady, she braved stand-up comedy, which you can see on her YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQmBJcuxb7w&t=51s. But the grueling schedule of a stand up comedian wasn't exactly her thing. She heard about this "improv" thing and was immediately drawn in taking all levels. During the pandemic she was looking at comedy classes, joke writing and saw Marc Watzecha's Sketch School. She has been a dedicated student since then. Debby is multi-talented and has presented workshops on using AI in sketch comedy. She maintains her position as a professor teaching math. I know you'll love her sense of humor and enthusiasm as much as I do!

Show Notes: Welcome to a milestone celebration — our 200th (well… 203rd!) episode of Improv Interviews with Margot Escott! Since 2016, this podcast has been sharing the joy of improv with listeners around the world, and today we turn the spotlight on Margot herself. With Jay Sukow as guest host, Margot reflects on her journey through improv, therapy, teaching, and creativity. Along the way, nine past guests share warm congratulatory messages, and we debut a special theme song: Yes And Around the World. Originally planned for episode 200, this party arrived a few episodes later — and in true improv spirit, there are no mistakes! This special episode was lovingly produced and edited by Bright Su, with a little AI magic helping create the theme song. Big thanks to our team — Producer & Host: Margot Escott; Producer & Editor: Bright Su; Engineer: James Sitton; and Super Connector: Jay Sukow. And most of all, thank you to our listeners for supporting us through 200+ inspiring episodes. Here’s to many more adventures in Improv!

Liz Thompson is a vivacious and engaging screenwriter, puzzle/game creator, and development and mystery consultant, and this interview was so much fun! She fell in love with improv and storytelling in middle school and went on to perform, teach and found an improv comedy club in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles and has since sold both sitcoms and mysteries to CBS and NBC. She currently has a TV series in development and she is also in production on filming her own episodic pilot for a project called DOUBLE TAKE with her partner and the co-creator, Brendan Connelly. She offers several classes and consulting that you can find on her website at: https://www.howtoliz.com I think you'll love Liz as much as I do!

Get to know the incredibly enthusiastic improv player/coach Yael Schy. We explore her improv journey from dreams of being a dancer to becoming a wonderful improv teacher. Yael is truly unsinkable! Yael Schy, Founder, Zoomers to Boomers Improv, is a leader in using expressive arts in organizational learning and development, and a pioneer in leading Intergenerational Improv classes. She is principal of Dramatic Strides® Consulting, specializing in leadership development, communication skills, teambuilding and innovative decision-making techniques that help people and organizations move forward together. Yael is also a founding member of the Applied Improvisation Network, an international community of Applied Improvisation practitioners. Yael brings a unique perspective by combining decades of management and facilitation experience with Somatic Coaching certification and 50 years of teaching improvisational theater and dance, to create dynamic interpersonal skills training, coaching, and consulting services. She empowers individuals, teams, and organizations by helping people use their whole selves—body, mind, and heart—to connect with their true passion and creativity, producing extraordinary results. She is passionate about using improv .Check out more about Yael at https://zoomerstoboomersimprov.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/yael-schy/ yael@zoomerstoboomersimprov.com

Meet the wonderful Laura Doorneweerd-Perry! She is an improviser from Amsterdam and we had a laugh-filled chat in this episode. Laura is co-founder and co-director of Flock Theatre, but she has also been a member of the cast of multiple productions, as well as directing and producing fabulous shows! She met her husband, Gael Doorneweerd-Perry, at an improv festival and they felling love! They planned a Global World Honeymoon Tour but the pandemic got in the way of completing. They have performed all over the world and delight audiences everywhere.

What a delight speaking with Fena Ortalli, known around the world as a brilliant improviser/teacher. He is the founder and editor of STATUS (Revisita de Improvisation) the foremost journal about all things impro around the world. This impro magazine has been published sine 2001Originally from Argentina, where he discovered Impro, and had a sideline as a birthday party entertainer! He has been improvising since 2001. In 2006 he created Global Impro, an improv troupe dedicated to national and international collaboration and exchange. He resides in Madrid and is a frequent guest at Impro Festivals around the world. For more information contact him: https://www.globalimpro.com/ https://payhip.com/status

Meet legendary improviser Tim Orr based in San Francisco. We had a fabulous chat about his life in improv, international travels and favorite movie. We spoke about his philosophy on improv and the importance of connections. He even gave me a tour of his home! He has been improvising since 1988 with many San Francisco and international groups, including BATS Improv, True Fiction Magazine, Awkward Dinner Party, and with the acclaimed troupe 3 For All. In 2009, he founded Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. Since 2015, he has toured Europe with Inbal Lori from Berlin performing their duo show Click. Tim has also appeared in numerous plays in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received critical acclaim for his leading roles in the improvised feature films, Suckerfish and Security. Nationally, Tim has performed and taught improvisation at the American Conservatory Theatre, BATS Improv, Stanford University, and many other venues (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Austin, Louisville, Atlanta, etc.). Internationally, he has performed and taught at numerous festivals and/or as an invited guest artist in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Beirut, Belgium, Berlin, Bucharest, Dubai, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Mallorca, Oslo, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Shanghai, Sofia, Stockholm, Tel Aviv and more. Tim has consulted with numerous groups both nationally and internationally in their formation of improvisation groups and also the development of new improvisation formats.

Meet the fabulous Tim Yeo! He is from Singapore and has a fantastic improv theater at Ask Auntie Productions. He studied law in Bristol, UK and there he discovered improv at the Bristol Improv Society. He quickly joined the cast and has been improvising since 2011. He returned to Singapore in 2014 to practice law and began improv groups there. His teams ASAP improv and Les Musicables perform Musical Improv as well as other forms. He has traveled to Improv Festivals around the globe. In our chat he describes his teaching style. He is a fabulous spirit and we had so much joy getting to know each other! You can learn more about him at www.askauntie.sg and connect via Instagram @savingtimmy