Improv Interviews

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 School and his philosophy on teaching sketch comedy. Please visit his website at Thesketchschool.com to check out all the terrific, and affordable, classes and workshops he teaches. He also brings industry experts, like Jamie Moyer, to teach classes. Marc is a beloved artist in the improv community and I think you'll love him too!

I had the great pleasure of meeting Jennifer Estin when I signed at the terrific online classes for the Annoyance, Improv Fiend! https://improvfiend.com We chatted about her childhood and how her mother created games that inspired her to pursue acting. Jennifer Estlin has been involved in the entertainment business as an actress and producer since 1986. Following her graduation from Northwestern University’s School of Speech in 1987, she traveled to Edinburgh Scotland with the production of André Gregory's Alice! directed by David Schwimmer. Afterward, she spent three months traveling all over Europe until deciding to settle for awhile in Paris, where she earned her living singing on the Parisian Metro for close to a year. ​ Upon returning to Chicago, Jennifer spent several years working in many of Chicago’s theatres including The Annoyance, Northlight, and The Body Politic. She toured for two years with Second City’s National Touring company and was a company member on a Second City resident stage prior to moving to New York in 1994. There, she continued her career by working in regional theatres around the country, Off-Broadway theatre, film, and television. She returned to Chicago in 2002 to become President, Executive Producer and owner of the Annoyance Theatre, and continues to work on film, television and stage. Jennifer has appeared as recurring characters Judge Cohen on Proven Innocent and Cathy Briscoe on NBC’s Law and Order, and also in shows such as Chicago PD, Empire, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Exit 57, and in several national and regional commercials. Her feature film credits include the soon to be released (Fall 2024) Everything Fun You Could Possibly Do in Aledo, Illinois (for which she received Best Actress award at the Star City Film Festlval), The Eyes, iMurders, Chicago Boricua, and Volcano, and the award winning short films A Million Miles Away,(Sundance) and The Cure (Slamdance). ​You can learn more about Jennifer at https://www.jenniferestlin.com ​

I first met the dynamic Marian Rich at a Global Play Brigade event and later at an East Side Institute meeting. Marian, a New York City native, shared her journey from growing up in Manhattan in the 1960s to becoming a political activist and theater artist. Her father, a blacklisted character actor during the McCarthy era, influenced her early interest in theater. Marian's involvement with the East Side Institute and the Global Play Brigade highlights her work in using improv and theater for social change. She discussed her transition from acting to art due to chronic pain and her role in creating mental health workshops in Harlem. Marian emphasized the importance of play and creativity in overcoming life's challenges. Marian co-leads a monthly Creative Playground -https://www.wemanitycoaching.com/creative-playground - with her colleague Aurelie Harp. Marian and Aurelie also lead a weekly in-person coaching group in NYC at https://www.wemanitycoaching.com/inperson-group You can learn more about Marian and her work at: https://www.marianrich.com

Gael Doorneweerd-Perry, co-founder of Flock Theatre Amsterdam, shares his fascinating journey from an introverted childhood near Strasbourg to becoming an extraordinary improviser. He discusses the profound influence of music and books like 'The Little Prince' on his life. Gael explains his unique teaching style focused on physicality and nonverbal cues in improv. He also delves into the innovative concept of their show, 'Object of Affection,' and the thrilling experience of touring globally to teach and perform, all while balancing his passion for geology.

Meet my friend Kitty Parker. We met at the online Queen City Comedy School and I knew I wanted to get to know her better. I was fascinated by her writing about improv which you can find at https://medium.com/@kittyparker_8532 She moved from Europe to New Zealand where she discovered improv! Kitty Parker shares her journey in improv, starting with weekly classes and progressing to jam sessions with higher-level improvisers. She discussed her experiences at the New Zealand Improv Festival and the impact of different teachers. Kitty also talked about her children, including her non-binary daughter, and her work as an early childhood educator. She emphasized the importance of life experience in improv and the joy of teaching newcomers. Kitty has an ebook on Amazon , Improv Impressions, be sure to check it out! She concluded by advising older improvisers to embrace their life experience and be open to new roles.

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!