Philosophy vs. Improv

Mark Schiff is a legendary stand-up (watch him on Carson) who currently podcasts with friend-of-PEL and philosophy enthusiast, Daniel Lobell (check out his YouTube channel) as We Think It’s Funny. These gents join Mark and Bill to talk about stand-up vs. improv (hear our prior treatment of the topic), comedy LPs, waterless urinals, bad press, the path to enlightenment, and how to get rid of syphilis. We run a scene on hiring entertainment for the company party, and engage in some riffs that can only be called improv. If you want an ep. of WTIF to start with, Mark mentions Brian Regan. The image here is the horrific Zoom background I used for the call. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Sponsor: Go to surfshark.com/improv or use code IMPROV at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! You can choose to watch this on video.

Khafiz Kerimov (philosophy guy) and Nicholas Bellinson (literature guy) both teach at (and co-commute to) St. John’s College in Annapolis, and they channeled the educational style of that school into a new podcast called Invasive Thoughts. They join Mark and Bill to talk about various educational technologies, teacher-student relations, circle-drawing competitions, the passivity of thinking, and using quotations to say what you just want to say to people directly. As Nietzsche often said, “Thanks for listening to Philosophy vs. Improv!” The image here of a child the apparently COULD do the chalk-skipping-line trick is from a sales site, and though it sure looks like a blackboard, it is not. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Sponsors: Go to surfshark.com/improv or use code IMPROV at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! Don’t wait until the next bite—protect your home with Bzigo. Go to bzigo.com/discountBUZZ10 to save 10% off. You can choose to watch this via unedited video to see all of our blackboard antics:

Kolby is the founder/editor of After Dinner Conversations, which curates short stories about philosophy. He’s also been a “producer” of improv shows. We talk about what makes a story philosophical, Kolby tells some stories, and we run some scenes about teleporter shenanigans and guidance counseling. Finally, Kolby (fictionally) makes an INDECENT PROPOSAL to the podcast. In the post-game, Bill and Mark reflect on the episode and talk a bit more about job selection and the sunk cost fallacy. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Sponsor: Go to surfshark.com/improv or use code IMPROV at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! You can choose to watch this on unedited video:

Shannon the philosopher and Audrey the poet are Seattle improv buddies that form a duo called Closer to Clarity that uses improv to answer audience members’ big life questions (BLQs). Through these guests and their BLQs, philosophy and poetry face off and mind meld and do-si-do as we play through two wacky corporate office scenes and return once again to Empty Street for an attempted gas station poetry open mic. Follow their antics at @up_improv_seattle. Audrey’s poetry Insta is @passengerpoet. Read about Audrey’s current favorite poet Mary Oliver. The child’s poetry image here was swiped from pinterest. Watch this episode via unedited video. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast!

Greg teaches philosophy (and is Interim Provost) at Ashland, loves Xenophon, and runs a podcast. We reflect on the dangers of radon and other “natural” things. How might one of our government agencies become more natural, and would we want that? Are fart jokes the most naturally funny kind? Then, Greg the trucker visits Empty Street and embezzles dead mules. Listen to The Partially Examined Life’s Cratylus episode about “natural language.” Listen to Greg on his podcast talking about Xenophon and Xenophon’s Socrates. Bill was thrust from the final portion of the call, so Mark and Greg engage in some philosophy podcast shop talk. He returns for the Post-Game after Greg’s departure (actually, it was the next day) to reflect on the episode and specifically identify the naturalistic fallacy. You can choose to watch this on YouTube. The pants-dropping postman image was swiped from here. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Check out other Evergreen Podcast offerings.

Mark and Bill are joined by the actor/improviser who directs Camp Improv Utopia and is involved in managing improv spaces such as Denver’s Rise Comedy. We talk about the notion of community, with a scene about the neighborhood watch and a return to Empty Street to deal seriously in a public-service-announcement/after-school special sort of way with the issue of buying liquor underage. How does one foster a supportive improv community? Can we develop a community of returning Empty Street cast members? You can choose to watch this discussion on unedited video. In the post-game, Mark and Bill talk briefly about people who can’t sympathize beyond their immediate circle. The image was snatched from here. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Check out other Evergreen Podcast offerings.

Mark and Bill introduce a new potential setting and some characters for ongoing use in future improvisations. We talk about techniques for doing that and wrap up by getting an update from Bill on his substitute teaching and talking about what makes for a good teacher. You can choose to watch this on unedited video. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Check out other Evergreen Podcast offerings.

Mark and Bill are joined by two north-of-the-border podcasters, Shawn Vulliez and Aaron Moritz, who incorporate both improv and philosophy in their dirty leftist podcast. We simulate conversation as competing knowers-of-the-good-life and talk about using improv for political purposes. Note that this was recorded back in December when we were in the thick of Luigi Mangione fever and not yet consumed with daily Presidential antics. If you pay the srsly wrong some money, you can hear Mark’s appearance on that show. The image was swiped from here. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Check out other Evergreen Podcast offerings. You can choose to watch this on unedited video:

Randy is a literature guy who has written a couple of books about improv and here joins Mark and Bill to talk about WINGING IT: Improv’s Power and Peril in the Age of Trump, wherein he basically blames improv for giving us the orange man. Can one be an expert about philosophy, or improvisation for that matter? Is the essence of these activities in the historical products (e.g. Christopher Guest films, philosophy books) or in the doing of it by each individual? Randy connects this to philosophy of science: the improvisational activity of the individual is the disruptor of existing patterns and paradigms, of experiments designed to merely reinforce and develop the status quo. According to Randy, our admiration for these rebel innovators thinking outside the box has led to Americans being struck by this trickster political figure that flouts norms and promises substantial disruption. So while you might have thought that improv was just an activity for a special kind of marginalized geek, it’s actually central to our political theater. Randy also blames improv for toxic social media, but you’ll have to listen to see whether the argument makes sense at all. Our scenes are about Trumpers hustling a fast food joint and improv for dogs. Note that this was recorded 11/25, so the election was a bit fresher. Mark and Bill stick around for some post-game bringing in yet another metaphor: music and its stylistic development. The orange man drawing was lifted from here. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Check out other Evergreen Podcast offerings. Watch this as unedited video, if you so choose.

Simon is a professor at New York’s New School for Social Research and moderates the New York Times’ philosophy offering, The Stone. He joins Mark and Bill to discuss his new book, On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy, and we used the occasion to explore how art and mysticism might be connected, including engaging in improv rituals. You can watch this on unedited video. We do some post-game discussion for the first time in a while, where we reflect on the episode, and Mark connects it to PEL’s current topic, Ludwig Feuerbach. The image of skull-toast was swiped from here. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Check out other Evergreen Podcast offerings.