Philosophy vs. Improv

It is a new era, a new dawn, a new beginning, with a new font of improv wisdom in the form of Merry Mary Hynes, whom you’ve met, and in turn a fresh challenge for Mark to engage in philosophy tutoring with a brilliant but free-from-academic-philosophy-training partner. Sponsor: Get 15% off at MasterClass.com/IMPROV. We start off with some improv to explore the idea of being a co-host, then Mark attempts to relate a bit of Luce Irigaray (hear the full Partially Examined Life episode on her) and briefly attempts to argue that all our concern with representation (seeing YOURSELF on screen or whatnot) is dwarfed by the existential gulf between individuals. Mary discusses her non-binary identification through the medium of Doctor Who. All this prompts another scene with us doing weird accents at the Feminist Café, Mark relating the history of his vocal training (including a brief clip of the actual recording of voice lessons from 1990), a scene about an aging child pop star, and discussion of how an audience relates to changes in what a performer does over time (like, say, when a podcast you like gets a new co-host…). Finally, what is philosophy, and have you been doing it already in some form throughout your life, even if you never took a class with that name? In the post-game chat, we talk a bit about Last One Laughing, Alien Earth, and Sinners, and Mary refreshes us on short-form vs. long-term improv. Thanks for being on this here Patreon page, where the action is always ad free! We appreciate your support. The image used here reflects the new era. Instead of shamelessly stealing child’s drawings off the Internet, in Season Five here, I am getting up with the times and instead telling AI to create graphics in the style of children’s drawings and watching it fail miserably. In this case, the result looks like a beginner user of Corel Draw instead of a child using crayons, but this is what Claude AI delivered, and you can be sure that I am not putting child artists out of work by creating it this way. I ask you to contemplate the hair styles here, from the lefty’s jaunty beret-style hair to the righty’s yellow clam-shell style hat a la Dumb Donald from Fat Albert. Magnifique! Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You can choose to watch this unedited on YouTube:

It’s our season finale, and the end of Bill’s regular participation on the show. You may wish to weep, but let your tears be of joy as well as reminiscence. We are re-joined by two of our favorite improv guests for a Team Play episode to talk ship of Theseus, philosophy vs. mythology vs. video games, Renaissance contemporaries, long-lived turtles, “realist” morality, goodbyes, and our final boardroom scene. Follow us @MarkLinsenmayer, @MisterSniffen, and @anthonyleblanc. You can choose to watch this on unedited video. PvI will continue with new (temporary? permanent? We don’t know) co-host Merry Mary Hynes. Also happening soon: Seth Paskin as guest! The image was swiped from here. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast!

Nessa teaches philosophy at Lone Star Community College and writes on the philosophy of humor. We’ve amazingly never had an episode specifically about this, so we thought we should get this on the table before we wrap our season (and Bill’s regular participation) and reach 100 episodes. We go through the main theories (superiority, incongruity/surprise, unconscious triggering, i.e. funny because it’s true on some level we don’t necessarily want to admit). Then Nessa (fictionally) becomes our podcast format consultant. Is there room for pugilism in philosophy? Is King of the Hill too real? Is the hilarity of a joke 90% in its delivery and details? We wrap up by considering the appeal of various stand-up comedians. Here’s the Dana Carvey clip by Colbert that Nessa refers to about Waiters Nauseated by Food. The image here is swiped from Instagram. As long-time readers here know, I try to find child drawings relevant to the title/topic, and have more or less despaired in finding good ones, so I am tentatively planning to shift strategies for the new season (as I’ve already done for some recent episodes). This one was a result of an image search for “child’s drawing comedian,” and I found this Instagram and misread it as being by the child, as opposed to being apparently a comedian’s self-portrait “with random marks by my son.” But given that it displays the drawing competence of a child (as would be anything I would personally attempt), it stays! Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You can choose to watch this on YouTube:

Recorded back in June, posting now as we near the end of our season and Bill’s tenure on the show, this episode now bleeds with dramatic irony. Mark and Bill discuss how to give a good speech, AI in academics, and we have a tear-stained visit to Empty Street. Though the Everything is Alive improv podcast has featured many an inanimate object, we do not believe a literal douche is among them, so you might want to reach out to them and suggest that. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Watch it on unedited video, if you’d prefer.

LA comedienne and Second City faculty member Mary (whom you no doubt already met in the Prelude to this episode), joins us to act out a pet sitting job interview, talk about sharing our public spaces with animals, and finally return to Empty Street to see if we can get some animal action going in the convenient mart/Taco Bell/Subway. In the post-game (which we’re including on this public episode because we’re so nice), we talk about Bill’s new academic studies and Mark’s upcoming Gen Con trip. (If you’re going to be at Gen Con Indy and want to connect, email me; maybe we can organize a lunch for anyone interested.) Yes, the fish peep dome is a real thing. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! Sponsors: Don’t wait until the next bite—protect your home with Bzigo. Go to bzigo.com/discountBUZZ10 to save 10% off. 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.

What do you do when Bill doesn’t show up to the recording? You record for a bit anyway and get to know the guest! Meet Mary. Here’s her website.

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!