Philosophy vs. Improv

Kevin is the creator and host of the storytelling podcast RISK! and is the alphabetically foremost member of the MTV-televised, newly reformed, celebrity-infested sketch comedy troupe The State. He tells us he was also the creative director of an improv troupe for a year, but it’s not his primary jam, so we talk about that before launching into a scene about a suspicious hotel. How does one engineer one’s legacy? Can you, or will history inevitably either reduce your greatest contributions to mere noise or reinterpret them in light of, for instance, your final, embarrassing moments? Perhaps the legendary comedy team of Ricky and Lester can serve as a scenic example; let’s let them say a little about who they are and how their career reached its current nadir. Watch the festivities unedited. Keep up with The State at the-state.com. Listen to Mark interview Kevin about RISK! on Pretty Much Pop. Follow Kevin @TheKevinAllison and @thekevinallison. The image here is the first actually commissioned for this podcast, by the child of listener Heath Adams. It’s supposed to be a dinosaur, must like us legacy podcasters (RISK! started one year before PEL). And yet what could be more ephemeral than whiteboard art? Thank you, Heath and child, for the profound sentiment, sure to impregnate each viewer with their own profound artworks, creating a chain reaction that will undoubtedly last through eternity. And thus is the legacy of this show secured. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop.

Recorded on 9/11 (a date not known primarily for its improv activities), only now making its way to you, this discussion between Mark and Bill talk child deification, pop philosophy vs. pop improv, foreign accents, and guns in schools in the hands of improvisers. The image is from this Reddit article asking for ideas on how to “spice up” a potential tattoo drawing of mice by the poster’s daughter. The comments on the page are not flattering. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content, including the paywalled David Chalmers 2012 PEL interview. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop.

Returning freedom fighters Andrew and Linda and join Bill and Mark to talk about philosophical liberalism: Its rationales and varieties. Plus, preschool orientation, and Greek gods creating a new world. Follow Linda @IrisCutter. Her weekly improv show is with the troupe Dumb John. Listen to Andrew’s philosophy podcast, Reductio, which has dwelt further on Rawlsian liberalism, as has Mark on PEL. The episode image is from the U.S. Department of Defense, which apparently either commissions child art or more likely collects art from the children of military personnel. We honor their service and the service of their fathers by joking about historic military generals, and so do the Washington Generals, who likewise slack not in their struggle against the imperialistic Globetrotters. Watch the live video on YouTube: Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. However, as a sample, THIS episode includes a short post-game: We talk a bit more about criticisms of liberalism (e.g. by Charles Mills), plug our guests’ shows, and Bill points us at Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Sponsor: Visit FactorMeals.com/improv50 (code improv50) to get 50% off America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit.

NYU Prof and author David Chalmers joins Mark and Bill to simulate debates about AI, cybersex, actor vs. character, and keeping children safe from reality. They discuss the potential impact of AI on creativity, living in a simulated world, love with bots, acting in the pain of a breakup, virtual reality for children, the relationship between philosophy and improvisation, and exploring naming and identity.

The author of The Accomplished Creative, a sort of anti-self-help book based around Jeremy’s improv experience and what he learned as a philosophy major, joins Mark and Bill to talk impostor syndrome and benign violations, get real meta about Die Hard scenarios, and have a cheese intervention.  Follow @JeremyRichards. Listen to Jeremy’s podcast Think Like An Improviser. His Seattle improv venue is Unexpected Productions. Jeremy also wrote a musical about Nietzsche. The image is by Blair G. If you’d like, you can watch this episode as unedited video: Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Sponsor: Visit FactorMeals.com/improv50 (code improv50) to get 50% off America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit.

It’s our season three premiere, and the elephants are in the room! It’s St. Lawrence University philosophy prof Jenny (a frequent PEL guest) in the ring with UIC Theater instructor/Podcaster with Hey Riddle Riddle and Hello From the Magic Tavern Adal, along with Mark and Bill, of course. And the Bullshot is flying! Who will be hit? Who will master the rings? Who will shoot from the hip? Who will tell it like it is? Who will have the narrowest viewpoint? The big promotion? The most clear and succinct tattoo? Oh, also, this is another philosophy of language episode. PEL will actually be covering Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit” in a more systematic way very soon. Care to watch this episode on video? Do it: At the end, Adal recommended the comedian Theo Von as a good example of bullshitting as comedy. Follow Adal on Twitter and Instagram. Jenny is too cool for social media, but you can follow her in your mind, if that’s not too creepy. Adal appears to have a brand NEW podcast, “The Word Association.” The image here is by Anshika, and for the first time, we have audio of the artist explaining her work and how it uses colors “like blue and yellow.” Sounds like I need to start a child’s art appreciation podcast! Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Sponsor: Visit FactorMeals.com/improv50 (code improv50) to get 50% off America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit.

Philosopher Matt, host of the Elucidations podcast and frequent PEL guest, finally gets in on Philosophy vs. Improv in this, our Season Two Finale. And many is he a de dicto. Or is he a de re? Slowly learn the difference as we make things personal through scenes of shit-talking and crime reporting. Follow @ElucidationsPod. The image is from a story about Hong Kong. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions, video of this episode, and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Sponsor: Check out The Good Life Method by Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko.

How does new technology affect ethics? Anthony (who is on strike, but that doesn’t apply to improv) is an improviser with a computer science degree who now coaches kid TV actors. We talk personal identity, transhumanism, genetic engineering, AI, organizational ethics, Black Mirror, Beastars, and transporter virginity. Listen to more transporter talk on The Partially Examined Life’s episode on Derek Parfit. Follow Anthony @anthonyleblanc and @anthonypaulleblanc. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions, video of this episode, and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. The image was pulled from a child’s review of a Star Trek film. If you like our podcast, check out another show: Articles of Interest.

The guests are away, and so Billy and Markaroony will play. This fast-paced, sweet-moving discussion covers the genius individual artist and how that might or might not allow collaboration, genres and definitions, strife, and more. Mark just can’t WAIT for a canoe, and getting CRAZY at the salad bar. Oops, we forgot to determine a winner, so YOU decide. The image was pulled from Reddit and is supposed to depict Nostradamus picking lottery numbers, which is not really relevant to anything we discussed apart from the word “numbers.” Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions, video of this episode, and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. If you like our podcast, check out another show: Articles of Interest.

Watch this episode as a video. This includes the full post-game segment, so you can see what you’re missing by not being a supporter to this podcast. Don’t you think it’s time you became one? Monica is an actor and writer who ran a live-on-stage philosophy podcast called The Happier Hour, and so naturally we talk about happiness, or flourishing (eudaimonia). Can babies with cancer be relied upon to responsibly spend donations? How can Bill get his hands on one of those rings of Gyges? Is philosophy necessary for the good life? Is humility? Does every philosopher carry a slide rule? Is an ethic “fulfilling your potential” problematic? Are some people’s happiness fundamentally opposed to others’? Also, reacting to the unusual, undertunity, and lawn care ideology. The image was snatched from this site. Cancer sucks! Take an online course this fall from Mark at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Sponsors: Visit HelloFresh.Com/improv50 (code improv50) for 50% off (plus free shipping) of America’s #1 Meal Kit. Visit Twit.tv/apple for three great podcasts about all things Apple.