Philosophy vs. Improv

We try to be boring. Bill tries to make a discovery amidst the canards. Mark tries to be a good meta-dupe. But is our success in these attempts guaranteed by the deal you have already made with us by listening to this? It is not. With our first celebrity guest, the final judge is unveiled! In the post-game, we talk Conan O’Brien (sound effects) and talk shows in general, plus Joe Pera Talks With You. Why has Mark not yet read Bill’s book? Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. For a Partially Examined Life introduction to the social contract, listen ep. 3 on Thomas Hobbes, then ep. 37 on John Locke. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Image by Kuan Jian Jing, Jessica. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Two micro scenes and a mystery number of interruptions reveal our underlying definitions. How will we overcome the lag between our words and become like-minded? How many beats in an heirloom beet if an heirloom hair-looms beets? Many lessons are learned that are not THE lesson, necessitating some difficult multi-tasking. In the post-game, Bill starts something we can’t finish about libertarianism, watermelon is revealed, and we have recommendations: Brad Neely’s Harry Potter videos, Shelly Kagan’s Yale course on Death. For more on definitions, you may be amused by the PEL episodes on Ayn Rand and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Now, both of those have been only available for $5 donors on the PEL Citizen site, but I’ve made the Ayn Rand one available for Philosophy Improv supporters at any level. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Image by Maggie via Aaron Zenz. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Is death something to be feared? What’s next? What are the DETAILS? Do not adjust your listening device or call an ambulance. That sound you hear is not ground hum nor tinnitus but is the sound of improvisation. Warning: We talk about suicide a bit. If you’re feeling depressed, don’t call the lava demon hotline, as it is a scam. We make a few references in this one that might be clarified by some clips if you’re confused: It’s sad when Hulk has to leave. Watch Richard Pryor on Norm and Kirk Douglas post-stroke accepting an Oscar. Brush up on Chris Farley’s Matt Foley lest you end up in a van down by the river. In the Post-Game, Bill recommends James Burke’s The Day the Universe Changed. Mark recommends Nathan for You; though I couldn’t find the pet cemetery episode online, the Ghost Realtor segment is fantastic. For more on this argument about death Mark refers to, listen to the Partially Examined Life episodes on Epicurus and also Plato’s Phaedo. Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Bill starts us with a scene: Behold the Doctor’s Office, where anything can happen, and often DOES. Is this whole thing a bad idea? Do you think you’re BETTER than this idea? Do you? If you need to tell yourself that, that’s OK. In the post-game, we talk a little about Stoicism (listen to PEL about it, ego issues, and ephemeral art. Our recommendations include: Bobby Huff time-corrects Van Halen and Philosophize This! Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Mark starts us off this time: What is reality? Bill pushes back, which is rather his point this round. Hilarity ensues, given that the world is just a construct of our minds and we want it to do so. Hilarity doesn’t really do much else besides ensuing, does it? Lazy bastard. Learn more about Kant’s phenomena vs. noumena in this very old episode Partially Examined Life episode. We return to the topic (in part) in our current two-episode run on Kant’s follower Fichte. In the post-game (still public, since the Patreon site is not yet up to take your dough) we demonstrate that if you provide us with feedback, then we’ll maybe read it on air. We provided some recommendations: Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Here’s the episodes of Modern Day Philosophers with Nick Vatterott that Bill listened to. Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

The gauntlet has been thrown. In this first episode, Mark Linsenmayer and Bill Arnett channel their respective muses to try to enlighten each other about something having to do with ethics on the one hand and the continuity of improvisation with regular life on the other. Which lesson shall produce the most profound effect? Does this format make any sense at all? As a special treat, this episode includes an appendix (the “post-game”) which in the future we may or may not restrict to our financial supporters. This is where we get meta- and discuss the format and get to know each other. Our recommendations in this segment include the Modern Day Philosophers podcast and The Chicago Improv Studio Thursday Night Jam (see their Facebook page). Learn improv from Bill through chicagoimprovstudio.com. Get philosophy tutoring from Mark or listen to his reading group podcast at partiallyexaminedlife.com. The theme music is from “Bankrupt” (foreshadowing the destination for acolytes of both philosophy and improv comedy), which I wrote as an naïve high schooler in 1989 and recorded it in 1993 with The MayTricks for the album Happy Songs Will Bring You Down. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop (and Mark does a pass too). About the art used on this site: Kids’ drawings are great. The wilder the better. To start, I just grabbed a bunch of these off the web, because my goal here is to substitute all of them very soon with drawings by YOUR kids, specifically influenced (or at least dovetailing interestingly with) these episode titles. Follow me on twitter and going forward I’ll announce episodes titles and put out a call for art. All submissions will be displayed in some way so your tot will not be crushed by rejection, but one of them will be put in the episode-front spot as you see here. You can consider any of the posts already up here as fair game for your submissions unless you see an art credit on the post, so please get your kids involved today! I recommend using color (of some sort) on a landscape 8 1/2″ by 11″ sheet, then just scan it or take a picture with your phone; the result should be at least 1000 pixels wide. Send it to mark@philosophyimprov.com. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

What is Philosophy vs. Improv? Hear about the new podcast by Mark Linsenmayer (The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast) and Bill Arnett (Chicago Improv Studio, The Complete Improviser author). Thanks to our announcer, Erica Spyres. PvI logo by Solomon Grundy. Reach out to us with your children’s art, episode ideas, guest suggestions, and other comments. Get more episodes than are now publicly available plus supporter-only content at patreon.com/philosophyimprov. This new project needs your support to get off the ground!