Improvisationally Speaking the Podcast: Recent Episodes
Improv Alive LLC
The stories of people who are doing extraordinary or unusual world-changing life work in which improvisation is playing a big role. Interviewing entrepreneurs, world-travelers, artists and misfits.
Journalist, author, artist, national public radio talk show host Celeste Headlee has had an amazing career. On episode 17 of Improvisationally Speaking by Improv Alive, she talks about her work and life, and how she uses authentic conversation and elements of improvisation in every aspect of her work and life.
Celeste is an award-winning journalist who has appeared and anchored on NPR, PBS World, PRI, CNN, BBC and others in shows such as The Takeaway from PRI & WNYC, Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. She currently hosts a daily talk show called “On Second Thought” for Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta. Celeste has been a mentor and managing editor for NPR’s Next Generation Radio Project, training young reporters and editors in broadcasting. She has won numerous awards for reporting from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists and she was selected twice to be a Getty/Annenberg Journalism Fell [...]
Paul R. Pierce, Producing Artistic Director of the Historic State theater of Georgia, the Springer Opera House, has led the Springer for more than two decades. During his tenure, audiences have tripled and the Springer has instituted popular programs like Springer Theatricals and the Springer Theatre Academy. In addition to being a veteran stage director, he is also a playwright, actor and musician. Throughout his career, Paul has lead a number of theaters and performing arts organizations. He has faced lean times and cut-backs, and navigated the immensely challenging path to make the Springer Opera house a thriving, relevant and powerful force in American theater. His story is one of perseverance, improvisation, passion, vision, energy and grit. Give it a listen.
As a youth, Joey Rivera was a high school drop-out and a juvenile delinquent, bouncing in and out of prison. From a troubled childhood, Joey was in and out of the foster care system, and after repeated attempts to run away, he was ordered to join the Marines by a court judge. From that moment, Dr. Joey Rivera’s life and story did an about-face. His is a story of a second chance. A ‘life do-over’ in which a boy - a man, decided to create a life that mattered from a life that didn’t. It’s the story of a person with no initial advantages, grappling his way from nothing, to everything, relying on perseverance, momentum, and leveraging the creativity & intelligence of others.
Joey is the founder of one of the most respected small and growing business in the country, Rivera Group. The Rivera Group developed and provides some of the most cutting-edge intelligence software solutions to the government and to companies around the world. He has spent over 32 years in th [...]
From October 12th to November 11th of this year, Rob Jones (Rob Jones Journey) ran 31 marathons in 31 consecutive days, in 31 different cities from Seattle, WA to Washington DC, and many points in-between (including London, England & Toronto, CN.) This 812.2 mile self-imposed challenge would be an incredible achievement for any world-class athlete, except Rob Jones has prosthetic legs. You see, Rob Jones is a Marine who had both legs amputated after being wounded in Afghanistan, clearing IED’s for his fellow Marines in 2010. Sinse this time, Rob has become a Paralympic medalist in rowing, biked 5,180 miles across the country and devoted his life to raising money for veterans’ charities. From the Improv Alive Studios in Seattle, WA, Improvisationally Speaking is very proud and honored to bring you Rob Jones.
We live in a world where, by many measures, our differences in culture, custom, beliefs, geography, color and sex are a separating force. You need only to turn on the TV or open a newspaper to see examples of this, and the sheer amount of discord, misunderstanding and mistrust can make the most optimistic person feel overwhelmed and helpless to change the tide. In this environment, working to forge bridges between peoples across these divides can feel like a very uphill battle, but someone’s got to do it:
Enter Leadership Coach, facilitator and Certified NLP Master Practitioner, Shian Chuan. Rather than being drained by this problem, Shian is energized by it, and passionate about finding new ways for people to work together in business, commerce and govt. Her approach with the teams and leaders that she coaches is personal; helping people to recognize and tap into their greatest source of motivation so they are able to face personal and professional challenges and creat [...]
The life of a professional model maker is all about making things from nothing.. Taking what you have and making it work. In a company like Planetary Resources Inc., which is on the leading edge of space exploration and technology, a model maker’s job is all about high stakes, and making it happen, even when you have to improvise.
Meet Planetary Resources’ Manufacturing Engineering Lead, Charlie Gary. A man whose job is exactly this.
In the hyper-dynamic, potentially dangerous environment of commercial space exploration, Charlie Gary is a pioneer, an inventor, a scientist and an improviser. His models serve as the very physical manifestation of the ideas of some of the greatest thinkers on the planet. In such an environment, does improvisational thinking have room to exist? Let’s find out…
Let’s say You work for NASA, and you are in charge of the rockets. Specifically, keeping all the rockets and teeny-tiny rocket pieces that are under development in one place, and all of the rockets and teeny-tiny rocket pieces that are fire-tested and ready to fly astronauts into space, in another place. Your single-most important task is to schedule both unique sets of parts to pass through the same shops and machines so that you achieve both your engineering development needs, and your customer-focused launch schedule…all while making sure the two piles remain accounted for and separate. Your ultimate failure is someone, in a mad fervor to meet a deadline, accidentally grabbing one of your test rocket bits, and slapping it onto a launch vehicle that is carrying real people, or a company’s critical satellite, into space. In this ultra-high stakes environment, what would you do to ensure mistakes weren’t made? Now it’s time to meet a ma [...]
Nicholas Domingo was a little chubby, and had crooked teeth as a kid. He was a target for bullies. and as he grew, he learned to channel his negative energy into his training to become a semi-pro football player, a weight-lifter, and a cage-match and street fighter. A brain hemorrhage at the age of 19, and the loss of 3 of his best friends to suicide turned his life upside-down, and changed his life trajectory forever.
There are no super-gadgets that can help you deal with bullies. No special powers that can magically heal hurt feelings. In the comics, obstacles are usually overcome by fists and willpower, but that’s not how it works in the real world. Nicholas Domingo was walking down the streets of L.A. one day and he decided to just start doling out compliments to the people he walked past. As he saw their faces light up, he realized that the world needed a superhero who CAN deal with those complex issues. A real live hero who resolves conflict without violence; whose s [...]
Frank Abagnale is the man whose life inspired the movie ‘Catch Me If You Can, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks, and also the subsequent Broadway musical hit of the same name starring Norbert Leo Butz. As a young man, he was considered the world’s greatest con man, and after serving 5 years in prison, was offered a chance to turn his life around and pay it back by working for the FBI as an undercover agent, a teacher and a lecturer, which he has been doing now for over 40 years. In this episode of Improvisationally Speaking, Frank talks about what it took to pull off the things he did as a young man, and how improvisational thinking, self-resourcefulness, and creativity have helped him to become one of the best crime fighters out there.
Travis Thomas is a published author, national speaker, performance coach & trainer, and a nationally performing improv-comedian. He took his first improv class at age 25. As Creator of the company, Live Yes and, Travis works with teams, from non-profit to Fortune 500 corporations, inspiring them to see how a ‘YES AND’ mindset can be transformative. He also is a founding member of the Jove Improvisation, a professional improv troupe based in Palm Beach FL. On this episode of Improvisationally Speaking, Travis shares his life story, and the power of Improvisationally thinking.
Mark Chenovick, executive director of the Second Story Repertory Theater in Redmond, WA took a folding theater company with $107,000 of debt, and turned it into a prolific and profitable theater. The journey was the both most difficult and the most rewarding professional undertaking for him. Learn how sticking with the improvisation principles of Yes And, and positive thinking/action gave him the energy, inspiration and business savvy to accomplish the unimaginable.
Ben Kurland is Co-Founder of BillFixers, LLC. Ben and his team are expert negotiators and improvisers who work on behalf of consumers to lower their bills by calling customer service reps at Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, Dish Network, and other companies (that EVERYBODY loves to talk to..) finding promotional rates, customer loyalty discounts, special packages, and additional credits to get his customers the lowest bill possible. What has thousands of phone hours on the customer service lines of these companies taught this fearless team of bill fixers about improvisation?
Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade, founder of Roses In Concrete, a community school that serves black and Hispanic, inner-city youth in Oakland CA, giving them an educational opportunity that rivals it’s wealthy suburban private school counterparts. With classes in dance, music performance and arrangement, and athletics, in addition to the core curriculum. Jeff is a national keynote speaker and his council is requested by education departments across the country who are trying to build a more just, equitable education system for all.
Seattle City Council Member, Mike O’Brien has a tough but rewarding job. As a council member, it is his job to serve his constituency and to do what he knows is right. But sometimes doing both of these at the same time is impossible. How does he communicate effectively and effect the kind of change he is charged to bring to the city of Seattle while being under the microscope of the public eye? This discussion reveals some of Mike O’Brien’s methods, and they are surprisingly based on the principles of improvisation.
This week we’re talking about the role improv plays in Capitol Hill politics with Washington DC Lobbyist & Signer-Songwriter, Tessa Frost.
Today we’re interviewing Gorilla Marketer, Blogger, Improvisor and World-Traveler: Nicoletta Crisponi who is currently in Nepal, on a one-year journey around the world. As a single woman in foreign lands, Nicoletta (Nicky) has to improvise every day. Nicky talks about how a prepared but open-to-anything mindset is just as important when traveling in a foreign country as when creating a first-of-its-kind marketing campaign or embarking upon a new career.
For our first episode, we’re talking about the role of improvisation in creating extraordinary life-work, the kind that changes the world for thousands of people. Our guest is Chris Schembra, founder of the 747 Club in New York City.