Jim Ansaldo is a Research Scholar at Indiana University Bloomington, a member of Comedysportz Indianapolis and an instructor at Camp Yes And, which teaches improv Teenager on the Autism Spectrum.

"Improv gives us a means for everyone to bring their life experience to the table"

I had the chance to catch up with Jim earlier this year in San Jose, California. We talked about his approach to teaching, and his work bringing improvisation to with children and teenagers with autism, and how it can be used to highlight and aid communication and interaction. We also touched on the broader aspects of improvisation as a tool in therapy, Jill Bernard mindfullness in improv workshop that we both attended and the legacy of Keith Johnstone.

Direct Link

Bullet Points

• Creating a safe space for improvisation without the pressures of 'performing'.
• Working with educators at Camp Yes And.
• Improv Camps and Classes for Teens on the Autism Spectrum and Educators
• Using improv to facilitate discussion on how to improve teaching methods and generate new ideas.
• The core values of CSZ worldwide - Collaboration, Inspiration, Values, fun.
• Musical improvisation - The Yes And band.

Links

• Benjamin Bloom, Blooms Taxonomy
• The Applied Improvisation Network

The host John Cooper is a professional stand-up comedian, improviser, tutor & illustrator based in Manchester, UK.

Click here to listen to previous podcast interviews  with other experts who use improvisation. 

The post Podcast: Jim Ansaldo - Teaching improvisation to teenagers with autism appeared first on John Cooper.

In this episode I recap what I've called  'series 2'. The last eight interviews with some great people who use applied improvisation (improv, impro...that particular way of thinking and responding, and using mental agility). Beginning with Paul Z. Jackson and culminating  with Pam Victor. There's a wealth of information to be had, on a load of different topics, and I thank all the wonderful guests who gave their time.

• Paul Z. Jackson is one of the founders of Applied Improvisation Network, we talked about his work and digressed on the topic of improvisation on television.
• Mary T. Curtis works in behavioural health, coaching people with issues such as stress and anxiety and the YES AND, accepting and building in therapy.
• Neil Mullarkey didn't need any introduction. We chatted about the business of improv,  story structure, character comedy and how to bring improv into a training session by giving examples. Loads in this one.
• Adam St John Lawrence is a Customer experience consultant, who uses improv to generate ideas, break them and get better questions. Loads of great content here about understanding the world you’re selling to.
• Dan Starkey is an actor appearing in television series such as Doctor Who, and insode No.9. We chat about how a foundation of improv can help an actor approach a role.
• Cathy Salit is CEO of Performance of a Lifetime. Among the many thinks we talk about, Cathy explains her view on 'performative psychology' and how everything we do - our life -  can be seen as a performance.
• Paul Goddard is a coach in agile development and certified Scrum trainer. We touch on the geographical differences in recognition of improv in the US and UK and how improvisation can be applied to agile development
• Finally I interviewed Pam Victor on her 'Zen of Improv'. Her mission it is to make the world a happier place through improv.

Links to All episodes

Bullet points:

• Comedysportz World Championship 2017 in San Jose
• The Applied improvisation conference 2017
• The Liverpool 8th Annual Improvathon

Direct Link

The post Podcast: Series 2 Summary | Question and create appeared first on John Cooper.

Pam is the founder of Happier Valley Comedy whose mission it is to make the world a happier place through improv. She's co-author of "Improvisation at the Speed of Life", with Chicago's TJ & Dave and uses improv to teach personal and professional growth.

She has her own podcast, Conversations with Funny Feminists. We chat about honesty and authenticity in improv, facts versus belief and using improv for personal development to overcome fears and increase learning opportunities.

Bullet Points

• The Zen of Improv
• TJ and Dave.
• Honesty and authenticity
• Improv for personal growth
• "I suck". The evil mind meanie - The voice of unhelpful judgement.
• Beliefs vs Facts
• Susan Messing
• Annoyance Theatre
• IO
• "You can't be brave and not be scared"
• Big Booty, cheering when someone fails, redefining failure as learning.
• 'Can I make a living doing what I love'
• Conversations with funny feminist's - 'Bitches get stuff done'.

Links:
Happier Valley Comedy | Pam Victor on Linkedin

Direct Link

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Paul is a coach in agile development and certified Scrum trainer. He's the founder of training company agilify and his book 'Improving Teams' brings together his work in agile and improv theatre, highlighting the overlaps and connections between the two.

In conversation we talk about the cost of change in the workplace and how similarities in agile and improv allow for efficiency in fields like software development. How adapting is as much about a given project as it is the people involved, and introducing improv for learning. We also touch on the geographical differences in recognition of improv in the US and UK for the  approach agile and improv use to introduce game play as a tool.

"Scrum master". Number 8 in the 10 weirdest job titles in the UK.

Paul's book on Amazon: Improv-ing Agile Teams: Using Constraints To Unlock Creativity

Bullet Points

• An overview of Agile and Scrum.
• The agile manifesto.
• Scrum coaching.
• Traditional software development vs agile.
• Technology, culture and the dilemma of linear planning.
• Seeing what you don't want, to find out what you do.
• Making the cost of change lower.
• The comedy store players / Neil Mullarkey.
• Connecting improv and agile.
• Keith Johnstone.
• Agile conference 2012.
• suffer fromt he same legacy agile and improv.
• Being open to learning and client rapport.
• Fear of failure in computer science.
• There is one truth, one outcome.
• Preparing for change, adapting personally and professionally.
• Slowing down to reflecting on a process and make improvements.
• Scrum masters, putting games in timeboxes.
• Scrum master - The 10 weirdest job titles in the UK - The Independent.
• Relating back to the personal - Paul's book examples.
• Storytelling and the agile product owner.
• Good companies have compelling narratives.
• The Applied Improvisation Network.
• US vs UK, Regular improv and agile approaches are built into the fabric of large tech companies. 10 years.
• The sprint retrospective
• Working with a group and creating in a safe environment for gameplay
• Inspiring others through improv practices
• Pixar, agile and storytelling.

Links:
www.agilify.co.uk | Paul on Linkedin

Direct Link

The post Podcast: Paul Goddard | Improv in Agile development appeared first on John Cooper.

Cathy Salit is CEO of Performance of a Lifetime. She has delivered hundreds of keynote speeches on how using performance in everyday life helps with growth and productivity.

She's the author of Performance Breakthrough' A radical approach to success at work.

In conversation with Cathy we chat about her work at POAL, and how treating life as a great performance can be a strong catalyst for growth and change. How her company has developed over time using performance, improvisation and psychology  to create a safe 'playground' and lead to a diverse range of projects including working with inner city 'cops and kids' to to improving the doctor/patient relationship.

Direct Link (MP3 file)

Links: Performance of a lifetime | Cathy on Linkedin |  Performance Breakthrough

Bullet Points;

• The human side of business strategy
• Performative psychology
• Who we are becoming; tapping into the natural ability to perform from childhood
• Choose to Grown blog
• Cathy the Jazz singer
• The All Stars Project - Cops and kids finding common ground
• Elisabeth Cleaners street school
• Art and business building together
• Form of life -  Ludwig Wittgenstein
• David Nackman, Fred Newman
• Your life story in one minute
• Devising improv for medical residents - improving  the doctor patient relationship.
• Using improv to create a 'playground' to approach emotionally difficult. conversations such as doctor patient DNR (do not resusitate).
• Stephen Nachmanovitch, Free play.
• Emotinal intelligence...why the need to prefix "intelligence"?
• "The Sales Whisperer" - Daniel Pink, author of To Sell is human.
• Bringing performance to the sales pitch.
• Our ability to change is a performance choice.
• We need weird! Doing something new to find change.
• The art of selling, networking and other schmoozy things.
• Don't worry about the sale.

The post Podcast: Cathy Salit | Performance of a lifetime appeared first on John Cooper.

Dan Starkey is an actor appearing in television series such as Doctor Who, inside No.9 and Class Dismissed on CBBC. He's performed with many improv groups and done improv marathons.

I'm a massive Doctor Who fan, and seeing Dan improvise some online shorts for Doctor Who, a big TV production,  made want to delve into how that came about and find out more about Dan's work.

Bullet Points

• improv, Keith Johnstone
• Spontaneity shop, Tom  Salinsky, Debra Francis-White
• Bristol Old Vic
• Be generous to your audience and don't stare at the floor
• Start the scene with silence, creating character
• Getting a reaction - Improvised comedy and Christmas carols
• On the set of Doctor Who, Sleep no More, Bethany Black and Mark Gatiss.
• David Tennant, Peter Capaldi and Russell T. Davis ..and me.
• London improvathon, Lord of thrones
• Liverpool improvathon, Impropriety
• Die Nasty Theatre, Soap-a-thon
• How long can we sustain being present?
• Buskin the magic cobbler
• Class Dismissed.
• Attribution of improvised lines in a scripted piece
• Big Finish Audio

Links: Dan on Twitter | Dan on IMDB

Direct Link

The post Podcast: Dan Starkey | An Actors Foundation appeared first on John Cooper.

Adam is a customer experience consultant with a background in stand up comedy and psychology.

"We are going to break your ideas". Adam uses improv theatre techniques to drive design and innovation and is the co-initiator of the world's largest service innovation event, the 48 hour Global Service Jam.

In this interview we discuss how Adam brings his skills in theatre, marketing and design together with improvisation. Using the 'yes and' in service design,  showing client's how to embrace uncertainty, understand the world they sell to and deliver a better product and service. We touch on the subjects of conformation bias,  big ideas versus cheap experiments and allowing flexibility within structure.

Bullet Points

• The handicraft of emotion
• Treating design prototypes as offers
• The iterative stages of innovation & customer centric innovation
• Removing risk in product design
• Using improv to generate ideas, break them and get better questions
• "We've got this idea, how do we sell it?" - understand the world you're selling to.
• Confirmation bias. Defending our own ideas and getting precious about them...
• ideas generated by a group are my readily accepted.
• Get up and try stuff, get your hands dirty and enjoy the uncertainty
• Micheal Schrage, The Innovators Hypothesis - "You don't need big ideas, you need cheap experiments"
• Service design & design thinking - moving away from a linear approach
• How do you lead a non-linear, improvised approach to design?
• A brief word on agile design & scrum
• What works for you might not work for me; Allowing the flexibility for a great performance.
• Tom Peters - If it's rock and roll you can smell it.
• Global service Jam

Links:
www.workplayexperience.com | Adam on Twitter

Direct Link

The post Podcast: Adam St John Lawrence | Improvisation for Innovation appeared first on John Cooper.

Neil Mullarkey is one of the founding members of the Comedy Store players and probably one of the most recognisable faces in the world of improv.

He has a string of well known movie and television credits appearing with other improv alumini. Just as impressive is the list of companies he's worked with, where he has brought improv theatre techniques into businesses like Barclays and Google.

In this interview we talk about Second City and the early days of the comedy store players. We also dig into Neil's work applying improvisation and performance in his workshops. How he encourages people to enjoy uncertainty and identify offers, and re-frame a 'yes but' into a 'yes and'.

We cover a lot of ground in our conversation:
Structure in improv, the 7 stories.
'Get on with it', introducing improvisation into a workshop.
L Vaughn Spencer, costume disguise in character comedy.
Agile workflow for teams.
VUCA: Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

The show notes for this episode are pretty extensive. Neil has an encyclopedic knowledge of improv and I've tried to capture most of the reference's that came out during our conversation below.

Direct Link (MP3 file)

Links:
www.neilmullarkey.com | Comedy Store Players | L. Vaughn Spencer

A lot of mentions in this show, here a most of them;

• The Comedy Store
• Comedy to go
• Keith Johnstone
• Desmond Jones
• Mike Myers & Kit Hollerbach
• The Second City
• Jim Sweeney, Steve Steen, Justin Case & Peter Weir
• Voila Spolin
• Dan Patterson, Hat Trick Productions
• The Free Association
• Bridie Connell
• Whose Line is it anyway, Australia
• Arthur Smith
• Josie Lawrence
• Robert Poynton, Everything's an offer
• Showstoppers
• David Pearl - Impropera
• Peter Drucker "Culture eats strategy for breakfast"
• Love, Food, Power...The 7 Stories
• Comedia Del arte
• Cariad Lloyd, Ruth Bratt, Joseph Morpurgo, Kirsty Newton
• Mike McShane
• Greg Proops
• Provocative thearpy
• Agile workflow
• Paul Goddard
• VUCA: Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity
• Brenne Brown, The Power of Vunerability

The post Podcast: Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation appeared first on John Cooper.

Mary is a learning and development professional. She trained with Second city and combines her skills to deliver dynamic experiential learning programs.

Mary uses applies improvisation techniques in the area of behavioural health. Working with business in professional development courses and families, she helps people manage issues such as stress, anxiety and addiction to fulfil their peak potential.

When I started the podcast in 2016, Mary was on top of my list of people to talk to. In this interview we talk about how improvisation can be applied to increase  quality of life. By being present, utilising the fundamentals of 'Yes And' to accept and commit to positive change in ourselves and in helping others.

This episode in bullet points

• A.C.T.  - Acceptance Commitment Therapy
•  Tony Robbins - date with destiny
• A brief digression on yoga.

Connect With Mary
www.marytcurtis.com | Mary on Linkedin

Direct Link to MP3

The post Podcast: Mary T. Curtis | Behavioral Health appeared first on John Cooper.

Paul (@Paulzj) is a trainer of trainers and a founding members of the Applied Improvisation Network. He has authored a handful of books including 'The Inspirational Trainer' and '58 and a Half Ways to Improvise in Training'.

"We teach what we need to learn most."

He has a background in comedy and journalism and his early biog entries read like a who's who's of the British comedy scene. Paul has played a large role in bringing improvisation techniques to a wider audience. In our chat we talk about the diversity of his training work and his discovery of improv watching Steven Steen & Jim Sweeney. We also digress on topic of improvisation on television the challenges of making improvisation work on television.

Selected links from this episode

• impro.org.uk
• The Solutions Focus
• Amazon Book link: Impro Learning
• Amazon Book link: 58 1/2 ways to improvise in training
• Steve Steen and Jim Sweeney

Connect with Paul:
Paul on AIN | The Solutions Focus | Paul on Linkedin

Direct Link to MP3

The post Podcast: Paul Z. Jackson | Train the Trainer appeared first on John Cooper.

In Series two of the Bring a Brick Podcast I interview another eight people who use improvisation in their work. Guests include Paul Z Jackson from the AIN, Behavioral health expert Mary T. Curtis, comedy store players founding member Neil Mullarkey and customer experience consultant Adam Lawrence.

Series two is available in February.

What is the Bring a Brick Podcast?

In this podcast I chat to guests from as broad a range of professions as I can find to make new connections. As a curious student, discovering how people teach and benefit from the values of applying improv in different fields.

Play Trailer

The post More Yes. More and. Series 2 available soon. appeared first on John Cooper.

A summary of the first eight podcasts.

I've interviewed a pretty board range to people so far and the interest and feedback has been great. The tone has shifted from episode to episode, depending on the guest and subject matter, some have been fun, some more serious, and that I think is a good thing.

If you've been listening to Bring a Brick, I'd urge you leave a review on itunes or Stitcher. There's no funding for publicity, so it's all word of mouth and fingers on keyboards.  What do you want to hear?

Why the podcast?

I'm am naturally quite curious, and I wanted to do a podcast to connect and improve. I recently watched Ted talk from Susan Greenfield: Technology & the human mind, and how social media is reducing out attention span, how screens are effecting the quality of our interactions, so by doing a podcast I'd like to think I'm harnessing the technology for the forces of good!

In series 2 I'll in interviewing another 8 people who use improvisation in their work and play.

John

Direct download

The post Podcast: Series 1 Summary | To connect and improve. appeared first on John Cooper.

Richard is the founder of Making Presentations, where he trains and consults on advanced presentation skills.

His work is underpinned by the principles of Improv, in terms of training and how improv principles help us be better presenters.

He worked for Procter & Gamble for 17 years, starting in sales. He moved into consumer and shopper research, and then to global learning & development and knowledge systems. The regular theme throughout was the need to know what motivates people to take notice, to engage with information, and then do something with it. Presentation skills.

We chat about facilitation techniques and 'how to do the how' in improv training. Richard discusses how people in a company like P&G respond to “Improv” in training. Richard also briefly touches on Daniel Kahneman’s principles in behavioral sciences and links this across to how you engage an audience and open them up to new ideas.

He works with Paul Z Jackson from the Applied Improvisation network, training Advanced Presentation Skills.

Bullet Points

• “Yes...and”, pausing to reflect in the space between words.
•  Seeing the process and having fun.
•  It's not about pretending to be a penguin.

Links

www.makingpresentations.co.uk

Direct LinkThe Bring a Brick podcast interviews people from all over the world who use improvisation and applied improvisation in their work. That can be anything from business training to games development, design and behavioral health. It’s a broad and constantly developing field. The presenter and host takes the role of the curious student, learning how people teach and benefit from the unique values of applying improv.

The post Podcast: Richard Pascoe | Presentation skills and Facilitation appeared first on John Cooper.

The importance of having fun

Marijn began using improvisation during his time as a nurse working with PTSD sufferers. There he learned to use improv techniques to bring much needed fun into the lives of people using the clinic.
He is now part of improbattle.nl working with people from all ages and background and uses improv theatre to bring them together.

In this talk Marijn discusses his experiences in the clinic and it's pretty heavy stuff in places. Listeners note; the interview touches on the subjects of suicide and rape, but is also very positive, shining a light on Marijns' bold approach to his work.

Links:

• improbattle.nl
• www.improphondo.nl
• Marijn on linkedin

Direct Link

The post Podcast: Marijn Vissers | Social Inclusion appeared first on John Cooper.

Creativity is a state of mind...

Dominic is a London based artist and inventor who create thought provoking works with humour. In his own words he works “between the worlds of art, design, craft and technology to create innovative and thought provoking objects”.

There's a lot of 'yes and' in Dominic's work and I was keen to get him on the show to discover what parallels there may be between the creative process of inventing and that of improvisation. This is a slightly tangential interview with regard to improv, but we cover a lot of familiar ground in terms of thought processes.

Bullet Points

• Speed Creating
• Charlie Holmes
• Children don't know what's impossible
• Lost and found office of oddities

Links:

• DominicWilcox.com
• Little inventors
• Variations on Normal
• Fablab Sunderland
• Office of Odd

Direct link.

The post Podcast: Dominic Wilcox | Creativity and Invention appeared first on John Cooper.

Sam is a member of the Renegade Saints improv troupe. He's also part of the Csz Worldwide diversity and inclusion committee and works for the United Nations.

Sam took time out to chat about the current state of improv in Geneva, what it's like to perform in a multilingual city and how he almost left the world of improv, he wants to make the world a better place, so it's a good job he didn't. Vote for Sam!

Bullet Points:

• The improv scene in Geneva
• Social diversity and inclusion
• Making the world a better place
• Improvising female characters in French

Direct Link

Links: www.cszworldwide.com | The Applied Improvisation Network | Sam's Linkedin Profile

The post Podcast: Sam Al-Hamdani | Diversity and Inclusion appeared first on John Cooper.

Plan as much as you can, then prepare to throw the plan overboard.

Patrick has worked in the improv industry for over thirty years. In this interview we chat about early days of his career, taking improv training into Silicon Valley,  the changes he's observed in the industry and how he prepares for a training event.

He's the owner of ComedySportz Portland, Oregon and has led workshops for over 500 organizations including Apple and Nike. (Pronounced 'Ni-key, not 'Nike as I say in the podcast).

Bullet Points:

• Prepare lots, but roll with it.
• Pitching; start the conversation again.
• This bear will kill people - when to walk away.

www.portlandcomedy.com | Patrick on Linkedin

Direct download

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In this we interview with Jill Hatcher we chat about the similarities between how improvisers and designer think in order to solve problems and building on ideas. We also digress into comic-book jams and the process if making graphic art. 12.19 Micheal Scott, the office. Strathclyde, Scotland

Gillian Hatcher (@Gillreads)is a Research Associate in the department of Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management (DMEM) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

Bullet points:

• Using 'yes and' to build ideas in product design.
• Build a machine
• Micheal Scott improv

The University of Strathclyde | Barry Kudrowitz study (MIT)

Comic Artist and Illustrator | Gillian's comics | Direct Download

The post Podcast: Gillian Hatcher | Improv in Design (and art) appeared first on John Cooper.

"Story is the way our brain makes meaning of the world."

In this interview with Kat Koppett we discuss her career origins in theatre and how she went back into the classroom to explore the qualities of improvisation as a tool for training. We also talk about improv in different cultures, and get a great viewpoint of the historical development of the improv scene in the US. New York, USA.

Kat (@kopco) is head of Koppett.com, a company specialising in the use of theatre, improv and storytelling techniques to enhance individual and group performance.

Bullet points:

• Connecting to yourself and 'the practice of living'
• Cultural differences
• Raising the bar of training in the improv training field

www.koppett.com

Direct download

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Leading on your feet.

In this interview, I chat to coach and author Andrew Tarvin about teaching improv in business, introverts and extroverts and life on the road. I'm really grateful to Andrew for agreeing to be the first interviewee for the Bring a Brick podcast, we cover a broad range of subjects. Andrew (@HumorThatWorks) is an award-winning speaker and trainer. His company, Humor That Works teaches individuals and organisations how to use humor to be more effective, and his book was released recently, available on amazon here: Humor That Works: 501 Ways to Use Humor to Beat Stress, Increase Productivity, and Have Fun at Work

Listen to this episode on iTunes
Listen to this episode on Stitcher

Bullet points;

• Introverts and Extroverts, Myers Briggs test
• Psychological safety
• Life on the road
• Improv for dogs
• www.humorthatworks.com

Direct download

The post Podcast: Drew Tarvin | Improv in Business appeared first on John Cooper.

A word from the host.

Hi, I'm John Cooper; stand up comic, improviser and designer. I use improv and play to teach and discover in pretty much everything I do. I've taught workshops for the BBC New Comedy Awards and contributed to a TV show called 'The Speaker'. I've been on the set of the real TARDIS and was briefly the 'face' of North West and Lancashire Life magazine, despite being from the North East. I started the Bring a Brick podcast in September 2016 out of a curiosity to discover how trainers and professionals use the 'how' of improvisation.

To contact the show email info@rocketsteps.co.uk or tweet me at @JohnCooper_uk

Contact John | Linkedin

Credits

All podcast sound and stings by Dave Depper using creative commons licensing.

Presenting skills workshops Manchester. Stand Up comedy workshops Manchester. Comedy Workshops Manchester

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