Bring a Brick – Bring a Brick Podcast – Improv at

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.… Listen Now The post Jim Ansaldo – Teaching improvisation to teenagers with autism appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.

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.… Listen Now The post Series 2 Summary | Question and create appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.

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. … Listen Now The post Pam Victor | The Zen of Improv appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.

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. … Continue Reading The post Podcast: Pam Victor | The Zen of Improv appeared first on John Cooper, Comedian and improviser.

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. … Continue Reading The post Pam Victor | The Zen of Improv appeared first on Rocket Steps. The art of communication..

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. … Listen Now The post Paul Goddard | Improv in Agile development appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.

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.… Continue Reading The post Podcast: Paul Goddard | Improv in Agile development appeared first on John Cooper, Comedian and improviser.

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.… Continue Reading The post Paul Goddard | Improv in Agile development appeared first on Rocket Steps. The art of communication..

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.… Listen Now The post Cathy Salit | Performance of a lifetime appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.

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.… Continue Reading The post Podcast: Cathy Salit | Performance of a lifetime appeared first on John Cooper, Comedian and improviser.

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.… Continue Reading The post Cathy Salit | Performance of a lifetime appeared first on Rocket Steps. The art of communication..

Dan Starky is an actor appearing in television series such as Doctor Who, inside No9 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.… Listen Now The post Dan Starkey | An Actors Foundation appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.

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. https://www.johncooper.org.uk/podcasts/DanStarkey-BABpodcast.mp3 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. … Continue Reading The post Podcast: Dan Starkey | An Actors Foundation appeared first on John Cooper, Comedian and improviser.

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. http://rocketsteps.co.uk/podcasts/DanStarkey-BABpodcast.mp3 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. … Continue Reading The post Dan Starkey | An Actors Foundation appeared first on Rocket Steps. The art of communication..

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.… Continue Reading The post Podcast: Adam St John Lawrence | Improvisation for Innovation appeared first on John Cooper, Comedian and improviser.

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.… Continue Reading The post Adam St John Lawrence | Improvisation for Innovation appeared first on Rocket Steps. The art of communication..

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.… Listen Now The post Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation appeared first on Bring a Brick Podcast - Improv at work and play.

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’.… Continue Reading The post Podcast: Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation appeared first on John Cooper, Comedian and improviser.

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’.… Continue Reading The post Neil Mullarkey | The Business of Improvisation appeared first on Rocket Steps. The art of communication..

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.… Continue Reading The post Podcast: Mary T. Curtis | Behavioral Health appeared first on John Cooper, Comedian and improviser.