On this 7th episode of For The Love Of Improv, we talk with Jason Sarna about sketch comedy and how it relates to improv. Jason studied at Second City, IO and The Annoyance. Most recently, he taught a year-long sketch course at Reno Improv which culminated in the 60-minute sketch show, Herd Immunity. We discuss the process of writing a sketch, character creation, heightening and much more! Support the show

For The Love of Improv

Jason Sarna | Sketch Comedy

Courtney offers some tools and tricks to use on  stage when a scene falls flat, gets stuck in negotiation or is just plain boring.  We also discuss how to know when to add something or when it’s a good idea to just leave a scene alone. When one of us royally messes up an improv game (what? there are no mistakes in improv, I say!), we talk about the very fundamental improv concept of “listen and respond” and turn the clock back to 1974 when John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd became a strong improv duo.   We hope you can join us on our 6th episode of “For The Love Of Improv”!Support the show

Courtney Ropp | Finding What The Scene Needs

Most improvisers start by learning fundamentals through short form games. It is where we can quickly fall in love with the sport of improv and find our communities.  In this episode, we talk with Aurora Boles, a co-founder at Reno Improv who also teaches their short form beginner class. We chat about the evolution of short-form into professional troops and its relationship to long-form. Today's game explores heightening scenes and is a clear example of the this concept throughout the show. In our history segment, we will chat about The Harold as it forces skills that help us improve, much like short form. Today's concept is Organic Transformation. Listen to learn how to use this to enhance your improv confidence. Support the show

Aurora Boles | Short Form & Beginner Improv

The basics of storytelling inherent in every player get to the root of how long-form improv magic works. Tim Mahoney talks about the 8-step process that makes narrative improv come to life. In this episode we talk with Tim about narrative improv, secondary characters, Theatre Sports, and much, much, much, much, much more. (Let’s just say, Tim is never at a loss for words and that’s why we love having him on our podcast!).Tim Mahoney is an improv coach and teacher at Reno Improv. He would rather be doing improv than almost anything else (who wouldn’t?), so you’ll see that beautiful, bearded face consistently around the improv scene, at conventions, or anything improv-related.  Support the show

Tim Mahoney | Narrative Improv

We all have to deal with complex emotions regarding loss and tough situations at some point in our lives.  In this episode, we talk with Justin Kavanagh about how we can use improv off-stage to process those feelings and work through the grief and trauma life throws at us. Today's game explores how we listen to and respond to emotions on stage. In our history segment, we will chat about Del Close, and how he views the process of emotional connection with and through the audience. Today's concept is playing to the top of your intelligence - learning how to play low-status characters intelligently and with humanity. This episode is dedicated to Brad Vance - our friend and a fellow player who left life's stage all too early. We miss you! Support the show

Justin Kavanagh | Processing Grief & Trauma

On August 9th, we discuss character building. We delve deep into things like building a platform and how to use emotion and physicality to create a character. Listen as our guest, Taylor Riedeman, demonstrates some of her quirky and out-of-the-box characters and explains how she conceptualizes them. Our history segment presents the story of the birth of Saturday Night Live (yup, improvisers started that sh*t!) along with a Gilda Radner quote that brings out our inner child.  Finally, we have a special improv game in store for you that might be a tad naughty (how’s that for a teaser?!).Support the show

Taylor Riedeman | Character Building

In this episode, we go deep talking about our community and the value of having a strong one. We talk about why loving the people you play with is so important, even if they are not your favorite folks to begin with. We talk about the place of competition in improv, how you can support your fellow players, and how that affects us all on-stage. We will get into a bit of history, introducing you to Viola Spolin, the fore-mother of improv in the US. We will talk about beats and how to recognize them as well as what it means to be a good player off-stage. Our guest, Chris Thigpen, is an amazing improviser who plays on two house teams at the Reno Improv, Ghost Team and All Things Reconsidered. As a natural creative, Chris uses improv as a place to express his talents as an actor and writer. As a businessman, Chris owns his own successful marketing agency, Ace Studios. He is also a filmmaker, photographer, and screenwriter. Support the show

Chris Thigpen | Community & Impact

Let's talk about why we love improv! In this podcast, expect to hear from some amazing improvisers who contribute to improv in unique and intelligent ways - to help you understand your own style. Grow with us as we explore improv games, history, philosophy, and techniques -- all For The Love Of Improv. When it comes down to it, we are all just adults playing pretend. We are having fun and creatively engaging because it feels good. This podcast supports and lifts up our local and extended improv communities as we all try to become better improvisers and human beings.

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For The Love of Improv

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