Kelsie Huff is one of Chicago's hottest comedians. She has studied at iO Chicago and Second City and she teaches the popular Feminine Comique, which is a stand-up class geared towards woman. Jimmy talked her at this year's Chicago Women's Funny Festival about how she uses improv in her stand-up, how to make the transition from storytelling to stand-up, and how she has been able to transform pain into comedy.
Jason Winer is a director, an Emmy-award wining producer, and writer. He has directed and produced such hit sitcoms at Modern Family, Life in Pieces and The Crazy Ones. Jason studied at iO Chicago back in the late '90s and was part of the team The Tribe. Jimmy talked to him about learning to improvise at young age thanks to his supportive parents, his initial reaction to Modern Family, and he how he works with actors.
Nia Vardalos is an actress, screenwriter and director, best known for her critically acclaimed films My Big Fat Greek Wedding I and II. Jimmy talks to her about how she went from working in the box office at Second City to getting hired as actor, using improv to write her screenplays and the importance of following your heart.
Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzutto are masters of musical improv, touring around the world doing their critically acclaimed two-person musical improvisation show: HERE. Jimmy sat down with the recently married couple and talked them about how they first met, the power of musical improv, and why they like to make their audience cry as well as laugh.
Ed Furman is a writer, actor and improviser who has performed in three Second City revues and co-written Chicago's longest running musical Co-ed Prison Sluts at The Annoyance Theater. He's also written a sketch project for NBC, two children's plays and a best selling book. Jimmy sat down with Ed and talked to him about starting out at the Annoyance, how he developed his unique comedic voice and not worrying about getting the laughs when he improvises.
Miles Stroth is the founder of the Pack Theater in Los Angeles. He is also an incredible improviser, teacher and director who was part of the legendary improv group The Family at iO Chicago in the '90s. Jimmy talked to him at his theater in Los Angeles about being a hit by car, what he's learned from other improvisers that makes him so good, and how the UCB Cagematch changed how he improvises.
Hello from the Magic Tavern is a fully improvised comedy podcast that's exploding in popularity. In this episode, Jimmy sits down with creators Arnie Niekamp, Adal Rifai and Matt Young at the Chicago Improv Festival to talk to them about how they all met, how they developed great chemistry, and how they go about creating their magic world.
Kevin Nealon was on Saturday Night Live for nine seasons, and was best known for his characters Mr. Subliminal, Hanz and Franz with Dana Carvey and being the host of Weekend Update. Jimmy talks him about why he didn't think he'd ever get hired by SNL, how having a full life is helpful in a career in comedy, and the importance of being original.
Pete Gardner plays Darryl Whitefeather on the hit CW sitcom My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Jimmy sat down and talked with him about why he moved to Chicago in the '90s to study improv, the importance of taking acting classes even when you are on hit sitcom, and his relationship with his father.
Kate Flannery is best known for playing Meredith on the NBC series "The Office." She is also part of the comedy lounge act The Lampshades and was a member of Second City Touring Company and The Annoyance Theater in Chicago. Jimmy talked to her about what is like to be on a hit sitcom, her days in Chicago and why she still keeps a costume change in her car.
Pat Finn is a member of Beer, Shark Mice who has appeared in such sitcoms as Seinfeld, Friends, The Drew Carey Show, and Curb Your Enthusiasm just to name a few. He has also done a ton of national commercials. Jimmy sat down with him to talk about his late friend Chris Farley, how he developed his physical style of improvising and what it was like to work on Seinfeld.
John Lehr and Nancy Hower create and produce sitcoms that are improvised, such as Ten Items or Less for TBS and Quick Draw for Hulu. John improvised with ED in Chicago in the late '90s. Nancy studied acting Juliard and fronted a rock band. Jimmy sits down with them to talk about why they like improvising their TV shows, how they settle creative differences, and opening for Meat Loaf.
Tim Kazurinsky is an actor who was on Saturday Night Live from 1980-84 and is best remembered as Carl Sweetchuck in the Police Academy films. He is also a screenwriter who co-wrote About Last Night. Jimmy sat down with him to talk about why he started taking improv classes at The Second City, how he got on SNL and making his Broadway debut last year in An Act of God with Jim Parsons.
Jon Favreau is a well-known writer, actor and director who has directed such films as Iron Man 1 and 2, Elf, Made, and Chef, just to name a few. He's also the director of Walt Disney's The Jungle Book, which comes out April 15. Jimmy sat down with him to discuss his comedy days in Chicago, what tools he uses from his improv training to write his films, and working with Bill Murray on The Jungle Book.
Cecily Strong is a cast member on SNL and she's in four new movies coming to theaters this spring and summer, including Ghostbusters, The Bronze, The Meddler and The Boss. Jimmy talks to her about being a ham when she was younger, why studying in Chicago was important to her career, and why she almost didn't audition for SNL.
Kristy and Jethro Nolan are the co-founders of The Arcade Comedy Theater in Pittsburgh. They are incredibly accomplished improvisers and teachers who have performed at iO-Chicago and Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and taught at the Second City. Jimmy talks to then how they met in improv, why the moved from LA to Pittsburgh, and how they have adjusted to teaching improv in a smaller market.
Kate James is an actor, improviser and writer who is best known as one of the members of the hilarious sketch comedy group Schadenfreude and from the viral video Drunk Cubs Fan. She has also written on the Jeff Award-winning The Second City Guide to the Opera. We talk to her about why most of siblings went into the arts, what it takes to be part of a successful sketch group, and the secret to having your video go viral.
Natasha Rothwell is a former writer for Saturday Night Live who is now one of the stars of the new comedy sketch show "Characters," which debuts on Netflix March 11. We talk to her about training at the People's Improv Theater and UCB in New York, her work ethic, how she got hired by SNL and her new show.
In this episode of Improv Nerd, Jimmy moderates a panel discussion on the issue of sexual harassment in improv, which has become a very heated discussion lately throughout the improv community. On the panel is improv teacher Susan Messing, improvisers Julia Weiss and Laura Bowers, former attorney and corporate trainer Ben Capraro and therapist Nadia Greenspan. This episode was taped on Feb. 18 at Green Shirt Studio in Chicago.
Nora Dunn was a cast member on Saturday Night Live form 1985-1990. She has appeared in the movies Working Girl, Three Kings and Pineapple Express. Jimmy sat down with her to talk to her about her years on SNL, how she comes up with her characters and why she moved back to Chicago after living LA.
For this special compilation episode we have put together some of our favorite moments from our guests talking about a red hot topic -- diversity in comedy. Listen to Key & Peele, Chris Redd, Puntam Patel, Ali Farahnakian, and Edgar Blackmon talk about how they discuss race in comedy, avoid stereotypes and more.
The Defiant Thomas Brothers (Paul Thomas and Seth Thomas) is a brilliant two-person sketch group out of Chicago. After splitting up 9 years ago, they have gotten back together and now have an open run at The Second City Training Center. Jimmy sat down with them at this year's Chicago's Skectchfest and talked to them about getting back together, how audiences have changed, and race in comedy. You are going to love this episode!
Mick Napier is the founder and artistic director of the acclaimed Annoyance Theater in Chicago, an artistic consultant at Second City and the author of the new book, Behind The Scenes: Improvising Long Form. Jimmy sat down with him to talk about some of the concepts in the book such as giving yourself permission to be funny, how to appeal to a non-improv audience and how to get in the right frame of mind when improvising.
Shana Merlin is the owner and founder of Merlin Works in Austin, TX. She is a well-respected improviser and teacher with quite a following. In this lively episode recorded at the Institution Theater in Austin, Jimmy talks to her about starting to teach improv when she was only 22, her take on making mistakes in improv, and how having a baby can affect the business of running an improv theater.
Asaf Ronen is the educational director at The Institution Theater in Austin, TX, and author of Directing Improv. He has been involved in improv since 1990 and has improvised and taught all over the world. In this episode, which was recorded at The Institution Theater, Jimmy talks to him about growing up as a latch-key kid, why he moved from New York to Austin, and how teaching improv helps with depression.
Geoffrey Baer is a popular host, producer and writer at Chicago's public television station, WTTW. In this interview, Jimmy talks to Geoffrey about his theater background, teaching improvisation at the Players Workshop of the Second City, and his grandmother's prediction for his career.
Matt Higbee is well-respected teacher and improviser at iO-Chicago with a huge following. He talks to Jimmy about the hard part of being on the Harold Commission, which decides which teams get to play and which teams are broken up; being bounced around and cut from teams when he started out; and why it's important to study one method of improvisation at a time.
Join Jimmy and his trusted staff -- Producer Dan Schiffmacher, Director Sam Bowers and Head of the Interns Lauren Carrane -- as they sit down to discuss their favorite episodes of Improv Nerd from the past year.
Adam McKay is a writer and director of such comedies as Anchorman, Taladaga Nights, Step Brothers and more. He has just released his latest film, The Big Short. Jimmy sat down and talked to him about improvising in Chicago back in the '90s, what he learned from being head writer on SNL, and how improvises when he directs his films.
Colt Cabana is an internationally known professional wrestler and host of the super popular podcast The Art of Wrestling. Jimmy talks to Colt about his improv and comedy back ground, the comparison between wrestling and improv, and the importance of promoting yourself.
