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Cameron was a guest on SiriusXM’s Canada Talks Speak Easy with Carla Collins yesterday.

While he was waiting to be interviewed, he noticed another man sitting alone. Cameron introduced himself and asked the man, whose name was Scott, what he was there to talk about.

“Oh, I’m with Commander Hadfield,” Scott replied, indicating the studio.

Cameron’s eyes widened.

“You mean I’ve gotta follow him?”

Screen Shot 2013-10-25 at 10.21.05 AM

They laughed, and Scott asked what Cameron did. He explained that he was there to talk about improv, and how it helped him overcome his anxiety.

They chatted for several minutes, and Cameron forgot all about any nerves he might have had. When the studio door opened, Scott told Cameron, “You’ve got to meet Chris!”

As Cameron told me this story, he said, “The ‘old me’ would have sat by myself, concentrating on not being nervous. Instead I was focused on what was happening now. Laughing with Scott was so much better than focusing inward.”

(Improv analogy, anyone?)

If you’d like to learn more about improv for anxiety (and being here now), check out Cameron’s new website at playwithfireimprov.com.

Check out this seriously funny parody trailer for The 40-Year-Old Virgin, inspired by the one that started it all for The Shining. Steve Carell never seemed so scary.

Click below to watch.

In this beautiful TED Talk from Rebecca Northan, she talks about how improv teachings mirror what we do when we’re in love.

 

“Papa, why don’t we have free speech?”

“Because one comedian ruined it for all of us.”

– Rob Ariss Hills and Mike Riverso

 

“In the KGB we make the deals. What can you do for us?”

“Well, at my last job I was really good at consolidating mortgages.”

– Rob Ariss Hills and Gordon Robb

“It’s so simple. Like Sudoko on Mondays.”

– Doug Shepherd

“I didn’t know you were here, Mr Bick.”

“I’m everywhere. In many ways, Bicks Pickles are ubiquitous.”

– Sandy Jobin-Bevans and Dave Pearce

Photo © Jeremy Voltz

Photo © Jeremy Voltz

Love, love, love this reminiscence/meditation/love letter to improv by Todd Stashwick.

(Click on image below to read.)

Image © Todd Stashwick

Image © Todd Stashwick

 

This video is like crack for me. No matter how many times I see it, I’m in awe of just how much Jon Hamm can wring out of a single syllable.

A great reminder that it’s emotion, not words, that matter.

Click below to watch.

 

It’s not called a “comedy of perfects.”

Perfection is boring.

Stop trying to get it right.

Start making more mistakes.

 

We stumbled across this clip of Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello performing at the last Stella show.

You ain’t seen nothin’ till you’ve seen The Devil Went Down To Georgia played on the bassoon.

Whether you’re in New York, LA, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal or – let’s face it – any city with a comedy scene, it’s incredibly hard for theatre owners just to break even.

But lately there’ve been mutterings from comedians who say UCBeast (UCB’s stand-up club in New York), should pay performers.

Now, the stand-up culture is, and always has been, different from improv. But Chris Gethard makes some pretty good points about the payment-vs-non-payment thing on his tumblr.

This week, Matt Besser made a special episode of his Improv4Humans podcast called “Ask The UCB” where he and Ian Roberts set the record straight.

When you hear how much time, energy, and yes, money they’ve poured into all the different UCB stages (including UCBComedy.com, from which they’ve never profited), you’re guaranteed to have a new respect for everything they’ve done.

“I guess the reason I never talk about it in interviews is it sounds tacky. And when I talk about it I don’t wanna…I don’t wanna come off bitter and like, ‘Poor me,’ like maybe we’re starting to sound by this; having to pay those taxes.

But I guess it is something people should know, that the UCB Four, in 15 years since the theatre’s been open, we have never taken any money.”

– Matt Besser, from Improv4Humans 

(Click the link above or on the image below to hear the whole episode)

Thanks UCB, for giving us a space to play.

Thanks UCB, for giving thousands a place to play.

Love this idea:

nicclee:

chrisgriswold:

   1. Get sickeningly good at improv.
2. Be refreshingly approachable and friendly.

Examples: John Murray, D’Arcy Carden, Charlie Todd, Lydia Hensler, Erik Tanouye, Chelsea Clarke.

Reblog and add names.

Yes, and: Kevin Mullaney, Molly Lloyd, Susan Messing, Christina Gausas, Mick Napier, Tara DeFrancisco, Dina Facklis, Jet Eveleth, Ari Voukydis, Don Fanelli, Terry Withers, Silvija Ozols, Rick Andrews, Dan Hodapp, Brandon Scott Jones, Christian Capozzoli, Kirk Damato, Leslie Meisel, Michael Kayne, Joe Bill…I can keep going…

Yes, and Betsy Stover, Neil Casey, Armando Diaz, Megan Grey, Keith Huang, Chris Grace, Ashley Ward, Kurt Braunohler, Keisha Zollar, Pam Murphy, Michael Martin, Mike Still, Amey Goerlich… keep going…

Source: chrisgriswold
We say:
Yes, and TJ Jagodowski, David Pasquesi, David Razowsky, Greg Hess, Todd Stashwick, Mark Meer, Amy Shostak, Anand Rajaram, Rob Norman, Adam Cawley, Jason DeRosse, Alice Moran, Rob Baker, Alastair Forbes, Pat Smith, Dale Boyer, Alex Tindal, Carmine Lucarelli, Cameron Algie, Isaac Kessler, Kevin Whalen, Paloma Nunez, Devon Hyland, Conor Bradbury, Julian Frid, Seann Murray, Matt Folliott, Jan Caruana, Kurt Smeaton, Reid Janisse, Paul Bates, Nigel Downer, James Gangl, Marcel St Pierre, Nug Nahrgang, Sean Tabares, Caitlin Howden, Kayla Lorrette, Ashley Comeau, Connor Thompson…