Yes But Why Podcast

This week on Yes But Why, I talk to improviser, Chris Griswold.Chris Griswold is the founder and Academic Director of Thunderbolt Comedy.Having taught improv since 1999, Chris is currently one of the world’s most prolific improv instructors, coaching more than 800 hours in 2014 alone. Chris is a writer and actor, appearing in commercials for Android and the Brother P-Touch Label Maker, as well as PSAs for the United Nation’s #HeForShe program, and Project #UROK.Originally self-taught through weekly Pittsburgh improv jams, Chris has since trained with Upright Citizens Brigade, The PIT, Magnet Theater, The Annoyance Theatre, and Arcade Comedy Theater. Chris is now supporting the improv community in the San Francisco Bay area with Thunderbolt Comedy. They also teach private workshops for business and conferences on topics such as branding, team-building, and creativity training.I was absolutely enchanted by Chris, as I’m sure you will all be as well. In our conversation, we discussed how Chris immersed themselve

This week on Yes But Why, I talk to comedy writer and novelist, Riley E. Smith. Riley E. Smith writes and reads everything, with a specialty in smart-talking antiheroes and strong-willed women across genres. She's taught and performed standup comedy, sketch comedy, and improv on two continents. Riley was brought up in Arizona but she currently lives in Southern California with her helpful editor/boyfriend, where she teaches improv and writes books. Riley also runs a small business helping burgeoning artists find their creativity called the MakeGood Creative Network. In our conversation, Riley told me how she hustled poker as a kid. Listen in for her story of writing and performing hilarious parodies in school. As a born director, the other kids would often ask Riley what games they should play on the playground. Riley, being brave and confident, didn’t blink an eye at the leadership position. She likes to take risks like the time when she was asked to direct a musical and she did it without ever having done

This week on Yes But Why, I connected with creative mentor and entrepreneur, Bria Landry. Currently based in the Houston area, Bria Landry is a theater teacher, director, and creative mentor. Her company, Off The Wall Media and Entertainment, started as a small town youth theater and has since grown into Houston's must have media source.Over the course of more than 30 years, Bria Landry has gained professional experience both on and off the stage. Theatre is the foundation for her creative expression, and she created Off the Wall as a refuge for creative kids like herself. Bria and her company produce shows online and in person. Through avenues such as her weekly talk show OTW Nights Live, her children's network OTW Kids, and her various live events and productions, Bria Landry creates opportunities for her creative tribe to express themselves and share their story. Bria also founded OTW Work and Play Café, which served as a creative space and hub for budding entrepreneurs and artists. In our conversation, we

This week on Yes But Why, I had the pleasure of chatting with UK-based improviser/director/teacher, Rhiannon Jenkins. Rhiannon Jenkins is an actor, an improviser, a singer, a facilitator, a teacher, and a director. During lockdown, Rhiannon directed The Love Circle, Loose Seuss, and Between the Lines at the Hideout Theatre, and continues to teach online. She performed in Scene and Unseen by Across the Pond as part of The World of Improv, with Eggplant Improv at District Queer Comedy Festival, in A Culinary Journey at The Nursery Theatre, and in A Holly Jolly Journey for The Hideout Theatre. Rhiannon recently performed and taught several workshops at the Boom Chicago comedy festival. She has also recently performed at Vancouver Improv Festival and at ImprovFest Ireland. She hosts a virtual Death Cafe for Performers, and recently completed Level One End of Life Doula Training with Doulagivers. She will be attending SWIMP and Improfest Sweden as a teacher and performer, with Living. Dying. Dead.In our conversati

This week on Yes But Why, I chatted with Austin actor/writer, Jonathan Flanders. Jonathan Flanders is an award winning actor and writer. Acting professionally for over a decade, he is signed with Collier Talent Agency in the Southeast market and Bankston Talent out of the New Mexico and LA markets. He studies his acting craft under acting coach. Paula Russell. Jonathan helped create and perform the Unemployed Wine Guy, as seen on TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram. He can be seen soon on HBO's Love and Death as Officer Stimson. In our conversation, Jonathan paid homage to his beloved acting coach, Paula Russell. We talked about all the benefits he has reaped from acting classes with her, from finding the moment to getting in touch with emotions. We talked about Jonathan’s innate connection to performing. He told me the story of five year old Jonathan improvising a scene with his bowl and utensils. And yet, it wasn’t until after Jonathan survived major surgery that he decided to commit himself to a career in actin

This week on Yes But Why, listen in as I chat with improviser, instructor and communicator, Whit Shiller. Based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Whit Shiller began his 20+ year career in improv at ComedySportz. He later co-founded Fish Sticks Comedy in 2007 and has been performing and producing shows with his company ever since. Fish Sticks Comedy connected with improv scenes all over the country and now has local troupes in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and Milwaukee. The cities perform separately or as one large national team. Through Fish Sticks Comedy, Whit and his team seek to honor and uplift their audiences and use improv as a tool for authentic, positive connection. This curiosity about improv led him to develop and host the Improv Comedy Connection podcast, a show which seeks to explore how to connect more deeply with our fellow players as well as our audiences through humorous communication.In our conversation, Whit and I talk a lot about making connections – with friends, with businesses, and with audienc

In this episode of Yes But Why, I speak with Actor, Theatre Director, and Improviser, Emma Bird. Based out of Liverpool, UK, Emma Bird began her acting career in 1990 featuring in a lead role alongside Pete Postlethwaite, in the BBC film, Needle. While being represented by Independent Talent agency in London, she began a successful career in television, most notably as series regular Maxine Price in Casualty (1992). Emma has been featured in the films, Seventeen (with Rachel Weisz, 1996) and The Governess (with Minnie Driver, 1997) among others. Notable theatre work includes The Good Hope (The Royal National Theatre and UK tour), David Mamet’s Oleanna (Norwich Playhouse), and Ariel Dorfman’s Death & the Maiden (Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool). Emma is also a celebrated theater director that has directed critically acclaimed productions at Brighton, Manchester and Liverpool Fringe Festivals. Emma began improvising in 2007 and has since trained with leading improv professionals with a broad range of styles

This week on Yes But Why, I laughed a lot with Omaha improv leader, Dylan Oakes Rohde. Dylan Oakes Rohde is the Founder of The Backline Comedy Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as the Founder of the Omaha Comedy Festival. Dylan has taught and performed at improv schools and festivals in over 20 major US cities and he has taught and performed in Australia, Canada, Netherlands, and Taiwan.In our conversation, Dylan tells me about growing up a wild and mischievous kid. After a teacher helped him find direction, he got deeply involved in writing and acting. While Dylan originally moved to Hollywood seeking writing and acting opportunities, it was work as a video editor that truly opened doors for him. After editing Matt Besser’s demo reel, Dylan was introduced to the improv scene of Los Angeles. Like so many of us, he jumped in headfirst and ended up taking classes at both UCB(LA) and iO West. But when Dylan’s heart told him he wanted to teach, LA was already saturated with teachers. So he went back to his coll

This week on Yes But Why, I speak with performer and arts organizer, Anisha Pucadyil. Anisha Pucadyil is an Improviser and Playback theatre performance artist with citylamps and True Heart Theatre. Anisha’s earliest connection to the Arts was through school choir and college theater. Inspired by her mother, Anisha is committed to infusing the Arts into organizations for children and young adults. She has been working toward that goal for over a decade. It wasn’t until the pandemic pushed the Arts online that she found improv and playback theater. Originally from India, Anisha is now currently transitioning her artistic life to her new home in the UK. She is part of Citylamps playback theatre in Bangalore as part of their zoomprov team; and she performs with True Heart Theatre, a playback theater in London. In our chat, Anisha tells me about how her mother taught her to connect with culture and history through the Arts. She talks about her mom’s passion for theater and examining “how your heritage affects you.

This week on Yes But Why, listen in as I interview filmmaker and improv instructor, Brandon Reich. Texas native Brandon Reich is an independent filmmaker as well as a teacher of Sketch & Improv at the Fallout Comedy Theater in Austin, Texas. Brandon is a five time "top ten finalist" for Austin’s 48hr Film Project. He previously worked for and performed at the world-renowned comedy theater, The Second City, in Chicago. Brandon also recently made his first feature film, The Bob Zula, now available on Amazon.In our chat, Brandon shares his unique path through film school, starting with technical training at New York Film Academy and then onto Columbia College for storytelling, directing, and film theory. We talk about Brandon’s love for making comedy films and how they are so much harder to navigate than dramas (sorry film snobs). Brandon tells me about his travels trying to find his way as an artist – from college in NYC, to a film production internship in Houston, to improv and indy filmmaking in Chicago.

In this episode of Yes But Why, I talk to Chicago-based theatre artist, Olivia Wise. Olivia Wise is a writer, actor, and improviser with a background in theatre. She recently relocated to Chicago from Austin, where she studied and performed improv at ColdTowne Theater and starred in scripted shows such as ColdTowne’s Sex AKA Weiners and Boobs and Fallout Theater’s Losers in Space. Currently, Olivia cohosts a weekly podcast called We Wrote The Book, where every episode she and her friends come up with a pitch for a new musical.In our conversation, Olivia and I discuss dramaturgy and stage management and all the cool yet under appreciated jobs in theater. We talk about building characters from wigs, taking amazing online workshops and writing sitcom scripts. Olivia tells me about a meditative practice she does to find funny and magical moments in life. We have a deep talk about finding community during the pandemic. Olivia was a really great guest, so fun to talk to!Support Olivia Wise listening to her podcast,

This episode of Yes But Why, I sat down to chat with Jermaine Trice, improviser and artistic director of The Improv Place (US). Jermaine Trice is the founder of The Improv Place in the U.S. He is a Chicago native who has been performing long form, short form, musical, and experimental improv off and on since the late 1990s, starting with Second City. I had a great time chatting with Jermaine. He is an unending font of creativity. From dancing to writing poetry to making theater, Jermaine Trice is always looking for new ways to express himself. He has so many creative ideas and he works on lots and lots of them. We talk about how Jermaine loves to take things apart to see how they work; and then, put them back together in his own new way. This is certainly how he approaches his art. This is also how he got into a career in technology. His early adoption of new techniques in technology not only opened doors for making funny videos, it also got him a job teaching a professional development course on new technolo

#NEW #EPISODE This week on Yes But Why, it’s a retrospective of the podcast’s past. There have been a lot of changes to the podcast since the first episode of Yes But Why on April 18, 2016. Listen in for clips from various episodes out of the 299 done. We talk about improv, audiences, and acting. We talk a lot about art. There’s a bunch of weird shit. And Kevin McDonald tells us why he got into comedy. Check it out. #YesButWhy #Podcast is a proud member of @HCUniversal Network.

This week on Yes But Why, I talk to the “Mayor of Improv,” Mark Turpin. Mark Turpin is an improviser originally from Manchester and now based in Liverpool in the UK. Mark earned the moniker “Mayor of Improv” for the support he gives to his fellow improvisers in the global Improv Community. Mark has taken online workshops and courses with top improvisers from all over the world, such as Jay Sukow, David Escobedo, Michelle Gilliam, Will Hines and Stephanie Rae.At home in the UK, Mark is a member of Liverpool Comedy Improv. He performs with the Oickers Improv Comedy Troupe, a group that met online through Zoomprov at the suggestion of Liverpool Comedy Improv instructor, Emma Bird. Mark has also been a guest on the Liverpool Comedy ImprovCast with Iain Luke Jones.A self-professed introvert, Mark wasn’t exactly looking to be a performer but with his “can do” attitude, he decided to try out an improv drop in class in Manchester. Swept away by the magic of creating things on the spot as well as the joy and the laugh

This week on Yes But Why, I chat with author, artist and facilitator, Natalie Grigson. Natalie Grigson was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She is the author of seven books, including the bestselling Peter Able series. Natalie is a facilitator both in-person and online. She teaches connection-focused improv (in-person), creative writing (online), and art classes for both adults and teens (in-person). She has also been writing and editing professionally for the past decade.Natalie is also my fiction writing teacher and she has been my writing coach for the past year on a YA novel that I am in the middle of. #accountability So I’ve known her for quite a while but we’ve never had such a long one-on-one talk. Get ready for a lot of silly. It was great to get to know Natalie in this way. She tells me about how she got her literary agents and lots of good juicy advice for writers who want to publish their work right now. Natalie has some great insight on how to publish and promote your work. Natalie tells me about

This week on Yes But Why, I chatted with podcaster, Chris Green. Known as “Toph” in his role of host/producer for multiple podcasts, Chris Green builds each podcasting project until it inspires another. “My podcast projects are basically a set of Russian nesting dolls,” he said to me. Toph started by creating Gravity Beard, a successful podcast variety show that featured lots of different segments. Some turned into other projects like pop culture podcast, This Week Today and sports show, Armchair Radio. Other segments inspired Toph to do community building with his listeners. Gravity Beard Interns is a fun Facebook group, filled with fans of the show that get to contribute to future episodes of shows like Three Room Apartment. Then, there’s Gravity Beard Inc, which is one of those fun roleplaying groups in which we all pretend we work at this startup called GBI. We have a good time. I connected with Toph first through these groups and then to his podcast and I think that says a lot about marketing efforts

This week on Yes But Why, I talk to Maximilian Hansen, improv performer and teacher from Uppsala, Sweden. Maximilian Hansen is the founder and artistic director of Mind Melt. He has performed and taught improv in, among others: England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Slovenia, Germany and the United States. Max is a curious and physical improv performer. As a teacher/coach, he creates a positive atmosphere that encourages the participants to push their limits while having a good time. Max’s company, Mind Melt is an improv community based out of Uppsala, Sweden that provides in person and online workshops and ImproJams to participants from Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Australia and more! Tasked with assignments from assisting the National Heritage Board to representing improvisational theater at TEDx, Mind Melt has been excited to spread improv to beginners and advanced students alike!Outside of Mind Melt, Max has previously developed course curricula for other improv groups; and he has been invol

This week on Yes But Why, I talk to independent filmmaker and artist, Kelli Horan. Active in the filmmaking community, Kelli Horan was the Screenwriting Co-Director and Programmer at Other Worlds Film Fest 2020; she was a member of Women Communicators of Austin; and she was the Marketing Chair for Women in Film & Television Austin for 2019. She loves to support fellow independent filmmakers to make their visions come to life.Originally from Tucson, AZ, Kelli has written, directed, and produced feature and short films that have been featured in festivals such as SXSW, Other Worlds Film Festival, and Arizona International Film Festival. Alongside filmmaking, Kelli creates visual artwork primarily in the medium of pyrography. Her work has been shown at Art for the People, Cherry Cola Dog, Black Lagoon Gallery, and can be found through the Etsy store, “From the Pyre.” In our conversation, Kelli and I talk about creating new worlds out of the ones we are living. Kelli shares that her start in fiction writing w

This week on Yes But Why, I talk to the confident and spectacular Michelle Gilliam. Milwaukee born and raised, Michelle Gilliam is an improviser, actor, host, and voice actor. Michelle has been involved in improv comedy for over 20 years, through studying, performing, coaching, teaching, and directing. Michelle is now based in Los Angeles, CA. As the Owner and Artistic Director of Improv MKE, she is building her improv comedy school and theater via online classes. Michelle had a strong base in the Milwaukee improv and theatrical scene and now she is connected to the Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles communities as well as the international improv scene.Michelle currently teaches for Improv MKE and The World’s Greatest Improv School and guest teaches at various theaters online and in person around the country and world. Michelle is also a leader in applied improv. Through her workshops, she has helped corporate teams and university departments to harness the power of improv as a tool and resource for crea

This week on Yes But Why, I spoke with Creative Consultant, Deana Criess. Deana Criess has been a professional improviser for more than 20 years. A master instructor, director, and performer, Deana has done shows and workshops at festivals, theaters, colleges, and Fortune 500 companies all over the country. Deana is currently the Associate Director of Recruitment & Admissions and Applied Improvisation Specialist for Career Launch @ Perkins, an innovative job training program she helped to develop at Perkins School for the Blind. There, she uses improvisation to teach job readiness and job acquisition skills to adults who are blind and visually impaired.Deana is the founder and former Director of IBCreative, a program for which she created improv workshops for corporate and academic settings. She has also had extensive experience bringing improv to nonprofits, such as her wellness workshops at Childrens’ Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute as well as her therapeutic programs for dementia patients and