Yes But Why Podcast

This week on Yes But Why, we chat with Seattle based actor Phillip Wheeler. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, Phillip has been working in TV, Film and Theater for over a decade. In our conversation, we talk about developing your craft as an actor and about how to deal with the boring parts. Phillip mentions that he is taking a Zoom workshop with the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival right now! (SO FUN!)Phillip is a character actor who plays a lot of bad guys. He shares stories about his first experience onstage in Three Musketeers and about making the horror film, “Junkie.”We discuss how we think our current lockdown will change the film industry. Phillip notes the importance of learning the business side of acting. We chat about being supportive of your fellow actors and filmmakers, especially right now. Phillip knows the hustle never stops when you’re an actor. Support Phillip Wheeler by checking out the short films he’s shot over the last few years. Western Sol: https://vime

In this episode of Yes But Why, I had a really great conversation with actor/writer/director, Tracey B. Wilson. Tracey B. Wilson started her professional career as a theatre actor. Onstage, Tracey performed improv and sketch comedy in NYC in the late 1990s. In our conversation, we talk about her experience with the NYC sketch group, Living Room Live. Tracey also works in film and television, both in front of, and behind the camera. As well as starring in a few national commercials and several indie features, Tracey has co-written, directed and starred in several award-winning short films! Tracey gives some great advice for freelance performers about standing up for yourself as a businessperson and getting paid what you are worth. We talk about putting in the hard work and about giving yourself the chance to change it up and have some fun. We chat about Tracey’s career in physical comedy from party mime to sports mascot to Curious George on tour! This woman is a ball of energy!We talk about how awesome it was

In this episode of Yes But Why, we talk to prolific and impressive writer, Ken LaSalle. Ken LaSalle writes and writes and writes. Ken is the author of over 60 books and plays. He produces a YouTube show called To Be Honest and he hosts the Monday Morning Show Podcast.Novelist Ken LaSalle was writing long before he ever considered himself a writer. And from paying the bills to dealing with a divorce, the road blocks to writing went up in front of Ken. As we talk, Ken says that putting pen to paper is the way he processes his life. The stories he tells helps him to cope with his real world struggles. In this conversation, we talk about embracing who you really are. We chat about finding a partner who supports your artistic dreams. Ken shares his daily writing process and his aspirations for the future! Support Ken La Salle by buying one of his books, listening to his podcasts or watching him on YouTube!Ken is working on so many different projects at once! And all of his latest projects are book series! Check th

In this episode of Yes But Why, we talk to British comedian Steven Morgan about his experiences doing comedy across the world. Steven Morgan is a comedian, improviser, storyteller, actor, writer, and musician that has been featured on Australia’s ABC and the UK’s BBC. Currently living in Nijmegen, Netherlands, where he moved from Brisbane, Australia, Steven has toured and performed in famous comedy clubs and festivals around the world. Since moving to The Netherlands, he has become a performer and teacher with Amsterdam’s easylaughs. In our conversation, Steven shares stories of his journey, from performing in the UK band, Neon Highwire to hosting “Real Power Talk,” the wild comedy interview show made by Netherlands-based media company, All Things Loud. Steven talks about how being a comedian was always something that was bursting to come out of him. I totally get that. Me too. But he didn’t get to it straightaway. It wasn’t until he moved to Brisbane and saw the vibrant comedy community that he was moved to

In this episode of Yes But Why, we talk to Mardi-Ellen Hill, New York City-based composer, writer and thought leader. By trade, Mardi-Ellen Hill is a musical composer, college professor, and business analyst. During her career, she won many grants and awards but for most of her life, Mardi-Ellen has been working on the story and the technology of the MEND™ universe. MEND™ is rooted in a fictional narrative written by Mardi-Ellen and it extends to the business she built around the idea of her interactive story. She and her team created the MEND™ (Music ENcode/Decode) operating system that allows readers to decode the secret languages of the story and to discover clues as the plot unfolds. The MEND™ technology is also an invention within the story that is fought over by the characters. The story follows female protagonist, Lily Barrington, whose family’s checkered past places her in grave danger.Mardi-Ellen notes that her biggest challenge with the project has been differentiating between MEND™, the work of fi

In this episode of Yes But Why, we talk to performer and scientist, Mithra Vankipuram. Mithra Vankipuram is a performer and improv instructor from the Bay Area. She is the Producer-in-Chief at The San Francisco Improv Festival as well as a Senior Research Scientist at HP Labs. She is a community builder in the San Francisco improv scene. She is also the Chair of HP's Palo Alto Women's Impact Network. Mithra believes in evolving the cultural growth of her science/technology workplace by leading initiatives to empower women and minorities.In our conversation, Mithra shares her philosophy on being your most authentic self. We talk about how to use improv in the real world for making friends and for dealing with awkward situations. Mithra shares stories of her own journey as an actor. We talk about navigating emotions onstage and off. We discuss integrating the yes and philosophy of improv into your daily life. Support Mithra by supporting the San Francisco improv scene and The San Francisco Improv Festival. Yes

In this episode of Yes But Why, we talk to San Francisco-based performer, director and educator, Radhika Rao. Radhika Rao is an actor, improviser, storyteller, director, writer, and arts educator/consultant. She has performed theater in the United States and abroad. Radhika has an Ed.D from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and specializes in creating curriculum that integrates theater into diverse learning situations for various populations and organizations. She works as a communications coach with Life Theatre Services, Leela Improv, Peers & Players, University of San Francisco, and Stanford University. In our conversation, we talked about weaving theater into every part of our lives. Radhika talks about her theater experience she had in college in India – learning Shakespeare and classics as well as new playwrights. We discuss the ways in which Radhika has always been drawn to theater. Radhika is a ray of sunshine. She talks about the ups and downs of her path but she still appreciates the overall

This week, Yes But Why Podcast interviews Lisbon, Portugal based improviser, Stephen Thornton!Stephen Thornton has been studying, performing and teaching improvisation since 2001 when he was first introduced to the theater games of Viola Spolin. From 2006 to 2018, he continued his improv education in New York City, taking classes at The Peoples Improv Theater (PIT) and studying with some great improv teachers from around the country. Since 2010, he has been coaching improv teams and teaching Improvisational Theatre workshops in NYC and abroad. In 2019, he founded his own company, Stephen Thornton Improv and shortly thereafter, moved to Lisbon, Portugal. Stephen is currently active in building the Lisbon improv community. He teaches and performs with his short-form English-speaking group, "4Misfits,"which features previous Yes But Why guest, Andre Sobral. Stephen also hosts an improv jam called Jelly Jam alongside co-host/producer, Luana Proença.In our conversation, Stephen and I talk about being improvisers

This week, Yes But Why Podcast presents a conversation with Sarah Rhea Werner, host and star of the popular audio drama podcast, Girl In Space! Sarah Rhea Werner is a professional podcaster, a writer, a speaker, a contributor to Forbes, and the creator and executive producer of both the Write Now podcast and the award-winning audio drama Girl In Space. Sarah was an absolutely delightful guest from the very beginning of this interview. I can’t believe I confessed so much to her about my own creative rut! I felt a little awkward and fan-girly but she was so kind and supportive throughout the whole chat!In this conversation, we kick off deep diving into a discussion on imagination as a survival instinct. Then, Sarah talks about her own creative process and I ask how the popularity of Girl In Space has affected her. We discuss the impact we can have on people with our podcasts and we talk about searching for creative inspiration in everything we do. Sarah shares the story of how she started her sci-fi podcast, G

This week on Yes But Why, we talk to actor and personal trainer, Melissa Sledge. Melissa Sledge is an Austin based fitness professional, who after losing 50 pounds herself, dedicated her life to teaching others how to look beyond the scale and focus on making daily healthy living practices. In between helping her clients live their best life, Melissa is also active as an actor and model. Melissa and I met on a photo shoot. In between shots, Melissa and I bonded over the hard work it takes to keep a creative career going. Like so many others, I was inspired by her so I asked her to be on the podcast. In this conversation, we chat about the pull to be responsible and practical and how it can keep you away from doing what you are really meant to do. Melissa talks about her journey from salesperson to college counselor to fitness professional. Melissa shares her love of acting in commercials and films. She talks about sinking her teeth into commercial workshops and acting classes to hone her craft. We discuss h

This week, Yes But Why interviews stand-up comedian and life coach, Alicia Dattner. For the past few years, comedian Alicia Dattner has been touring the world and selling out her one-woman shows, Eat, Pray, Laugh!, and The Oy of Sex! Alicia is unafraid to dig deep into her own stories to help you find your own. She is a natural born teacher of storytelling with an extensive history of adventures in comedy, yoga and holistic medicine. Alicia makes great connections onstage and off, performing standup comedy in clubs from San Francisco to London to Honolulu to Bombay. Raised in an ashram, Alicia’s connection with spirituality (and comedy) started at a young age. Alicia did her first standup set at 18 and she was so good they gave her a degree in standup comedy (seriously). She is also well educated in acting, filmmaking, screenwriting, healing and transformation. In this conversation, we talk about Alicia’s recent experiences teaching improv and meditation workshops in Bali. We talk about the transformative wor

This week on Yes But Why Podcast, we feature 5 conversations with creatives who attended the Podfest Multimedia Expo 2020: Trenton Bennett, Ann Kimbrough, Merlyne Jean-Louis, Kris Keppeler, and Harry Duran. Listen in as they share stories from their experiences!Podfest 2020 was an amazing experience for me. I learned so much and I was excited to be a part of it. I met festival founder, Chris Krimitsos at the Outlier Podcast Festival in Austin. Chris saw me teach an improv workshop to podcasters at that event and asked me to join him at Podfest this year to help the community feel welcomed and loved.  It was my honor to come to Orlando to support Chris and his team.Of course, while I was at Podfest, I snagged a few people to interview. I recorded in the nooks and crannies of the Orlando World Center Marriott during the festival on Thursday March 5th and Friday March 6th. I had so much fun and I am excited to share this episode with you!TRENTON BENNETT (start 02:27)Trenton Bennett is a graduate of the ACX Maste

This week, Yes But Why Podcast interviews Houston-based horror writer, Jessica Raney.Jessica Raney is the author of six books. Her latest, The Hard Truth is the follow-up to her Appalachian-supernatural-noir novel, Tooth and Nail. Her other works include a zombie Apocalypse adventure, These Violent Delights, and two collections of short stories, Oddballs and Dreadful Pennies.Jessica loves all things quirky and spooky, and her style is best described as the “lasagna” of dark comedy, horror, and the fantastical. In our chat, she shares that the Legend of Sleepy Hollow sparked her interest in horror as a kid.Originally from southern Ohio, Jessica now lives in Houston, Texas and is active in the Houston Writer’s Guild and Writespace organizations. Jessica says that taking part in the Comicpalooza literary track was an important resource to finding her community! She remarks on how important the Houston horror writers’ meetup was for her. She loves the writing groups and working on editing with other Houston writ

This week, Yes But Why Podcast interviews lifelong actor and musician, Dana Cory.Dana Cory currently performs, produces, and teaches music and improv in the Bay Area and beyond. Dana has studied improvisational theater at BATS Improv and ImprovWorks in the San Francisco area.She was a jazz musician professionally as a horn player and a vocalist before she discovered theater improv. She loves them both and has been joyfully combining both for twenty years. In this conversation, Dana tells me about her adventures as a child actor. We talk about what it was like for her growing up in a performer family. We talk a lot about fame and failure.Dana shares her love for music and improv and Xena the Warrior Princess. We talk about how she found comedy through standup. Dana talks about being excited for an upcoming musical improv show, Mixtape. We talk about her community at Un-Scripted Theater Company.Dana has great ideas about how to flow from creative scene to scene. I admit that I do this podcast just to ask advice

This week, Yes But Why Podcast interviews Thomas Mook, performer and improv community leader from Groningen, Netherlands. Thomas Mook is a writer, an actor, and a musician. Thomas runs the improv conservatory at USVA in Groningen and he has taught hundreds of students in improv courses and in workshops throughout Europe. Thomas performs regularly with Stranger Things Have Happened. In this conversation, Thomas and I talk about the benefit of family support when you’re trying to be an artist. He talks about the inspiration his father was to him as a performer. Thomas and I talk about how maintaining a life in the arts is a combination of luck and investment in the work you are doing. Thomas talks about performing with his improv troupe, Stranger Things Have Happened. We talk about building improv communities. We talk about loneliness and empathy and optimism.Thomas talks about running the improv school at USVA in Groningen, Netherlands. He talks about his friendship with Aree Witeolar of Impro Neuf in Norway

This week, Yes But Why Podcast talks to Oakland, CA – based improv performer and instructor, Kat Dudley. Kat Dudley teaches improv at various Bay Area improv institutions and also facilitates employee engagement and team building workshops.In this conversation, Kat talks about being a performer from a very young age. She took an improv class at San Diego Junior Theatre at the tender age of 12 and that was it; she completely fell in love with the theater. Kat shares stories of her magical time studying experimental theater in the forest at UC Santa Cruz. We talk about our shared experience running improv training centers. Kat talks with fondness about her time at Finest City Improv in San Diego. We talk about community and sales and listening. (Did I mention that for a little bit, Kat hosted a Steely Dan themed podcast?)You can support Kat Dudley by booking her to train, consult, create, educate, and improvise with you! Or take classes with her at Leela Improv Theater Company or Berkeley Improv!Yes But Why Pod

This week, Yes But Why Podcast talks to San Francisco-based performer and producer, Diana Brown. Diana Brown is a performer who appears in scripted as well as improvisational theatre. She is a teaching artist as well as the Director of Community at Leela Improv Theater Company. Diana is also a producer with Southern Railroad Theatre Company. In her spare time, Diana is also a voice actor, a playwright, a communications consultant, and an acting coach. In this conversation, Diana tells me about how she got started in improv in San Francisco in the late 80s and she paints the picture of the scene at that time. Diana and I talk about our love of teaching. We discuss the magic of being a person’s first improv teacher. Diana tells me about her workshop “Improv Triage” that she and Dan Wilson teach when they tour festivals. “Improv Triage” is a treatment lab for your improv challenges. They enjoy digging deep to help improvisers overcome their hangups. We chat about the work that goes into maintaining a good impro

This week, Yes But Why Podcast talks to filmmaker, Andrew Krakower. Andrew is a writer and a director who graduated from UT’s RTF program. Since graduation, he has been exploring the world for inspiration and then bringing back to us the stories he finds. You may know Andrew because his first feature film, The Children’s War is a widely distributed documentary about the atrocities of a decades-long civil war in Northern Uganda. After making that film, Krakower moved to Kathmandu, Nepal. He spent the next eight years writing, interviewing Buddhist leaders and adventuring in the Himalayas. He enjoyed his time in Nepal so much that Andrew became the first foreigner to teach the Nepali language at Kathmandu University, co-authoring the Nepali grammar textbook they now use in schools. Inspired by his experiences in Nepal, Krakower wrote the short film, Yarne. Yarne is a story about two child monks whose friendship is tested by money they have to share. Yarne is how Andrew and I connected. He was showing it at the

This week, Yes But Why Podcast talks to actor and film producer, Sarah Krause. Sarah Krause is the founder of Rem Alternis Productions, a film company based out of Chicago. Sarah created Rem Alternis in the fall of 2018. As a fan of Renaissance fairs, Dungeons and Dragons, and video games, Sarah loves building worlds and playing with characters. Her upcoming fantasy cyberpunk web series, “Chicago Shadows” is the premiere production for Rem Alternis. After successful raising money on Kickstarter, Sarah and her creative team are now in production.In this conversation, we talk about books, roleplaying games and comic book conventions. Sarah tells me about doing Shakespeare in Chicago and becoming a dialect coach. We talk about the catharsis of embodying a character. We talk about producing and how being busy can be the best way to avoid real life. Sarah shares her excitement about “Chicago Shadows” and the work they have done on it thus far.You can support Sarah Krause by joining the mailing list at Rem Alternis

This week, Yes But Why Podcast talks to Amanda Rountree, an improv performer and instructor based out of Atlanta. Amanda Rountree has been performing improvisational theatre professionally since 1992, teaching since 1998, and directing since 2002. She is also a storyteller, writer, puppeteer, and solo performer. Amanda is a faculty member of Forsyth Academy of the Performing Arts in Atlanta. She can currently be seen regularly performing, teaching, and directing throughout the Atlanta area. Previously, she was a performer and instructor with Unexpected Productions in Seattle and a faculty member with the Second City Training Center in Chicago. In this conversation, we talk about narrative storytelling, spreading joy, and evolving as a performer. Amanda teaches me about important historical improv figures. We chat about how great it is to teach comedy to kids. Listen in for Amanda’s epiphany on “zen and the art of motorcycle interruptions!” There’s so much giggling in our chat! Enjoy!You can support Amanda Rou