The Art of Yes

The Art of Yes is a Facebook page and YouTube channel created by me about Theater Improvisation.

As a beginner improviser, I experienced how important it is to share knowledge, listen to interviews, read books or watch performances live and online, and I decided to share what I find interesting online.

That’s why in 2017, thinking about improvisers who are looking for inspiration and knowledge about theatrical improvisation, I created The Art Of Yes, which is already followed by over 1,300 people.

During the pandemic under the name of The Art of Yes, I created a video podcast. Meeting with improvisers who have been practicing and teaching this beautiful art form for several decades has become another source of knowledge that stimulates my development and gives me the opportunity to meet my interlocutors, deepen my relationship with them and learn about the history of improvisation.

So I invite you to listen this great endeavor. You will find interesting conversations, because my guests are the great improvisers from all corners of the world, from Australia, through Europe to Latin and North America. I hope you can join us.

The Art of yes

Interviews with improvisers – teaser

The Art of yes

Interviews with Improvisers

LIST OF INTERVIEWS

My podcast adventure began during the pandemic. When I started it, my goal was to use the pandemic time and do something creative. Inspired by chatting with David Razowsky, I decided to record a conversation with him, and this turned out to be the beginning of a new exciting adventure.

I took something away from each conversation. Each meeting was full of interesting personal stories, thanks to which I was able to get to know my guests better and learn about their experience and methodology regarding improvisation. I learned new techniques, terms, facts from the history of improvisation and exercises. The greatest gift, however, was when, on my podcast, my interlocutors shared a fact or story with a wider audience for the first time.

So I invite you to listen and discover what my guests shared with me. Find out who rode around the US with a chimpanzee as a child, who starred in „Quest for Fire” movie, who’s glad that didn’t finish writing a book on improv, who managed to get Del Close to like him, or who made a few years break from improv!

All interviews are recorded in English and the list below contains the interviews in the order they were recorded.


Ep. 1 – David Razowsky

Ep. 1 – David Razowsky

Former Artistic Director at The Second City Hollywood, LA

This interview started my podcast adventure. I was a little nervous, but as improvisers we often “follow the fear” that leads us to new things. We talked with David about how he got into acting and improv, about acting in improvisation, Anne Bogart and View Points which are a huge part of his methodology and lots of super interesting stuff. I learned a lot from this conversation, and I had a lot of fun.

 

Ep. 2 – Joe Bill

Ep. 2 – Joe Bill

Co-founder of The Annoyance Theatre & Bar w Chicago

Joe is a very flexible improviser. He seems to feel comfortable in every impro style and format. He is probably the most visited American teacher in Europe. We talked about how he started improvising, improvisation in Chicago, the Annoyance Theater, Del Close, the challenge of acting in a foreign language, the formation of his duo with Patti Stiles and much more. Oh my, it was pure pleasure and fun to talk to Joe!

 

Ep. 3 – John Cremer

Ep. 3 – John Cremer

Founder of The Maydays (UK), award winning professional speaker

John began his adventure with improvisation in the USA. But before that happened, he became fascinated by Monty Phyton and their absurd humor. We talked about many things, including teaching improvisation, fear and the challenges of working in a group. John is an excellent teacher, acclaimed speaker and he has written 2 books. I love his workshops and learned a lot from him.

 

Ep. 4 – Andrew Hefler

Ep. 4 – Andrew Hefler

Founder of the Grund Theater in Budapest

Andrew was born in the USA, but has been living and teaching improvisation in Budapest for many years. He is also an actor and musician. We talked about workshops with Keith Johnston, masks used in theater and improvisation. We also talked about “being present” both in life and on stage, acting in improvisation, dubbing. And as I was getting ready for the interview, I discovered that he had starred in one of my favorite movies.

 

Ep. 5 – Greg Tavares

Ep. 5 – Greg Tavares

Founder of the Theater99 w Charleston, USA

Greg is an actor and improviser. He began his adventure with improvisation in 1985. We talked about fear and dealing with it, how to use audience suggestions, his solo show, the book „Improv for Everyone” he wrote a few years ago, creating theater from scratch and much more. During the pandemic, we improvised a lot together online and I learned a lot from him.

 

Ep. 6 – Shaun Landry

Ep. 6 – Shaun Landry

Actress and improviser

Originally from Chicago and living in L.A. Shaun is the Artistic Director of Oui Be Negroes, founder of The West Coast Improv Alliance and co-founder of The San Francisco Improv Festival. She also directed the LGBTQ group OUTe. We talked, among others, about African-American first impro groups, teacher Martin De Matt and improvising seniors.

 

Ep. 7 – Jill Bernard

Ep. 7 – Jill Bernard

Improviser, co-founder of the HUGE Theater, Minneapolis, USA

I have seen Jill live on stage many times and I found it very interesting and educational to talk to her. We talked about the genesis of her solo impro show “Drum Machine” and what an improviser gets out of working on a solo performance. We also talked about the difference between ComedySportz and Theatersports, or what it’s like to play 20 duo sets with different partners in one day.

 

Ep. 8 – Neil Curran

Ep. 8 – Neil Curran

Improviser, Director of the Improv Fest Dublin

When I first met Neil at the festival in Barcelona, I had the opportunity to see and experience how he seduced the audience with his performance “Neil+1”, in which his partner becomes a person from the audience. We talked about that and about Applied Improvisation, impro in Ireland, and the teachers who inspired him.

 

Ep. 9 – Jonathan Pitts

Ep. 9 – Jonathan Pitts

Former Director of the Chicago Improvisation Festival

Jonathan has organized the Chicago Improvisation Festival for several decades. The conversation with him was extremely interesting. Jonathan talks about Viola Spolin, Compass Players, Del Close, what he learned in The Second City, “following fear” and the production of one of the biggest festivals, where the best improvisers performed for decades. You will find here a lot of interesting facts about improvisers and improvisation.

Ep. 10 – Patti Stiles

Ep. 10 – Patti Stiles

Former Artistic Director of Impro Melbourne

Patti began her theater career in 1983 and studied improvisation for years with Keith Johnston. She has a lot of experience and knowledge that she willingly shares. Talking to her is like diving into an impro encyclopedia. We talk about how to engage the audience, what is a challenge when you’ve been improvising for as long as she has, the improvisers’ storytelling skills, post-show feedback, and her story of forming the duo “Our Play” with Joe Bill. This in-depth interview is full of interesting and inspiring stories.

 

Ep. 11 – Inbal Lori

Ep. 11 – Inbal Lori

Actress, Improviser

Originally from Israel Inbal started at first with acting. She currently lives in Berlin, where she performs and teaches improvisation. We talked about improvisation in Israel, about the importance of acting in improvisation, working on a solo performance, working in a duo and what it’s like to teach while living in a foreign country.

 

Ep. 12 – Felipe Ortiz

Ep. 12 – Felipe Ortiz

Improviser, clown

Felipe is a Colombian artist, actor, improviser, clown, director and one of the most physical improvisers I’ve ever seen on stage. He started improvising with friends before learning about modern improvisation stemming from Viola Spolin and Keith Johnston. He weaves magical realism into his performances and is a master of playing without words, which can be seen in his performances in The Speechless project. We talked about comedy, how being a clown and using physicality affects his improvisation, about how to cope when at festivals you play in a foreign language and you don’t understand everything.

 

Ep. 13 – Jay Sukow

Ep. 13 – Jay Sukow

Improviser, creator of Today Improv

Jay is one of the most positive improvisers and people I know. We spoke with Jay about his series of 10-minute online scenes, which he played hundreds of during the pandemic and which inspired many improvisers to do the same. We also talked about improv in Chicago in the 90s, falling into patterns, impro formats, teaching improv, coaching groups, watching your own performances, taking a break from improv, improv “rules” and much more.

 

Ep. 14 – Jeff Michalski

Ep. 14 – Jeff Michalski

Improviser, actor, director, co-founder The Second City etc.

Jeff is an undoubted legend of improvisation. He began improvising in 1974 and has been constantly performing, teaching and directing ever since. He acted in about 40 films. Of all the improvisers I know, his approach to improvisation is closest to improvised music. We talk with Jeff about his early years in improv, Polish roots, Chicago improvisation and many things that I understand now much more, because I was lucky and honored that we created the duo WePolak and I learned a lot from him.

 

Ep. 15 – Per Gottfredsson

Ep. 15 – Per Gottfredsson

Co-creator of the Stockholm Improv Theater

Per Gottfredsson has been an improviser, director, teacher and one of the three artistic directors of the Stockholm Improv Theater since 1993. Per was the driving force behind the theater’s work to create plays based on the style of famous Swedish playwrights such as Ingmar Bergman, August Strindberg and Lars Norén. I’ve seen these improvisational performances several times, where improvisational actors perform in costumes and with stage design, and they were the most theatrical improvised performances I’ve ever seen. I also talked to Per about the role of a musician in a performance, an improvised song contest and the challenges of running a theatre especially during pandemic.

Ep. 16 – Shawn Kinley

Ep. 16 – Shawn Kinley

Improviser, mime

Shawn is from Canada and worked for a long time at the Loose Moose Theater with Keith Johnston. Passionate about the education process, how we think and engage on and off stage, and how we can use improvisation to make the world a little better. I talked to Shawn about Loose Moose Theatre, Keith Johnston’s approach, being a mime, the difference between writing the story in the scene and “being in the story”, the applied improvisation he uses in his work with psychologists, therapists, corporations and the army. We also talked about an interesting zoom project “The Naked Improvisers”, which, among others, they ran with Patti Stiles during the pandemic!

Ep. 17 – Andrew Eninger

Ep. 17 – Andrew Eninger

Improviser, precursor of solo improv

Andy Eninger is a versatile comedian, the creator of the improv solo format “Sybil”, for years associated with The Second City, where he directed a program for people who write scripts and sketches. He writes, performs and directs with a focus on queer comedy, satire and improvisation. We talked with Andrew about his improvisational challenges, the discoveries he made along the way, how studying drama and writing influenced his improvisation and storytelling skills, we talked about his training for the amazing solo show “SYBIL” and also about directing musicals, activism and integration of the LGBTQ community in the world of improvisation.

 

Ep. 18 – Susan Messing

Ep. 18 – Susan Messing

Improviser, co-founder of The Annoyance Theatre

Susan Messing is an American improviser, a legend of improvisation, living in Chicago. She taught improvisation in The Second City, Annoyance, iO and many corners of the world. This conversation, honest, funny and insightful, was a great pleasure. As she says, times have changed and so has she. Susan is currently re-examining everything she previously believed. We talked about her approach to improv and how it has changed over the years, about what it means to be present, about comedy and being funny, about getting involved in what we do, teaching improv, the challenges and pleasure of improv.

 

Ep. 19 – Robert Lowe

Ep. 19 – Robert Lowe

Improviser, precursor of Applied Improvisation

Robert Lowe is a precursor of theater improvisation in Atlanta. He was the founder of Improvisation Incorporated, a pioneering educational consultancy company specializing in the use of theatrical improvisation techniques (today called Applied Improvisation) for organizational development and business, professional and interpersonal communication. I talked to Robert about his experiences in creating the first performances and pioneering business consulting, his approach to working with a group and how important it is to “be here and now”.

Ep. 20 – Josephine Forsberg

Ep. 20 – Josephine Forsberg

Actress, improviser, co-creator of The Second City training program

This is a very interesting conversation with the legend of improvisation Josephine Forsberg, which was recorded in Chicago in the 90s by John Porubsky. He allowed me to put it on The Art of Yes website, for which I am very grateful. It’s absolutely unique interview because there isn’t a lot of Jo Forsberg material online. Josephine worked with Viola Spolin and in this video she talks about her approach to improvisation and gives a lot of valuable advice to students who ask her questions. Josephine Forsberg had a huge influence on the development of improvisation. Together with Michael Gellman, John MIchalski and Jeff Michalski, they created the first curriculum at The Second City. I highly recommend this treasure!

 

Ep. 21 – Stephen Nachmanovitch

Ep. 21 – Stephen Nachmanovitch

Musician, improviser, book author of a "Free Play" and "The art of IS"

New connections created during the pandemic led me to an incredible opportunity to have an interesting conversation with Stephen. His book “Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art”, is about improvisation in general and goes far beyond theater improvisation. It is my favorite book on improvisation in the broad sense, because it talks about improvisation as a process, getting inspired, about how we feel when we improvise and why we do it. It was a great honor and pleasure to be able to talk with Stephen, and above all, it was a learning experience for me and an opportunity to broaden my horizons.

 

Ep. 22 – Michael Golding

Ep. 22 – Michael Golding

Improviser, teacher, screenwriter, author of a film about David Shepherd

The story of how Michael began his adventure with improvisation is one of the most interesting. As a young boy, he met David Shepherd (Co-founder of Compass Theater – the first improvised Theatre, and Improv Olympics, today’s iO) and became friends with him all his life. He is now in possession of David’s archives, which he gladly shares also via The Art of Yes Facebook page. I talked to Michael about how he got into improvisation, about his experiences as a teacher, improviser and pedagogue working with young people. We also talked about how David Shepherd changed his life and their long friendship, the beginnings of the Improv Olympics, David Shepherd’s influence on the development of improvisation and many other extremely interesting things.

Ep. 23 – Gary Schwartz

Ep. 23 – Gary Schwartz

Improviser, actor, mime, director, writer, student and friend of Viola Spolin

This is an extremely interesting conversation with Gary, who has gained his experience over 18 years of working with Viola Spolin – called the “mother of modern improvisation”. We talked with Gary about how Viola Spolin changed and influenced his life, about their long-term friendship, where his fascination with the mime profession and improvisation came from, about his experiences as a teacher, actor, mime, comedian or voiceover.

 

Ep. 24 – Michael J. Gellman

Ep. 24 – Michael J. Gellman

Improviser, director, Artistic Director at The Process Theater

This is another extremely interesting conversation with the legend of improvisation. Michael J. Gellman is an alumni of The Second City and was the resident director of The Second City in Canada and the USA for 25 years. With Jo Forsberg, John Michalski, and Jeff Michalski, he co-founded the Second City Training Center, where he was the program manager. Michael studied with Del Close for many years and is credited with initiating work on Long Form Improvisation. We talked about his career, creating a long form, Viola Spolin, his friendship with Del, the transformation of improvisers, teaching improvisation, group scenes, acting and many other very interesting things.

 

 

more of

The Art of Yes