Shiny Things Improv Podcast

Send us Fan MailToday’s guest is Holly Laurent, a member of the legendary Chicago longform team The Reckoning, former artistic director at iO West, alumni of the Second City Mainstage, and host of the MEGA Podcast. Holly brings decades of invaluable experience from across the pond, having trained, performed, and taught in both Chicago and LA.Now spending more time in London, we caught up to dig into her approach to the craft, discussing the power of patience on stage, why she considers herself a late bloomer in the improv world, and what she loves about the London scene, as well as what’s missing.

Send us Fan MailToday’s guest is Jen Littlewood — one of the Free Associations highly experienced teachers, as well as coach to one of their house Harold teams, and member of NANA one of the FA's most successful former Harold teams.Jen trained at second city and iO under the legendary Dave Pasquesi of TJ and Dave, before she moved back to the UK to join the Free Association. After 17 years of improv, she now teaches multiple levels and has some wonderful insights into the art.

Send us Fan MailJoe Bill is a legendary improviser who has been performing for almost half a century. He trained with Del Close, was a founding member of the Annoyance theatre in Chicago, and was director of corporate training at iO for 15 years.He now travels the world, performing and teaching improv alongside some of the biggest names around. I caught up with him at the GBG Improv Festival in Gothenberg, where I had just seen him and Patti Styles perform an incredible improvised play.We chatted about his experiences working with Del Close, his love of applying neuroscience to improv, and how improv helped him deal with his cancer diagnosis.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode I chat to Patti Stiles — legendary improviser, actor, director, and author who began her improv journey training with Keith Johnson in the 1980s. She has since gone on to perform, teach, and direct countless improvisational theatre companies all over the world.I caught up with her at the GBG Improv Festival in Gothenberg, where I had just seen her and Joe Bill perform an incredible improvised play. We chatted about the her incredible four decades of experience, the way she approaches story, how she judges a bad show, and how London has a wealth of improv history to build on.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode I chat to Sam Roulston — improviser, standup, and character comedian. Having trained and then later taught at Second City Toronto, he returned to the UK a few years ago and has since starred in critically acclaimed shows like Winner and Sam and AJ. He recently joined the Artistic Committee at the Free Association in London.I’ve always been inspired by the way Sam performs, effortlessly committing to characters and finding fun in unlikely places, so it was a pleasure to dig into his approach to improv, and comedy in general.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode I chat to Graham Dickson — founder of The Free Association in London and original cast member of west-end hit improv show, Austentatious. Graham has been improvising for nearly 20 years and has far too many accolades to list here. Most recently he’s been performing with Cool Story Bro, Kiell Smith-Bynoe’s hit improv show that just did a sell-out run at Soho Theatre’s new 1000 seat venue. In this episode we cover Graham’s long-standing love affair with improv, the ups and downs of running the FA, why mischief is so important to comedy, and why British improv should never rest on its laurels.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode I chat to David Elms — long standing teacher at The Free Association in London and member of El Classico team The Cartel. David has been improvising for 15 years and has recently started running his own workshops under his brand Leap Day. He’s also just come off the back of a 5 night sell-out run of his solo improv show, David Elms Describes a Room. In this episode we cover David’s approach to justification, finding the fun in a scene, get a scoop on his new venue for Leap Day, and find out why he can’t always remember what he likes to do in his spare time.

Send us Fan MailThis episode I chat to Alex Holland — head teacher at The Free Association in London.  Alex has been improvising for over a decade and was one of their first teachers. As head teacher, he is now in charge of the FA’s curriculum, as well as casting their Harold teams, and performing in countless headline shows, such as Groundhog, 666 Hell Lane, and The Cartel.In this episode we cover the best way to approach learning improv, what is “game”, what makes a good teacher, and how many furrows Alex would plough if he had a farm.

Send us Fan MailThis episode I chat to Laura Riseborough — actor, comedian, and improviser.  Laura built a career as an actor including high-profile productions with with the Royal Shakespeare Company, before establishing herself as an improviser.Show now has many hit shows under her belt, including Austintatious, Sliding Lives, and 666 Hell Lane, as well as teaching at The Free Association in London, including a course she devised focussed on Acting for Improvisers.In this episode we cover how to commit to a scene, the importance of warming up, how to deal with a bad show, and the fact Laura can't bare to see animals suffering, even if they are imaginary.

Send us Fan MailThis episode I chat to Naomi Peterson, former Artistic Director at The Free Association in London, and star of many critically acclaimed improv shows such as Three and St. Doctors Hospital. We cover how to be a more playful voice of reason, her workshop on bringing shows Back from The Brink, the state of improv in the UK, and what it's like having a husband from a rival improv school.