Improvising Babies

Improvising Babies There has been a lot of talk about a lockdown baby boom. In Bristol, 6 women all on one street  got pregnant during the first lockdown, and in case you missed it, as well as making a LOT of banana bread, last year two of us Maydays made a baby!  We have joked……

Read More
The Improv Life: Del Taco Nights

No one beats Del Taco nights. The Improv Life: Del Taco Nights On almost any given Friday or Saturday night, I could roll on over to STAGES Theater and catch whatever improv show Spectacles Improv Engine was putting on that night. If it wasn’t packed, I’d sit at the very last row and watch. If…

Read More
A Year of Polarities

A Year of Polarities A year ago I was preparing to go and play in the ensemble team at IMPRO Amsterdam 2020. This epic festival brings improvisers from across the planet for one magical week of high quality improvised theatre, workshops and party. It was a truly wonderful experience. For me, it was part of……

Read More
The Improv Life: I Miss My Comedy Adventures

The Improv Life: I Miss My Comedy Adventures I’ve been consuming Star Wars like a mother fucker during quarantine. Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian, the new Marvel Comics (The Darth Vader ones are lit), the old, decanonized Dark Horse Comics, Youtube clips of Obi Wan Kenobi killing Darth Maul for the second time, that new…

Read More
Three tips for Responding to Questions in Scenes

Three tips for Responding to Questions in Scenes There’s something I’ve felt quite conflicted about in improv: I am of the opinion that questions are an integral part of language and, when you think about them that way, it seems odd to avoid them in improv scenes. However, it is no secret that asking questions…

Read More
The Living Newspaper by David Shepherd

 A constant in David Shepherd’s improv career was periodically revisiting his groundbreaking format, COMPASS (a “people’s theatre,” co-created with Paul Sills in 1955) and attempting to update it with the collaboration of improvisers who were in his orbit at that time. David continued conducting COMPASS workshops in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, St.…

Read More
Zoom is just a part of it

Ring-lights, phones and computer screens: online improv has been an amazing lifeline for some, and a welcome distraction for others, but don’t forget to take some time away from the bright lights and get some green-time (and I don’t just mean green-screens) this festive season. I have to be honest. While this year’s been terrible…

Read More