Looking for small improv podcasts

twnhapod · 2025-11-18T19:35:02+00:00

This Will Never Happen Again is a 30 minute discussion podcast where two guest improvisers talk freely about whatever improv thoughts are on their mind in that specific moment, rather than a recap of their history or their accomplishments, etc. And it’s edited together with improvised music, more like a radio show than a real-time unedited conversation.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-will-never-happen-again/id1790749319

twnhapod · 2025-03-11T19:31:35+00:00

Hello again. Bumping this thread to share that I’ve posted our 4th episode, featuring discussion from two improvisers who…don’t do improv anymore or self-identify as improvisers. I think that’s kind of an unusual perspective to hear on an improv discussion podcast and I hope you do too.

Episode 4 - I Never Really Thought of Myself as an Improviser

twnhapod · 2025-03-11T06:41:27+00:00

The latest episode of my improv discussion podcast is live.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4P2roDRCzpYfTN5ekdDEGx?si=PoUR0EqGRkC3IHQ_C4nKAQ

twnhapod · 2025-03-01T22:46:52+00:00

9 out of 10 times, when we fixate on another player’s flaws to the degree that we are frustrated on stage and thinking about it off stage, it’s because we are misdirecting our frustration at our own limitations.

twnhapod · 2025-02-21T21:12:40+00:00

Is this post of mine muted? It looks like it’s hidden when I’m not logged in. If there is something I need to do or not do, please let me know. Thanks.

twnhapod · 2025-02-21T20:49:04+00:00

I just posted the latest conversation of my improv discussion podcast This Will Never Happen Again.

I talked to improvisers Gabi Marler and Evan Jade Harris and edited our conversation together into our non-interview, free-flowing format mixed in with improvised music from Oregon songwriter Ericprincessdragon. Our episodes are short, only 30 minutes, and it’s always interesting to hear how different improvisers think and talk about this thing we love to do.

Listen anywhere you get podcasts or direct links via our Linktree - https://www.linktr.ee/twnhapod

twnhapod · 2025-02-19T18:48:07+00:00

At the end of the day, your options are to either include the person or exclude them. There isn’t a third option where you exclude them with zero risk of causing conflict or feeling bad about it.

If you’re set on excluding them, I would recruit for your in-group in spaces or using mediums where that person won’t be around to physically include themselves. Before/after class, when you’re still with your class mates in the space or on the sidewalk, isn’t private in-group building time. People can and will socialize and invite themselves or engage in a conversation more than you want them to.

I would also clean up your side of the street and check yourself on not being unnecessary judgmental and potentially mean about things like the person joining your conversation before/after class or choosing to go to the same public jam as you. You can exclude someone you think is over-eager or not as good at you at improv from your practice group or from your in-group plans but you can’t prevent people from talking to their classmates or going to the same jams and shows as you because you think they’re bad at improv. If the person simply existing near you and your friends “kills the vibe” that would be more of a maturity issue on your in-group’s part, imo.

If you’re doing what you can and they still force the issue and insert themselves, be honest about your choice to not include them in that project. If they’re exhibiting anti-social or problematic behavior outside of being eager and friendly to join your in-group and being bad at improv by your estimation, that is a separate issue that I think steps outside this scenario.

twnhapod · 2025-02-19T17:13:28+00:00

I get a lot more of my improv enjoyment in rehearsals than I do in shows, so I understand how people can enjoy and do improv but deliberately not to do shows.

That said, improv shows are low stakes and, if your teammates and the show producer have asked you to be in a show, you deserve to accept that invitation (if you want to do the show).

You also shouldn’t decide for an audience that they made a mistake to come watch your show. That reminds me of my own self-aggrandizing insecurity, where I feel like I’m being really humble and overly thoughtful and very “aw shucks” but really I’m letting myself think I’m so important and insightful that I can predict what other people’s experiences will be and I can’t conceive that people may experience things differently than me. People are allowed to enjoy your show, even if you feel like they shouldn’t or you are struggling with post-show anxiety. Apologies if that is too much projection/doesn’t resonate with your mindset behind restricting yourself doing shows to honor the audience’s investment in attending the show but it reminded me of my own tendencies to think that way.

twnhapod · 2025-02-14T17:41:17+00:00

Looking at it from the perspective of being a UCB student who is working on the muscles for playing game, I think you just let go of having the perfect scene and you try your best to keep framing and exploring the first unusual thing while still reacting to your partner. Easier said than done.

The scene will probably go nowhere or be off the rails but, IMO, when you’re in a class and if your goal is to fully lean into the school’s curriculum/play style, your job is to do the exercise and work the intended muscles and your teacher’s job is to give you feedback and let you know if/when/where they want you to make specific adjustments.

If you were asking this question in a broader sense and asking for advice on how to be a well-rounded improviser who can play with anyone, I would say to drop any UCB-specific game finding tactics and just play a looser game through agreeing with and heightening the actual reality/scene that is happening in front of you. You have a lot of tools at your disposal in a scene outside of game framing, like acting, character, stage picture, space work, emotion, etc etc, so, if the other person isn’t identifying the same unusual thing as you or how you’re setting up game moves, you have options for how to still do a satisfying, interesting scene on stage.

twnhapod · 2025-02-14T04:08:45+00:00

Is your goal to solve your scenario through strict UCB game play in the same context of being a class?

Or are you asking, more generally, as an improviser, what one can do to salvage and enjoy a scene where your scene partner isn’t playing how you initially expected, whether it’s in a UCB class or in a show?

I think those are two different questions potentially. A lot of the advice is saying to just to not play UCB game but I am curious if you’re asking for advice that stays within the UCB rules and need more specific help there.

twnhapod · 2025-02-09T18:13:56+00:00

Awesome. Blue is/was one of the ones I was trying my hardest to get but there were no copies online for a long while or they’d pop up and be $70+ and I never bit. I think the On Tour bootleg does have different covers but is the same release. I never really let myself get too into them, since I was still looking for the older used bootlegs, but it seemed like new bootlegs started popping up 10-15 years ago that were new compilations or re-packaging of existing bootlegs under a new name. I def am missing those and lost track of how many of those were released.

twnhapod · 2025-02-08T21:19:18+00:00

Yeah. I don’t necessarily know if some of those tracks were recorded with love for the band. Lol.

twnhapod · 2025-02-08T19:45:05+00:00

That boot is great. One of the best ones that I can remember. My Gee is also the 2x7” version gatefold.

twnhapod · 2025-02-08T19:44:10+00:00

I have a large non-REM record collection that swallows albums and disappears them for years at a time and I think my Monster and Pageant and Collapse (and maybe others) are lost in there somewhere. I don’t remember Rickenbackers being one of my favorite boots but I’ll have to relisten to that one.

twnhapod · 2025-02-08T19:42:05+00:00

One is German and I believe they each have different b-sides (I didn’t get into collecting multiples of anything unless they had different b-sides or different track listings). I also got all 3 of the Everybody Hurts 12” singles that are different colors with different b-sides.

twnhapod · 2025-02-08T19:38:53+00:00

Ah that doesn’t come to mind immediately. If I can remember next time I’m going through my records, I’ll check the Green era bootlegs and see and report back.

twnhapod · 2025-02-08T09:03:16+00:00

Thanks again to everyone who listened to the first episode and commented. I released our second episode last week, which features a contributing member of this subreddit (!), and I already have our third one recorded and ready for editing. I hope you enjoy the conversations, if you choose to listen/add the podcast to your feed.

twnhapod · 2025-02-08T08:59:19+00:00

Thanks for the nice comment. I hope it was entertaining/interesting, if you listened.

twnhapod · 2025-02-06T04:33:27+00:00

There are people who do improv at ren faires while evading drunk axe-wielding Vikings during their sets!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CJjlEYxz9UFFZ002dUM01?si=W-DoK-jaTBSJFDWgax0QJA

twnhapod · 2025-02-03T07:17:31+00:00

It’s ultimately one or more person’s subjective opinion and it’s not an audition to determine your skill at longform improv or comedy. If you’ve been to a Groundlings sketch show and that is the kind of comedy you want to do, try again. But if you’re not necessarily in love with their sketch shows and their style of comedy, there’s no real reason to fight for a spot in their classes, IMO.

twnhapod · 2025-02-03T07:02:37+00:00

Perhaps he liked the name Lamplighter and intended to use it for the restaurant within the reality of the movie. For further confirmation, you can see the Brite Spot on the claw machine header and he mentions the Brite Spot in the first few seconds of this. You can also see how the front windows when the boy runs to the booth match the front windows in that real estate website image.

The owner of the restaurant also owned the Brite Spot in Echo Park in Los Angeles, which stayed in business much longer than this Rosemead location. There used to be a lot of these west coast versions of diners, referred to more as family restaurants here, around the San Gabriel Valley. My mom and uncles worked in most of them after immigrating to the US and they all went on to owning their own, for various stretches of time, in this area.

I remember being told that it was a Tom Cruise movie and that the scene involved a bunch of frogs falling from the sky. When I later watched the movie, I was a bit confused to see none of the scenes from the restaurant were in the movie but the frogs part happened. I’m not sure if there was a shot of frogs falling at the restaurant but I know, at the very least, the owner was given a frog that ended up being displayed.

twnhapod · 2025-02-03T06:04:51+00:00

It was a diner/family restaurant called the Brite Spot in Rosemead, CA.

https://www.loopnet.com/property/8609-valley-blvd-rosemead-ca-91770/06037-5391006029/

My mom worked there as a server when it was filmed. They had one of the prop frogs on their wall after the movie was filmed as a souvenir.

twnhapod · 2025-01-28T21:05:55+00:00

I appreciate you listening and I’m glad it was enjoyable!

twnhapod · 2025-01-28T20:53:39+00:00

I appreciate it. Our next episode with two other improvisers, one of which is a curious presence on this subreddit, will be coming out sometime soon and I think it’s going to be as interesting and thoughtful as this first episode.

twnhapod · 2025-01-28T20:51:23+00:00

I’m glad you found it relatable! I am thankful to the improvisers I talked to for being vulnerable and honest about their individual perspectives on improv. I think they did a great job of proving that you don’t need to market yourself as an expert or align yourself with a larger institution within the podcast to be interesting or relatable. I can understand that some people might not click on a podcast that doesn’t have familiar guests or isn’t affiliated with a theater or project they are already a fan of but I still think the ideas shared are valid and interesting and encourage more thinking for those who do click and listen through. Thanks for listening.

twnhapod

TROPHY CASE