Shows
The Corona Diaries2: Work in the Time of CoronaSelf-isolation and the pending quarantine has forced most offices and co-working spaces to close. This has meant that many freelance and employed people have had to start working from home for the first time.Home office and managing your time effectively can be difficult for those who aren't used to it so we reached out to our working friends to see how they are handling things.Freelancer and friend, Blake Farha, of Henri & Blake, speaks about life as a freelancer before and during Corona, avoiding overworking and burnout, the importance of planning and how structure looks...2020-03-1949 min
Improvise Till You Make It!#14: Make Strong Choices with Dad's CologneDad's Cologne, an improv trio based in Richmond, Virginia, USA, are making quite a splash with their instagram page dedicated to improv memes, @dadscologne. Through scheduling conflicts, faulty equipment, and crummy internet connections (we apologize in advance for the less than stellar sound quality), we were very lucky to get the chance to sit down and pick their brains on improv and how it pertains to life.
These hilarious guys join us for an insightful episode all about the importance of making strong choices in improv, and especially in life. We discuss the many different ways committing...2019-12-171h 09Improvise Till You Make It!#13.2: Find Your Fun with Josh Simpson and Jake JabbourThis is PART 2 of a very special episode full of FIRSTS for "Improvsie Till You Make It!" In our first ever trans-atlantic (or trans-pacific, depending on how you look at it) podcast recording, we talk for the first time with not one, but TWO amazing improvisors, and it's an episode so full of juicy insights and hilarious improv, we had to break it into our first ever TWO PART episode!
L.A. based improvisors Jake Jabbour and Josh Simpson are back for part two of "Find Your Fun," and in this trans-continental episode, we continue our deep d...2019-12-1041 minImprovise Till You Make It!#13.1: Find Your Fun with Jake Jabbour and Josh SimpsonThis is a very special episode full of FIRSTS for "Improvise Till You Make It!" In our first ever transatlantic (or transpacific, depending on how you look at it) podcast recording, we talk for the first time with not one, but TWO amazing improvisors, and it's an episode so full of juicy insights and hilarious improv, we had to break it into our first ever TWO PART episode!
We were lucky enough to get to talk with Jake Jabbour and Josh Simpson, two L.A. Based improvisors with improv credentials as impressive as they get and a h...2019-12-0350 minImprovise Till You Make It!#11: Seek Common Ground with Andrea BjorkAndrea Björk (rhymes with jerk) is a designer, animator, comedian, improvisor, podcaster, and writer whose career path has been as unique as her nationality (she's one of only 330,00 Icelandic people on the planet!) Her humor and wit coupled with her eloquence and experience behind the mic make for one of the most informative and easy to edit episodes of our podcast yet!
Whether onstage as an improvisor or offstage navigating clients' needs as a freelancer, she understands the immense value of seeking common ground to make sure everyone is on the same page, and to mitigate co...2019-11-261h 01Improvise Till You Make It!#10: Listen and Support with Blake WorrellBlake Worrell, also known as "Big Blake" in this neck of the woods, is a rapper, producer, director, and award winning filmmaker whose striking stature and radiating charisma only serve to further highlight his soft spoken nature and beguiling kind-heartedness. He holds a very dear part in our own improv history as the driving force behind the creation of our beloved Skeleton Brains, the improv team we've been rehearsing and performing with for over two years now.
Together we dive into what it means to listen and support our scene partners on stage, and how doing the s...2019-11-1949 minImprovise Till You Make It!#9: Make Everyone Else Look Good with Justin CredibleJustin Credible, a man who lives life with the pedal well and truly to the metal, is perhaps the personification of the the concept of, "Yes, And..." He began his lifelong career in the film industry as a child actor, and has at some point or another performed just about every job required on a film set, from gripping to directing, from writing to casting.
Of late he has found himself working more and more as a producer not only because it makes it easier to hire himself directly in other roles, an admission delivered without a s...2019-11-1257 min
What's The Mate?#36: The Episode with Coke Taxis and The Wizard of WeddingThe Skeleton Brains are back! Blake Farha, Daan Henselmans and Jake Potashnick join Julia in studio for another wild ride. From coke taxis delivering pizza to teenage birthday parties, family reunions gone awry and the Wizard of Wedding turning people into Pigeons, this episode is one for the books.This episode was brought to you by Bear Radio with support from Hindenburg and Tom Evans of Particle Studio.Follow Skeleton Brains on Facebook to find out where they are performing next. If you’re interested in learning a little Improv while having a proper laugh, Blake al...2019-11-0750 minImprovise Till You Make It!#8: Focus on Relationships with Jess RohmannSoon-to-be-Dr. Jess Rohman is an epidemiologist who believes as much in the value of improv as she does in the need for understanding and controlling the spread of disease, and even brings improv to the lecture hall as a tool for teaching her students through role play.
Her experience on-stage as an improvisor and off-stage as a scientist carefully navigating the incredibly complex world of scientific research have led her to the conclusion that relationships drive absolutely everything we do. Whether for making our characters' interactions relatable to an audience or for encouraging colleagues to cross-pollinate ideas a...2019-11-0558 minImprovise Till You Make It!#7: Assume the Best with Carl ClancyCarl Clancy's 5 years in Berlin have been starkly divided into two parts: pre-improv and post-improv. What started out as the typical hedonist's homecoming experienced by most new Berliner's, his lifestyle took a drastic turn when he discovered improv and simultaneously discovered he could go to sleep every night of the week and still enjoy his life. With no performance experience to speak of before he began doing Improv, nowadays little else occupies his thoughts.
Through anecdotes both personal and poignant, Carl explores with us the need both on-stage and off-stage for Assuming the Best, a topic on h...2019-10-2950 minImprovise Till You Make It!#6: Create a Safe Space with Inbal LoriInbal Lori, whose self-proclaimed very small head precludes her from wearing literal hats, nevertheless wears many metaphorical ones as an actress, writer, and improvisor. Like so many immigrants who settle here, her love affair with Berlin started as nothing more than a quick visit. She reveals some of the things that she loves most about this charged city before turning this podcast completely on its head in what is without a doubt our most dangerous episode yet.
In a very unexpected twist, Inbal blows our notion of safe spaces away, and instead speaks of the role, potentially t...2019-10-2257 minImprovise Till You Make It!#5: Relate to the World through Empathy with Jakob WagnerJakob Wagner, man of many hats, many deals, and many talents, brings this episode to life with his skills as an improvisor, actor, rapper, comedian, and storyteller as he shares and overshares about his uranium-like emotional antennae (you read that correctly), and his one-and-only conspiracy theory.
We get into the nitty gritty of what empathy means, when and how to wield it, and whether, as Swiss-German psychoanalyst Dr. Arno Gruen suggests, empathy has the power to save the world. Empathy's potential as a global force for good notwithstanding, the lives of empaths are both helped and hindered by...2019-10-1557 minImprovise Till You Make It!#4: Trust Yourself and Others with Matilde KeizerMatilde Keizer, a cornerstone of the English improv scene in Berlin, wears as many hats as she has nationalities. Writer, actor, impovisor, teacher, coach, chef, as well as Comedy Cafe Berlin's greatest cheerleader and ally, she's the epitome of, as she puts it, "The Super Cool Fun Millennial Hyphenate Life."
After surprising us with the shockingly negligible impact of her multi-cultural background on her family's holiday traditions, we dive into what it means to trust oneself and others on an improv stage, and explore the effects of living life with the same kind of unbiased openness. Is...2019-10-0855 minImprovise Till You Make It!#3: The Base Reality with Gaston StabiszewskiGaston Stabiszewski (pronounced stah-bih-shev'-ski) is a writer, actor, director, filmmaker, improvisor, and musician, or, as the art world refers to such Jacks-and-Jills-of-all-trades, a total Gaston.
Fresh off the back of an award-winning trip to Paleochora Lost World Short Film Festival where his short film Luftholen - Take a Breath picked up the award for best casting, a tanned Gaston sits to muse with us on the relevance of The Base Reality.
After a riling debate about what precious items he'd scurry to save should his apartment suddenly catch fire, Gaston muses with us on the r...2019-10-0150 minImprovise Till You Make It!#2: Yes, And...with Brian KapellThis week we explore the concept of "Yes, And..." with actor, director, instructor, improvisor, and general ray of sunshine Brian Kapell.
To say Brian is an experienced improvisor is as much an understatement as saying he's a really friendly guy. He's a former executive director of ComedySportz, a global network of companies that transform the world using improvisation, and with over 35 years of improv under his belt, he lives the improv mindset with every breath, punctuating his conversation with arguably the world's most infectious laugh.
As he regales us with tales of his journey into...2019-09-2451 minWhat's The Mate?#29: The Episode with Naked Blake & Birthday BoydOur favourite Skeleton Brains are back! Blake Farha, Daan Henselmans and Henri Parmentier join us in season three for another epic adventure. Together, they took us to 30AD where "Jesus Christos" zoomed around on an e-Scooter and the People for the Unethical Treatment of Animals (PUTA) had sway. The story of a German kid who's drunk friends try and break him out of jail inspires the worst surprise birthday gift of all time, and Blake's nude adventures through France take us to the set of Naked in Paradise, the sitcom where method acting gets a little too method. ...2019-09-1953 minImprovise Till You Make It!#1: Trust with Julia JoubertJulia Joubert is a journalist, broadcaster, improvisor, and podcaster who's podcast, What's the Mate?, has become a magnet for gathering the best and brightest of Berlin's thriving English improv scene.
After a riveting discussion about our wardrobe choices for the kinky Berlin party we attended the night before this episode's recording, Julia explores with us what trust means both on-and-off the improv stage, both intra-and-inter-personally, and the importance of creating and fostering environments where trust is at the foundation of everything.
Our conversations lead us to some uncharted improv territories and beyond where perfect strangers r...2019-09-1754 minImprovise Till You Make It!Pilot: What is The Improv Mindset? with Kevin NapierWe're joined on our first episode by Kevin Napier, writer, improvisor, and performer extraordinaire!
Kevin shares with us what 18 years of improvising has taught him about The Improv Mindset, and how that relates to his super-normal super power.
His tales of how doing improv has influenced the way he lives his life lead us down an improv rabbit hole where we find a Master lecturing his apprentices on the importance of destroying your masterworks upon their completion, a few unlucky road-trippers practicing mindfulness to ensure they get the most out of their prison sentences, and so...2019-06-0748 minWhat's The Mate?#23: The Episode with the Impossibly Persuasive Lawyer & PewDiePie in a BunkerSkeleton Brains are back and this time Julia joined in on the action, together with Blake Farha and Henri Parmentier!Our host and improvisers take you on a wild ride where a story about the YouTube beef turned Alexanderplatz brawl inspired a war between PewDiePie and his fans, the tale of a 69 year old Tortoise smuggler had Julia doing the world's worst Angela Merkel impression and the AfD´s call for students to denounce their teachers lay the foundation for the weirdest family dynamic we've witnessed so far. This episode is brought to you by Bear R...2019-04-251h 02What's The Mate?#6: The Episode with the Berlin Neighbour Manual & a Famous Public ToiletSkeleton Brains are back! Blake Farha and Daan Henselmans joined us for round two and brought with them another Brain, Henri Parmentier. Together they improvised the not too far-fetched world of dealing with one's neighbours, Julia's questionable Döner Kebab Speakeasy theory and oh there's also one about drug smuggling apple trees, you're going to have to give this episode a listen to fully understand that one.This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio, with support fromthe kind people of The Venue Berlin and Hindenburg.Follow Skeleton Brains on Facebook to find o...2018-09-1838 min