Archive for the ‘All Posts’ Category
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Driving While Improvising
May 21st, 2011 No Comments
In Los Angeles, peoples’ brains are filled with references to cars and driving. A difficult situation is described “like living in L.A. without a car.” Party conversations begin with how you got to the party: “I took the 405 to the 10 to the 110” or
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Improv and Inspiration
January 2nd, 2011 3 Comments
I had a little down time during the holidays to do some reading: Steven Johnson’s “Where Good Ideas Come From”, “Bob Dylan In America”, “Will in the World” (Will Shakespeare, that is), and Jay-Z’s “Decoded.”
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Mirror Neurons
October 25th, 2010 2 Comments
Mirror neurons are a relatively recent discovery in the field of brain science that basically changes everything. The idea is that when you observe an action performed by another person, even if you’re sitting still, the very same neurons
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Two People Talking
August 27th, 2010 4 Comments
On March 3, 1999 I got a phone call from Charna Halpern, co-founder with improvisational theater visionary Del Close, of iO Improv. She told me that Del, our dear friend, was on his deathbed and that I “should come to Chicago right away.”
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Playing Fifty
May 17th, 2010 2 Comments
I do an improv warm-up exercise called “Age Walk.” As the players move randomly around the stage, I start to call out different ages, side coaching as the actors play themselves at age – three, then six, then twelve,
