improvcast

Jake is an up and coming improviser who has already amassed a huge amount of experience. He started out life with a huge passion for acting, but once he discovered improv he really feels like he stepped up his acting game to the next level. During this chat we discover what life is like as a student at LIPA and we hear how Jake ultimately found his way to Liverpool Comedy Improv. It’s another fascinating chat full of fun and insightful tidbits and we can’t wait for you to hear it! So sit back, relax and enjoy Jake’s true story of making stuff up.

This week is a bumper episode, chocked full of tangents! Melina Fiol is back to update us on her experiences as a female on the comedy circuit and she has so much insight to share that will leave you all with much food for thought. Iain starts the show off by remembering HRH Queen Elizabeth II as the sad news of her passing was announced just before the episode was recorded. He once had the honour of going to Buckingham Palace & it didn’t exactly go smoothly… Melina is living her dream on the comedy circuit, but not everything is as dreamy as she had hoped. Find out all about it in this very open and honest chat. It’s time to sit back, relax and find out all about Melina’s true story of making people laugh.

This week we celebrate episode 70 with our host Iain Luke Jones giving us all an update on some fantastic developments in his personal and improv life. There was a guest lined up, but it sadly fell through at the last minute, but this being an improv podcast meant that the show was able to go on regardless, just with a little change of direction. Celebrating 70 episodes alone is reason enough for a check in with Iain, but with the fantastic news he has to share it certainly deserved the time for his story to be told. Thank you all for your continued support of the show! We really appreciate each and every single one of you. Now it's time to sit back, relax and discover the true power of embracing a 'Yes And' mentality.

This week we have something a little different for you. We love talking to improvisoers about their improv journeys and about a whole variety of improv related topics, but we are also keen to discuss other passions that improvisers may have. Our host Iain has mentioned in many of the show chats over the years that he is a big fan of the Aussie TV soap 'neighbours' and as it happens so are previous show guests San George and Kat Cooke. On 29th July 2022 Channel 5 aired the final ever episode of Neighbours in the UK and this was a very sad day indeed for Neighbours fans all over the world. Iain, San and Kat decided to get together and talk about the show that they have loved all of their lives and how genuinly upset they all are now that it has come to an end. It is definitley a little something different, but there are still some links to improv that will shed light on a few things in terms of how Iain's improv brain works. Think about something you absolutely adore and then think about how you would feel if somebody took it away from you. That is how Iain, San and Kat feel & they want to share their feelings with you all. So sit back, relax and enjoy discovering the true story of how everybody really does need good Neighbours.

This week we welcome Charly Murgatroyd to the show and we can’t wait for you to hear what she has to say! Charly only started improvising in October 2021, but if you saw her perform you would swear she has been doing it her whole life. In this chat Iain and Charly very quickly get into the topic of ADHD and from there the chat just explodes into all sorts of interesting avenues that really makes you appreciate the wonderful people of the improv community. This is one of those chat that leaves you with plenty of food for thought and we can’t wait for you to hear it. So sit back, relax and enjoy discovering Charley’s true story about making stuff up.

Heather is a relatively new improviser, but if you saw her perform you would never know it! She has such a natural flare for it and to top it off she is a genuinely lovely person. During this chat Iain and Heather talk through her journey to improv and find out exactly how it came about that a physicist with barely any experience in performing arts came to discover a passion for improv. We also discover that Heather and Iain share many geeky interests and we delve into some Star Wars chat and discover how Heather ended up meeting actual Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill! It’s a really fun chat that we know you will love, so sit back, relax and enjoy Heather’s true story about making stuff up.

Tom is a drama student with a real passion for improv & he is at a very exciting stage of his life where there are so many possibilities ahead of him. During the conversation we get to hear about Tom's improv journey into improv and into LCI & we learn how LCI has helped him to expand his improv horizons. During this chat Tom mentions that he thinks Colin Mochrie is 72. Iain just accepted this at the time, but felt it was not quite accurate. Research was conducted and it seems the age estimation was indeed a tad high. Colin is a spritely 64 (at the time of recording). It's an informative chat that is full of fun little tidbits and we can't wait for you to hear it! So sit back, relax and enjoy Tom's true story of making stuff up.

We are super excited to finally welcome Stu Hughes to the show! Stu is a fantastic improviser and an even better human being and we know you are going to love this chat with him. Among the many things covered, Stu and Iain talk about how improv helps with confidence issues and how improv can genuinely help to change your life. They delve into the topic of short form vs long form and there’s also lots of fun chat about writing sketch comedy, the Oickers members of the LCI community and how Stu discovered improv and specifically LCI in the first place. They also both discover a mutual love of co-operative board games! It’s a really great chat that we are excited to share with you. So sit back, relax and enjoy Stu’s story about making stuff up.

Jamie is an incredibly creative individual who has recently discovered and fallen in love with improv. He is a very open individual and he gives us a great insight into his life journey that led him to LCI. He is a wonderful artist and he and Iain get into a great chat about what makes art successful and is it really worth what some people pay for it? It’s another fascinating chat with one of the newer members of the LCI community and we can’t wait for you to hear it! So sit back, relax and enjoy Jamie’s true story about making stuff up.

This week we welcome back friend of the show Sekki Tabasuares to discuss the topic 'Planning an Improv session' with our host Iain Luke Jones. There are lots of things to take into consideration when running an improv session and Iain and Sekki talk in depth about the thought process leading into preparing an improv session. It is a really great chat as always and we can't wait for you to hear it!

This week we are focusing on the topic 'Boundaries in Improv' and we welcome friend of the show 'San George' back to the podcast to discuss the topic with Iain. What are boundaries in improv? Why is it important that this topic is discussed? These are a couple of the point touched on and there is a lot of great personal insight and anecdotes from both Iain and San along the way. This is a really sensitive and important topic that we felt needed to be given the spotlight and we hope you enjoy the conversation.

On April 29th LCI has another awesome live improv show coming your way! 'Boss Birds & Friends' is back and this time the guest teams are 'Cats in Trenchcoats' (who are an LCI long form team) & 'Regular Job'. Our guest this week is Al Donohoe from 'Regular Job' & he is here to tell you all about who 'Regular Job' are and what to expect from them. Al has got a fascinating story to tell and in this chat you will hear all about his acting career taking off when he was a teenager, his discovery of improv & how his love of the UCB improv style inspired him to set uo 'The Atom Improv'. Al lives and breathes improv and we know you are going to love hearing his true story of making stuff up.

This week we are bringing you another live special! This time around we are putting the spotlight on the fantastic Boss Birds. Boss Birds are an all female team who formed at LCI and they are an incredibly talented bunch who are masters of their craft. Boss Birds and Friends is a monthly show that LCI puts on and the show featured today was recorded at the end of January 2022 at the very first Boss Birds and Friends gig. A few weeks ago we brought you the set from the Oickers that night and now we are super excited to bring you this set from the Boss Birds. To keep the show PG there is the odd word that has been editied out, but we know you can probably fill in the blanks ;) This show was recorded on a phone so is not studio quality, but it is still good enough to give you a great feel for what it was like to be there in the audience on the night.

This week we are super excited to have Laura Hall on the show! Laura has been a part of Whose Line is it Anyway? ever since it crossed the pond to America and her musical expertise have helped her to carve out a very niche role in the improv world. In this chat Laura tells Iain how she got the Whose Line job inthe first place and gives some amazing insight into how the show works from the other side of the camera. She also has loads of great insight about various other Whose Line cast members and has some fantastic tips for anybody else out there who is interested in getting invloved in improv as a musician. Laura Hall is a true legend in the improv community and she is just as lovely as you expect her to be. Put the kettle on, sit down and relax because this is an chat that you are absolutely going to love!

On 21-2-22 Liverpool Comedy Improv launched their brand new monthly live improv show 'Boss Birds & Friends'. At the end of every month Emma Bird and her team of Boss Birds will be putting on a show where they welcome a guest team to perform with them. The first guest team was 'The Oickers', a team that formed after attending many courses together at LCI. Our Host Iain Luke Jones is one of the Oickers and if you enjoy short form improv, then we know you are going to love this episode as we are giving you an audio treat by bringing you the live set in full! The Boss Birds set from the night was also recorded and will be featured on a future episode of the podcast. We hope you enjoy a little something different this week, we do enjoy mixing it up and offering different listening experiences from time to time.

This week we welcome that fantastic human being that is Stuart Moses to the show. Stuart is an associate teacher of LCI and has a workshop called 'Movement for Improvisers' taking place on March 26th at the Liverpool Arts Bar from 1-4pm. The workshop is aimed at shaking you out of your characterisation defaults and go to's that you might want to get out of. Tickets for the workshop are available on the Liverpool Comedy Improv website. During the chat you can hear all about Stuart's improv history and how it all started with table top role play gaming. Hear how he developed as a performar and teacher and how and why he started the Improv London Podcast back in 2015. A podcast that we highly recommed you listen to (after this one of course). We know you are going to love Stuart's true story of making stuff up.

This week we have two guests for the price of one! Hannah Carson and Hannah Savage (Sav) are recent converts to improv and are a big part of the current LCI scene. In this chat we get the low down on how they both discovered improv and how big an impact it has had on their life in such a short space of time. They are both incredibly fun and vibrant characters and it is chat that will definitely put a smile on your face as you hear both of them talk about how much they have been bitten by the improv bug.

We have kept you waiting a whole week, but now the time is finally here to for you to catch up with the second part of the fantastic Viola Spolin special with Max Schafer. We jump right back in where we left off & it is another really inforative and entertaining chat all about the origins of improv as we know it.

Today we are bringing you part one of a two part Viola Spolin special! Max Schafer is a leader of the teachings of 'spolin' and he is a deep well of knowledge in not just her techniques, but also in how she herself was as a teacher. Iain also delves into Max's improv history and we find out why he is so passionate about keeping the name 'Viola Spolin' present in the mind of improvisers all over the world. Part one is a really great listen and we can't wait to share part two with you all next week!

This week is the final episode of 2021 and Iain is looking back on the evolution of the show over the previous 48 episodes. He gives a bit of backstory as to how the show came to be in the first place and then talks through all of the episodes so far, discussing key moments particular things he enjoyed. We won't be away for long and we look forward to bringing you lots more content in the new year. Thank you for your support during our first year. It has been a truly wonderful experience bringing this show to you every week.