04 Sep Restructuring The Nursery – Part 1
The Nursery is 11 this year, and for our birthday we're getting a restructure. And you can get involved!...
Improv Tag
19 Jun Mount Olymprov, or why we should all be a little more Jill Bernard
Mount Olymprov is a pretty big festival by European standards. The 300 seat auditorium is full every night and most workshops sell out pretty much instantly. This is partly because of razor sharp organisation and partly because of the talent on show there. There are many many improvisers and teams...
06 Jun Impromptu Shakespeare at the Brighton fringe
Impromptu Shakespeare received two reviews at the Brighton Fringe last week, one from Broadway Baby and one from Chortle. Before I continue, don’t worry, this is not a bitter rant against reviewers or set of ripostes. They were not the most glowing reviews ever, and although that always hurts, I...
28 May Match report: Global Improvisation initiative 2019
Some thoughts about improv in the wake of the second bi-annual Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium....
26 May The Nursery Podcast #28: Armando Diaz on Teaching, Directing and Coaching
Armando Diaz is back once again on the Nursery Podcast! Armando's list of teaching credits is a long one: the Improv Olympic Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, NYU and Michael Howard Studios. He has trained dozens of actors who have performed or written for Saturday Night Live,...
29 Apr How to Improvise a Play
What’s the difference between an improv show and a play? The play has a script, of course, but what I’m interested in is what the script gives the actors and how we can give it to ourselves without one. A script gives the actors a sense of purpose and the...
22 Apr Why failing is okay but trying is still important
Failing is Okay In improv we are taught that failure is not a bad thing, even something to be celebrated. The reason is that we want to overcome the fear of failure. Humans are naturally risk averse (thanks brain!) and this fear causes us to be cautious, and to count less...
17 Apr We’re better than that: On self deprecating humour
I’m excellent at self-deprecating humour (hereinafter SDH, because I’ll use the phrase a lot, and Britt gave me a word limit). No one knows how I suck more than I do, and I use that knowledge as skilfully as anyone. It feels like a necessary skill. In the UK, we...