Hello, everyone! Michael here. After a long and needed hiatus, I am back. I was recently listening back to season one of Improv Tips, and I thought to myself, “Oh, boy. You were so young and naive just a few years ago.”
To give some context, I was in a weird place back then, and I felt very disconnected from the improv world. I think the first season was an outlet for me to feel connected, and was a little bit of improv therapy for me. Here’s the disclaimer I always give that improv is NOT therapy.
Since the last season, my wife (I got one of those) and I have successfully opened The Bit Theater right behind the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois. Opening a theater has been one of the most difficult challenges of my life, and I have gained more perspective on improv in the past couple of years than I had in the more than two decades before that.
One of the things I try to impart on my students is that for nearly every bit of improv advice I give them, the opposite also works a lot of the time. So, I thought it would be fun to look back at my old episodes and then break them down a little more thoroughly with a couple more years’ improv experience to provide a bit of a counterpoint. In addition, I thought it might be interesting to look at these episodes from the perspective of a new theater owner.
These episodes aren’t going to fit into the one-minute timeframe I’d set for myself in the first season, but I’m going to try to keep them brief, as the world doesn’t need another three-hour podcast featuring someone talking about improv theory. I hope you enjoy the new season, as I’m looking forward to bringing it to you.
If you’re interested, please subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. Reviews and comments really help get the word out about the podcast and are greatly appreciated. Also, if you’re feeling inspired from something you hear, please consider sharing it with someone else. That’s all for now, and I’ll see you in the new year!
