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S2E5:

“Take the mask off”: Improv in Neurodivergent and LGBT spaces with Alena Dingeldein and Brian Jones

Host: Mike Garvin

Guests: Alena Dingeldein and Brian Jones

This episode is part of a series of episodes interviewing leaders of identity-affirming improv workshops as a part of an Unscripted initiative called Changing the Face of Improv Leadership, funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

In this episode, Mike Garvin interviews Alena about their experience as a student of improv as well as their experience leading a workshop through Mindful Nashville centered around affirming neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ identities through improv. Alena credits improv with building their confidence as well as their listening skills and problem solving abilities. After, Brian Jones discusses his experience with mentoring Alena on creating the workshop, specifically noting the confidence and pragmatism with which Alena facilitated the workshop.

About the Guests:

Alena Dingeldein is an improviser and performer local to the Nashville area who has taken classes and performed through organizations like Third Coast Comedy Club and Backlight Productions.

Brian Michael Jones (SAG-AFTRA) has been an actor and performer for most of his life. He’s performed on TV, in films, on stage both in touring and regional productions. He’s a professional Henson puppeteer, Motion Capture performer, and has provided voice over, for many shows and even sometimes he’s even a mime for commercials and TV episodes. But through it all he’s always been an improviser.

Improvised Ad by Owen Sullivan.

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica

Editing: Cammie York

Mixing: Dave Strumfeld

Graphic Design: Cammie York

A project of Unscripted, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Nashville, TN. We heal, empower, and connect our community through equitable and accessible improv programs.

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S2E4:

“Yourself, with a twist”: Bridging bicultural identities with Julian Hernandez and Sara Fidelholtz

Host: Mike Garvin

Guests: Julian Hernandez and Sara Fidelholtz

This episode is part of a series of episodes interviewing leaders of identity-affirming improv workshops as a part of an Unscripted initiative called Changing the Face of Improv Leadership, funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

In this episode, Mike Garvin interviews Sara and her mentor Julian about their experience working together to build a workshop centered on bicultural identity and “hidden identity.” The conversation touches on Viola Spolin’s work inspiring their use of play to discover yourself and bridge connection across differences to create shared experience. Through exercises meant to draw from personal experience, Sara’s workshop taught its participants how to find the confidence to play “yourself with a twist.”

About the Guests:

Julian Hernandez is a regular boy from Clearwater, FL who has studied improv and clown in Chicago and New York (blow at him and see what happens). He’s been on shows like Search Party (TBS) and experimental shows at places like St. Ann’s Warehouse. He’s entertaining, he’s out of his fucking mind, he’s jooby.

Sara Fidelholtz is an improviser and actor originally from Mexico who now plays on several teams in Nashville, Tennessee. Her improv play style incorporates her multicultural background, and her background in clowning and acting allow her to bring authenticity and silliness to her characters and breathe true life into her scenes.

Improvised Ad by Owen Sullivan.

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica

Editing: Cammie York

Mixing: Dave Strumfeld

Graphic Design: Cammie York

A project of Unscripted, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Nashville, TN. We heal, empower, and connect our community through equitable and accessible improv programs.**

S2E3:

Embodied improv: Embracing vulnerability with Sarah Edwards Waldrop and Sofia Apuzzo

Host: Mike Garvin

Guests: Sarah Edwards Waldrop and Sofia Apuzzo

This episode is part of a series of episodes interviewing leaders of identity-affirming improv workshops as a part of an Unscripted initiative called Changing the Face of Improv Leadership, funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

In this special Changing the Face of Improv Leadership series episode, Sofia shares her journey developing and leading a movement-centered improv workshop rooted in embodiment and play. Alongside mentor Sarah Edwards Waldrop, she explores slowing down, creating safer spaces, and stepping beyond perfectionism to embrace vulnerability. The conversation dives into the power of movement as a pathway to authenticity, the courage of doing what scares us, and how improv can reconnect us to freedom in our bodies and our stories.

About the Guests:

Sarah Edwards, Director of Advocacy Through the Arts at Friends Life Community, has created opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities to be the face of social change they want to see in the world through the arts. Leveraging the tactics of drama therapy, Sarah and her team facilitate programs that help individuals find their voice, tell their stories, and connect with others through shared experiences. As a registered drama therapist, she empowers each participant to create original work so that they build confidence, learn to self-advocate, and become more empowered in all aspects of their life. Enthusiastic and versatile, Sarah is attuned and responsive to the strengths, needs, and possibilities of an individual at any age and cognitive functioning. By using person-centered approaches that are clinically based, yet creatively implemented, clients create their own healing through original work, process, and performance reaching an overall deeper understanding of self and others.

Sofia Apuzzo is a Nashville-based movement artist and improviser with a background in dance. Through Unscripted’s leadership program, she designed and facilitated a movement-centered improv workshop focused on embodiment, play, and self-trust. Passionate about creating spaces where people can reconnect with their bodies and explore beyond perfectionism, Sofia brings physicality, vulnerability, and deep curiosity to her artistic work.

Improvised Ad by Sebastian Posey and Owen Sullivan.

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica

Editing: Cammie York

Mixing: Dave Strumfeld

Graphic Design: Cammie York

A project of Unscripted, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Nashville, TN. We heal, empower, and connect our community through equitable and accessible improv programs.

S2E2:

Environment of mutual trust: Teaching improv across generations with Bill Hillsman and Emery Whitiker

Host: Mike Garvin

Guests: Bill Hillsman and Emery Whitiker

This episode is part of a series of episodes interviewing leaders of identity-affirming improv workshops as a part of an Unscripted initiative called Changing the Face of Improv Leadership, funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

In this episode, Mike Garvin interviews Bill Hillsman and Emery Whitiker about their experience working together to teach improv in the senior community and having a younger improv teacher mentor and teach a generation with more lived experience than himself. The two met and began their improv teaching partnership through an Unscripted improv club at Fifty Forward, a senior community center in the Donelson area of Nashville, Tennessee. Bill was paired with Emery to mentor her on creating a workshop to teach to the senior community at a local library. The two discuss creating an “environment of mutual trust” as part of what it’s like to experience cross-generational improv.

About the Guests:

Bill Hillsman is a Nashville based improviser for the last 14 years. Over the last decade he's immersed himself in the teaching side of improv, directing dozens of groups and writing curriculums for classes and workshops that shape the local scene. What Bill lacks in follow-through, he makes up for.

Emery Whitiker is a Nashville improviser who can be found performing with troupes such as Laugh Lines and Improv Works, and when she's not improving, she's playing some shady character in a murder mystery with the Immersion Theater Group. Emery splits time between performing and teaching others how to use improv as a tool for mental, emotional, and physical health with the help of The Unscripted Leadership Program and Fifty Foward. With much time and growth, Emery is pegged to become a pillar in the improv relm brandishing herself as a "Conductor of Fun who leads from experience and with an open pallet!" While comedy has been a part of her life from childhood, Emery now understands the benefits of laughter stating "I believe life is an adventure and doing things the right way is honorable, but there is much to learn from failing"

Improvised Ad by several Nashville improvisers.

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica

Editing: Cammie York

Mixing: Dave Strumfeld

Graphic Design: Cammie York

A project of Unscripted, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Nashville, TN. We heal, empower, and connect our community through equitable and accessible improv programs.

Play as Liberation: Improv in BIPOC spaces with John Gebratatose and Christina Ashworth

Host: Mike Garvin

Guests: John Gebratatose and Christina Ashworth

This episode kicks off a series of episodes interviewing leaders of identity-affirming improv workshops as a part of an Unscripted initiative called Changing the Face of Improv Leadership, funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

In this episode, Mike Garvin interviews John Gebratatose and Christina Ashworth about what it’s like to improvise and to lead improv workshops and jams in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Color) spaces. John was paired as Christina’s mentor to help foster her growth as a BIPOC improv teacher, and the two engaged in deep discussions about identity, community organizing, and the importance of play and community during such a harrowing time for BIPOC. Mike, John, and Christina discuss the radical approach to improv that is often found in BIPOC spaces and how having more viewpoints and demographics in the room transforms the art of improv as a whole.

About the Guests:

John Gebretatose is the Founder and Executive Director of Good Camel Comedy Theater in Minneapolis, an arts company using humor to speak truth to power and foster diverse voices. Its name, “Good Camel,” symbolizes resilience, inspired by his mother’s 30-day desert journey from Eritrea to Sudan.

With over 15 years in comedy, John previously served as the Co-Executive Director and Director of Diversity and Inclusion at HUGE Theater. He also co-founded the Black and Funny Improv Festival and Blackout Improv, spotlighting underrepresented artists. John is an award-winning podcast host for “MinneCulture” on KFAI radio. A sought-after global performer and teacher, he promotes inclusivity through comedy in diverse settings.

Christina Ashworth is a Nashville improviser who can be found on several teams performing throughout the city. She is the co-producer of Improv Saves! World Agrees and is a teacher with Unscripted for Improv in Recovery and BIPOC Joy. As she grows her improv resume, one of her goalsl is to find the intersectionality between the structure of “big improv” and the radical approach in more fringe spaces and learn to live in the in-between just as she has with her racial identity.

Improvised Ad by Christina Ashworth and Luke Watson

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica

Editing: Cammie York

Mixing: Dave Strumfeld

Graphic Design: Cammie York

A project of Unscripted, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Nashville, TN. We heal, empower, and connect our community through equitable and accessible improv programs.

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S1E5: Improv for Personal Growth: Managing Anxiety with Jessica Morrison

Host: Mike Garvin

Guest: Jessica Morrison

In this episode, Mike chats with Jessica Morrison, a jack-of-all-trades who took Unscripted’s “Improv for Anxiety” class via Zoom during the pandemic and then in person when classes resumed, and then kept taking more improv classes afterwards. At the time of the interview, Jessica was still taking improv classes, so they spend some time discussing what she’s learned in classes.

While some improv students dream of the stage, Jessica’s motivation was more toward personal growth. After a terrible job interview where she “felt like [she] couldn’t talk unless it was scripted,” Jessica signed up for “Improv for Anxiety” to help her with her anxiety around re-entering the workforce after a burnout-inspired sabbatical. Listen in to hear about being a student of improv from the perspective of someone without a performance background and who’s in it for the growth more than the stage.

About the Guest: Jessica Morrison is a journalist and nonprofit leader with a doctorate in geochemistry and a collection of increasingly cool hobbies. She's a baker, a drummer, an improviser, and in her spare time, she runs the Baking Notification Project with her husband, Brandon (https://www.thebakingnotificationproject.com/)

Improvised Ad by Christina Ashworth and Luke Watson

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica Editing: Cammie York Mixing: Dave Strumfeld Graphic Design: Cammie York

Connection with the Audience and Storytelling with Brian Jones

Host: Mike Garvin

Guest: Brian Jones

In this episode, host Mike Garvin chats with Brian Jones, an accomplished performer of countless disciplines, and they discuss the importance and power of connecting with your audience, honesty in play, and how improv saved Brian when he was mugged.

While many improvisers choose to ignore the audience as a form of chasing more honest play, Brian firmly believes that the greatest tool to get out of your head is to reconnect with the audience. He believes the #1 thing in improv is “the honesty of being thrown in the moment and changing on a dime” and that the audience can smell when a player is not being honest. Throughout the episode, Brian reveals his improv philosophy through his varied experiences from high school all the way through playing with cast members of Whose Line Is It Anyway.

About the Guest: Actor/ improvisor/ Puppeteer/ Mime

Brian Michael Jones (SAG-AFTRA) has been an actor and performer for most of his life. He’s performed on TV, in films, on stage both in touring and regional productions. He’s a professional Henson puppeteer, Motion Capture performer, and has provided voice over, for many shows and even sometimes he’s even a mime for commercials and TV episodes. But through it all he’s always been an improvisor.

Improvised Ad by Owen Sullivan

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica Editing: Cammie York Mixing: Dave Strumfeld Graphic Design: Cammie York

A project of Unscripted, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Nashville, TN. We heal, empower, and connect our community through equitable and accessible improv programs.

For the Love of the Game: Patient, Slow Improv with Ashley Rube and Ryan Myers of Touch Baseball

Host: Mike Garvin

Guests: Ashley Rube and Ryan Myers (Touch Baseball)

In this episode, Ashley Rube and Ryan Myers of Touch Baseball sit down with host Mike Garvin and talk all things duoprov (or “twosies”), Group Mind, teaching improv, and what it means to slow down and be present with your scene partner. Based in St. Louis, Ashley and Ryan are performers and teachers at The Improv Shop.

Twosies to these two involves something they call “the secret agreement” as well as a shared vocabulary and trust that you won’t get lost. They discuss being present and embodied in their characters and supporting your scene partner. It’s clear that collaboration and teamwork is crucial for these two, because as Ryan states, "if you take the batter out, or the pitcher out, then no one's playing baseball."

About the Guests: Ashley Rube is a St. Louis-based improviser, teacher, coach, and commercial actor. Alongside her longtime improv partner, Ryan Myers, Ashley serves as The Improv Shop’s Co-Director of Business Services in St. Louis, helping businesses, non-profits, and professional teams overcome challenges through applied improvisation. Ashley is also a faculty member of The Improv Shop (STL) Training Center and a regular House Team player. She has participated in The Compass Improv Festival, STL Shakespeare Festival, The Flyover Comedy Festival, COMOtion Improv Festival, Third Coast Improv Festival, Omaha Comedy Fest, and Missouri Thespians Conference as a performer or instructor (or sometimes both!). Ashley holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and earned her Master of Theological Studies Degree right here in Nashville from Vanderbilt Divinity School. Before improv, she worked in a variety of fields including non-profit advocacy, marketing, and dairy farming. —----- Ryan Myers is an improviser, teacher, actor, and writer based in St. Louis, Missouri. He received his BA in Vocal Performance (Opera) from The University of Missouri - St. Louis. Ryan is currently a teacher and coach at the Improv Shop in St. Louis, and co-directs the Improv Shop Means Business, which helps organizations and professional teams overcome challenges through applied improvisation. Ryan has taught and performed all over this great land in festivals such as: Flyover Comedy Festival, Compass Improv Festival, Third Coast Improv Festival, Grand Rapids Improv Fest, Omaha Comedy Fest, COMOtion, Missouri Thespians, STL Shakespeare, and more. Producer’s note: This episode was recorded November 2023

Executive Producers: Christina Ashworth + Emma Supica Editing: Cammie York Mixing: Dave Strumfeld Graphic Design: Cammie York

A project of Unscripted, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Nashville, TN. We heal, empower, and connect our community through equitable and accessible improv programs.