My improv team was supposed to have a popup show next week. Through the blessings of fate, I learned that the same venue had booked a friend’s stand-up show simultaneously. Oops. Now, I have two options: Pitch an absolute fit! Blow up relationships with everyone and demand that
What does Employee Appreciation Day have to do with Improv-ing Your HR? Well, everything! Because improv is all about service! Service is about making employees’ lives easier. And if you want to make your life easier, join Neelie Verlinden and HRLearns for a training session on reducing burnout.
I teach improv comedy classes. It’s just regular improv comedy–no HR included. (I also teach improv for leadership development, but this story isn’t about this.) Monday is my favorite class: The final performance. Classes are 4 weeks long, and on the last night, we set aside 30 minutes
I had fun talking with Tom Alexander at the Talent Show about improv and HR. If you prefer to listen, you can listen here: Diabolically Funny And I actually had a real improv performance the same night we recorded this. Here are some highlights! View this post
Wednesday, December 11, is the first annual HR Festivus What is Festivus? Seinfeld writer Dan O’Keef created Festivus and made it part of the show in the 1990s. It has three main elements: ● Airing of grievances ● Feats of strength ● Festivus miracles At HRLearns, we know
Right now, I’m working with my improv students on a game called “Changes.” This is where you do a scene, and the director shouts “change,” and you have to change your last line. Here’s an example: I wish my students were so good. I wish I were so
Last Saturday, I took an improv workshop with Djibril Traoré. He said the above: “Don’t be prepared; be available,” and attributed it to Keith Johnston. Now, this specifically relates to the “yes, and” concept of improv. You cannot plan everything out because you don’t know what will come
I’m writing this from Terminal 3 at Heathrow, waiting for an American Airlines flight to Dallas. From there, I will catch a connecting flight to Midland so I can speak at the conference on Thursday. I’m so excited. I want to give you a sneak preview of what
On the same day, I got two messages asking the same question: “I did something embarrassing. Did I just ruin my life?” The funny thing is that one was a LinkedIn coaching client, and the other was an improv student. Neither one of them ruined their lives. In
Sometimes, the universe hands you the perfect thing that you need at the moment. Sometimes, it hands you the worst possible thing. Regardless, you can’t give up. You have to keep going. Improv is all about “yes, anding” whatever life throws at you instead of sitting down and
