How do you respond when everything changes in an instant? In this episode, Jude speaks with Mary Tyszkiewicz about her model called Heroic Improv. Together, the explore how improvisational skills can help people think clearly, adapt quickly, and work together during crises and disasters.

*Connect with Mary - Heroic Improv (booking workshops, in-person and virtual), LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do you stay grounded when things feel uncertain? In this episode, Jude speaks with Joel Veenstra, Department of Drama Chair at UC Irvine, about how improv helps us navigate tension, embrace discomfort, and let go of needing to control outcomes. Together, they explore how building tolerance for uncertainty can deepen presence, collaboration, and connection in all walks of life.

*Connect with Joel - LinkedIn, UC Irvine, Global Improvisation Initiative, BOOK: Working Together in Theatre: Collaboration and Leadership by Robert Cohen and Joel Veenstra

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do you stay emotionally grounded in high stress moments? In this episode, Jude speaks with Justin Drogos and Jonathan Webb from Northwestern University. Together, they explore how improv builds emotional regulation, teaching clinicians not just what they feel, but how to express it with the right intensity in complex, real-world situations.

*Connect with Jonathan - LinkedIn, The Laughing Academy House Team, Cutthroat Improv (FB) / Cutthroat Improv (IG)

*Connect with Justin - LinkedIn

• Northwestern Physical Therapy & Human Movement Sciences - Instagram, Facebook, website

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do stories help us process change? In this episode, Jude speaks with Kenn Adams, creator of the Story Spine, about how stories can reveal deeper truths about ourselves. Together, they explore how storytelling and improv aren't just tools for communication, but ways to reflect, connect, and move forward.

*Connect with Kenn - Synergy Theater, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. Upcoming shows:

1. Improvised Noir: Unscripted Theater, So Funny it's a Crime! At Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco
2. Improvised Clue: An Unscripted Murder Mystery based on the Cult-Classic Film! At the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek

Study about morbid curosity: Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID 10 pandemic, Personality and Individual Differences, January 2021

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Who holds the power in a room and what does that do to your voice? In this episode, Jude speaks with applied improv pioneer Kat Koppett about the subtle (and not so subtle) power dynamics that shape careers, relationships, and identity. They examine how power can silence, distort, or transform and how to wield it with the help of improv.

*Connect with Kat - Website, Mopco Improv Theatre, Training to Imagine, LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Taking risks is uncomfortable, especially in environments where playing it safe feels smarter. In this episode, Jude speaks with applied improviser Ed Reggi about how practicing creative risk in low stakes games, especially in the classroom, helps us build confidence and resiliency.

*Connect with Ed: Website, LinkedIn, Instagram

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Why do we shut down the people we love most? In this episode, Jude speaks with improv performer and educator Rachel Rosenthal about how improv teaches us to really listen in our relationships, fostering collaboration as opposed to critique. Together they explore how "yes, and" creates lasting connection with the people closest to us.

*Connect with Rachel - Website, Love Shakespeare, Kickstand Comedy, LinkedIn

• Upcoming shows:
  • Cliffbanger Musical Improv - Feb 7 and Feb 14th
  • Love Shakespeare - March 9

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What if it's not failure we're afraid of, but what failure says about us? In this episode, Jude speaks with therapist and improviser Salma Soliman, who shares how playful risk-taking can loosen the grip of fear and open us up to real, lasting change.

*Connect with Salma - Brave You Therapy, Instagram, LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn