In this episode, we talk to Nikki Vilas and Karen Harrell. Nikki is a performer with Synergy Theater. Karen, like me, is a student. We talk about stagefright, self-doubt, bouncing back from mistakes, and the fun that keeps drawing us back to improv with Synergy Theater and director Kenn Adams. You must see Nikki in her many roles in Synergy Theater's free online shows. Just go to synergytheater.com and click on WATCH LIVE.
What makes practicing Improvised Theater an adventure? Is it overcoming your stagefright? Playing odd characters? Following a scene wherever it leads? Yes, and... it's having both the courage to follow your creative dreams and the will to be surprised by your own innate skill. In this episode, Griffen Davis Bier and Alev Gunay, of Synergy Theater, expand on these themes. And, there's Guy Fieri, Indonesian bats, and reckless drivers in Egypt - all of which could be in the next(?) episode of Adventure Serial! Watch Adventure Serial, and all of Synergy Theater's online performances, on YouTube! ...
Eileen Tumlin is a performer, show director, and teacher with Synergy Theater. Ed Schriger is a fellow student. We talk about their starts in improv, their challenges, and where they hope improv with Synergy Theater will take them in the future. We may have different ideas about creating believable characters, but we agree that we create the best characters when building on each others' ideas. And Synergy Theater has big news! ...
No matter who your family is, you have a matriarch in your life. A matriarch, to me, is someone who supports you with their warmth, their wit, and their enthusiasm for your dreams. Within the Synergy Theater family, I consider Deb Kern Synergy Theater's matriarch. I've heard Kenn refer to her as his longest-running student. Lynn Shields is another powerful force for good within Synergy Theater. Lynn is a Synergy Theater player, and we talk about her foray into directing the spontaneous soap opera series Days of our Wives. Deb and Lynn are wise, funny, and dedicated to the art of improvisation. They inspire everyone around them to be their best selves on and off the stage. ...
