Steven Morgan is an improvisation theatre practitioner who has been playing for over ten years, and since has played, performed and taught all over the world.

He is Steven Morgan is a former cast member, performer & teacher with Amsterdam’s easylaughs from 2019 to 2023. While at easylaughs, he held the role of Chief of Learning, responsible for the teaching methods and course content for the school.

In 2023 & 2024 he auditioned for a place on the Dutch cast of the renowned improv festival Impro Amsterdam for the first time, where he was successful in his endeavour. He was chosen to join a small group of internationally renowned improvisers who would rehearse and play together with some of the finest improv talent from across the world at the festival itself.

We discussed different styles of improv across the world, what it's like having Robin Williams style energy, and being a new father.

It's a great half hour. Don't miss it!

Steven teaches and performs with Improv Utrecht in his home city. He has taught numerous courses and workshops with the group including a Harold and an Armando course for advanced improvisers. He also advises on strategic direction for the school, helping it grow year-on-year as a formidable presence in the improv scene in The Netherlands.

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russell Van Brocklen is a New York State Senate-funded dyslexia researcher and the founder of DyslexiaClasses.com. His work focuses on helping struggling learners build reading and writing skills by beginning with their strongest abilities rather than repeatedly drilling their weakest ones. His inaugural program moved college-bound students from a middle-school writing level to the average range of entering graduate students on the GRE Analytical Writing Assessment in one school year, for less than $900 per student. Every participant later graduated from college with a GPA between 2.5 and 3.6, without accommodations. Russell now works to give parents and educators a practical path from confusion and guesswork to measurable academic progress.

This one means a lot to me. Don't miss it!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Sidley is a WGA Award and Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated comedy writer and performer who wrote for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Her first book, How to Be a Saint, is out now.

Beyond television, her work can be found in The New Yorker, McSweeney's, Reductress, and Someecards. She also wrote for the 69th Emmy Awards.

She holds a M.A. in Theatre History and Criticism from Brooklyn College and a third of a Ph.D. (so just the P) in Theatre from CUNY Graduate Center. She is also an alum of the NBC Late Night Writers Workshop, Baldwin Wallace University, a co-founder of Sea Tea Improv in Hartford, CT, and a proud returned Peace Corps volunteer.

We discussed our favorite saints, why Northeast Ohio is a gem of an area and the importance of learning from failure. Don't miss this one!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dave Mowry is a stand up Comedian who teaches the art to people with mental illness. His comedy has been described as smart, inspirational and laugh out loud funny. He lives with bipolar disorder and severe anxiety. Dave was a successful businessman until he lost it all due to his mental illness and becoming homeless with his family for 18 months.

After 14 lost years, he took a stand up comedy class for people with mental illness that changed everything. Dave went from mental illness having control over him to finding the humor in his experiences and regaining control of his life.

His new book, Healing With Humor: Mental Illness To Mental Health One Laugh, One Joke, One Inspiring Story At A Time, tells the stories of people who have taken his classes. His book, OMG That's Me! Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks And More is one of the best selling bipolar disorder books according to BookDNA.com.

Get inspired by this one!!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Terje Brevik is an improv teacher and performer from Oslo, Norway.

Terje took his first improv class in 2012, quit his IT Engineering job and never looked back. He then backpacked across Asia and got a degree as a drama teacher.

He is the founder the Impro Neuf community in Oslo in 2015. He also founded Tøyen Impro, an improv school for everyone, and the Short Notice Improv Festival, a week long international comedy festival complete with workshops, shows and a Big Day Out!

His ideas, style and preferences come from a broad and diverse range of sources. He considers himself very lucky and privileged to have studied with Keith Johnstone, at the Annoyance, iO Theater, Loose Moose, the Pack theater and many more (yet he learns the most from his students).

We discussed leaving and coming back to improv and the community he built, what it takes to be a good coach and so much more. Don't miss this!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Traveling, performing and teaching improv, Laurette is a french improviser now living in the Pacific Ocean (New Caledonia, a small archipelago near Australia). She is also a doctor, working in the war torn area of New Caledonia.

She has been playing, learning and teaching in various countries for several years and is always happy to share.

We talked about joy in improv and in her journey. She is a real inspiration! Don't miss this one!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Gillespie is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, who found a new chapter in writing childrens' books with a heroine and her story based on his family members and adventures. Floo Flocky Doo to the Rescue is a great story of a girl who knows what to do in strange situations. We had a great conversation about writing what you know and telling stories.

Don't miss this one!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny Johnson delivers clean stand-up with "Northeast sarcasm and Southern charm," making him a favorite for theaters, corporate events, churches, and community audiences nationwide. A Dry Bar Comedy featured comedian (Apple TV, Amazon & Peacock), he has appeared on Comedy Central, NateLand Live at Zanies, and shared stages with Howie Mandel, Bob Saget, and many others. A Carnival Cruise Line Comedy Challenge winner and 15-year headliner, Danny blends sharp observations, expressive physical comedy, and relatable stories into a show audiences trust and event planners rebook.

We talked about joke and storytelling styles and why it's not ok to have an inflection like another comedian. We also discussed what it takes to be a good working comedian in this marketplace.

You can check Danny out in August at SideSplitters Wesley Chapel in Tampa FL. Go to www.dannyjohnson.com for more info!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.