Philosophy vs. Improv

It’s our season three premiere, and the elephants are in the room! It’s St. Lawrence University philosophy prof Jenny (a frequent PEL guest) in the ring with UIC Theater instructor/Podcaster with…

Philosopher Matt, host of the Elucidations podcast and frequent PEL guest, finally gets in on Philosophy vs. Improv in this, our Season Two Finale. And many is he a de dicto. Or is he a de re? Sl…

How does new technology affect ethics? Anthony (who is on strike, but that doesn’t apply to improv) is an improviser with a computer science degree who now coaches kid TV actors. We talk personal…

The guests are away, and so Billy and Markaroony will play. This fast-paced, sweet-moving discussion covers the genius individual artist and how that might or might not allow collaboration, genre…

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Chris has an act called “I Am the Show” where he improvises to a film that he hasn’t seen that’s playing silently, making up all the dialogue and…

Genevieve is a comedian, podcaster, and she was a philosophy major who’s studying for her doctorate in Divinity (in the Science of Mind/New Thought tradition). We talk about …

Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff of the Brain in a Vat podcast join Bill and Mark L. (aka Alf) to talk about rationality, broadly construed, while not moving a couch and not giving each other…

Zach is an improvisor who’s written for MST3K, been a commentator for Resistance Pro Wrestling, and has been a recurring guest on Hello From the Magic Tavern.

He joins Mark and Bill to discuss…

Tanner runs the popular daily podcast Practical Stoicism, so of course we brought him on to talk about on-board flight services and attitudes among retail service workers.

Seriously, this is o…

This episode is here, so why not listen? Philosophy vs. Improv advances to a new level of improvisation (aka half-assery) as Mark and Bill engage in a wide-ranging discussion (with scenes, of cou…

Marla is an improviser from the Whirled News Tonight iO Theater show. We talk about obeying proper forms of behavior and drawing improv inspiration from outside sources. Plus, a thruple blind dat…

We talk transcendental idealism and Schopenhauer with Cole, who teaches philosophy at the College of Southern Nevada. How does the idea that everything is ideas actually affect behavior? What if …

Mark and Bill act out a couple of scenes of a person trying to convince a stubborn person of something. But there’s a twist in the characterization! Also, before you were born, the world did not …

Rachael was a mentor of Bill’s and works with him at the newly reopened iO Theater. So it’s like we have TWO improv instructors here. We run some  scenes, talk a bit too much about chili, and tou…

What does the shortness of our lives and the beauty of the world actually entail in terms of behavior and philosophy? Nick is a former pro skater who teaches philosophy at U. of San Diego and has…

Voice actor Dee, who has a background in both improv and stand-up, talks to Mark and Bill about the meaning of life and engages in THREE scenes all about a parent trying to get some kids into a v…

As our first stand-up comedian (albeit one on sabbatical) guest, Matty has inspired us to largely ignore the philosophy on this one and instead look at these two different ways of producing comed…

It’s back to just Mark and Bill today. We talk about the lost art of prank phone calls and act out some “customer service nightmares” with an eye t…

The anonymous policy wonk who runs the Carneades.org YouTube channel joins Mark and Bill to discuss the core concept of his new book, Are All Lives Equal?: Why Cost-Benefit Analysis Values Rich L…