007 - Jethro Nolen - On working with Del and allowing everything to be part of the work

Talking Shop: An Improv Podcast with Brian Gray

In October's episode, Brian sits down with Arcade Comedy co-founder and twenty year improv veteran Jethro Nolen. Jethro has studied and performed at iO and Annoyance in Chicago with teachers such as Charna Halpern, Mick Napier, Susan Messing, Joe Bill, Craig Cackowski, Rich Talarico. He has performed with Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, at iO West in LA and studied with The Groundlings. Jethro is now a Creative Director at Arcade Comedy Theater where he performs regularly with Nolen & Nolen, Dinner with the Nolens, and a variety of other shows.

I talk with Jethro about his experience with The Lindbergh Babies, a team directed by Del Close and who performed the last improv form Del ever created. We talked about Del's process and its influences on Jethro's own work, specifically about getting rid of preconceptions about the form and the scene and allowing anything that happens to be a part of the work.

DISCLAIMER: During the set, Jethro spoils the ending to Breaking Bad.

We then did a pretty outlandish 10 minute montage, which you can watch here:
https://vimeo.com/78526238

Thanks to Zach Simons for audio production and live tech and our new home at Arcade Comedy Theater for hosting the show.

Music in the podcast:

• Talking Shop Theme by Michelle Horsley
• Kick Shock by Kevin MacLeod
• Last Days of Disco by Fhernando

Don't miss Talking Shop next month on November 17 at 8pm with actor, improviser and teacher Ric Walker!