Ali Farahnakian on Improvising as a Way of Life and the Source of Happiness

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts211/v4/bb/4a/a8/bb4aa849-dece-bbec-8bf0-78bcbd9874b0/mza_11839182781974163098.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

How to Handle Anything

Mary Lemmer

21 episodes

4 days ago

Welcome to How to Handle Anything, the podcast where we talk about, well, how to handle anything. There’s one certainty in life, and that’s that it’s filled with *uncertainty.* One of the things that helps us navigate chaos and change is the ability to improvise. This podcast is all about how we create, adapt, navigate change, and improvise in our own lives and work, so that we can handle anything. Join us for conversations with entrepreneurs, business leaders, athletes, entertainers, and more about their stories in how they improvised and navigated change in their lives and work.

Self-Improvement

Education

RSS

All content for How to Handle Anything is the property of Mary Lemmer and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Self-Improvement

Education

https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/26032241/26032241-1698092080152-2922faf340be4.jpg

Ali Farahnakian on Improvising as a Way of Life and the Source of Happiness

How to Handle Anything

42 minutes 49 seconds

2 years ago

Ali Farahnakian on Improvising as a Way of Life and the Source of Happiness

This week's episode features Ali Farahnakian.

Ali is an American actor, writer, and improvisational comedian. He is the founder of The Peoples Improv Theater in NYC. Ali studied improv in the 1990s at the ImprovOlympic and was a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. He was a writer on Saturday Night Live during its 25th anniversary season and received a Writers Guild Award Nomination. Ali’s television credits include “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “Special Victims Unit,” “All My Children,” “Third Watch,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “30 Rock,” and numerous national commercials. He is an alum of SNL, The iO Theater, and Second City.

During this episode we discuss…

Ali’s improv origin story
His original career pursuit
The feeling he had during his first improv class in Chicago
The star studded fellow improvisers he performed with
Improv isn’t public speaking
How improvising impacted his life
Yes, and no thank you
Where saying “yes, and” has led him in life
Ballet dancers in NYC
How he keeps strengthening his improv muscle
“What would you do if money didn’t matter?”
Improvising with intention — having goals
The most surprising thing improv has brought into his life
Craft, community, career
Happiness, gratitude
A magic trick in the English language
Improv, sports, walking as forms of meditation

From Ali, when asked how improv has improved his life offstage, “Improv has been a part of my life for over 33 years. It’s my way of life.”

Connect with Ali on Instagram @alialinyc and check out The People's Improv Theater in NYC.

If you liked what you heard, Subscribe, write a review, tell a friend. If you didn’t like what you heard, well, try again next time. Each episode is different and we’re always improving (see what I did there?!)

Visit www.chooseimprove.com for resources and ways to improve in your life and work.

Join us for at chooseimprove.substack.com for weekly improvisations and monthly virtual sessions to practice improvising in your life.

Connect with us on Instagram @chooseimprove and linkedin.chooseimprove.com