TheArtOfYes: Episode 2 – Interview With Joe Bill
Joe Bill is widely regarded as one of the best teachers of Scenic and Comedic Improvisation in America today. He currently teaches, performs and does corporate training at iO Chicago, is an Artistic Associate for The Chicago Improv Festival, and acts as an Artistic Adviser for a number of Improvisation and Comedy Theaters all over the world. Joe and a number of very talented friends, under the Artistic Direction of Mick Napier, co-founded The Annoyance Theater in Chicago in 1990. His passion for teaching Improvisation soon kicked into high gear as a unique approach to Improvised Scene and Character began to be articulated by a number of teachers at Annoyance, including Mick Napier, Mark Sutton, Joe, David Razowsky, Bob Fisher and Susan Messing that focused on Improvisers “Taking care of themselves, in order to take care of others in a scene”. Joe also tours with Impro legend Patti Stiles and their show Our Play. It is a joyful, harmonious improvised mash up of the seemingly conflicting approaches of Keith Johnstone, Del Close & Annoyance that illustrates, regardless of the school one is from, when improvisers play hard and take care of each other the show and the audience will be very well served. In addition to BASSPROV & Our Play, Joe tours internationally with the pride of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Canadian cultural and comedic treasure, Lee White. Their 2 person show, PARADiGM, explores a different format in each successive show with an approach that has been described as Death Metal on a Unicorn. He also tours with with Minneapolis Improv Mastermind Jill Bernard in their 2 person show, SCRAM!, which features 3 different 2 person scenes that happen at the same time. Joe occasionally plays in other duos with extremely talented friends, David Razowsky, Susan Messing, Brad Morris, Ed Furman, Celene Ramadan, Alison Royer, Ethan Newberry, Inbal Lori and many more. Joe has performed, coached, taught, directed and/or innovated with every major Improvisation Institution in Chicago and New York, and many more throughout the U.S. and Canada. Joe has also been a corporate trainer since 1993. He’s very proud to be The Senior Facilitator & Designer for iO Chicago Corporate, a Senior Affiliate Facilitator for The Ariel Group, Master Facilitator for Ferrazzi Greenlight and Actor, Director and Executive Coach for ReAct.
FIND JOE ON FACEBOOK Joe Bill Teaches! https://www.facebook.com/groups/18260…
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheArtOfYes