Video Transcripts

This is the transcript for our video “Social Emotional Learning Through Improv.”

Captions are also available in the YouTube player.

[Host 1]: MNprov is an organization that uses applied improvisation exercises to help students strengthen social emotional learning.

[Guest 1]: MNprov is kind of like that safe place to say something that might sound ridiculous because everybody else will just go along with it.

[Guest 2]: t's kind of the foundation of interactions, reacting quickly to things that happen, and coming up with what you should say or do - has obviously been very helpful.

[Host 1]: Confidence levels would come up, the acceptance of others ideas, listening skills would start increasing.

[Guest 3]: It helped me to express who I am in my daily life. Doing stuff like this makes me feel not upset. It just makes me feel happy and alive.

[Guest 4]: She thinks that this as like a therapy almost. It's just a way that she can just kind of get things out and have fun.

[Host 2]: They're getting lots and lots of practice and, as they're practicing those skills, they're laughing and having fun, feeling good, trying new things. Then, hopefully it's generalizing into their lives.

[Host 1]: I would love from MNprov to be in more schools to help more students as they get out into adult life.

Return to Page: MNprov Mixers

This is the transcript for our video “Fox9 News - Improv group uses comedy to build up people with disabilities.”

Captions are also available in the YouTube player.

[Narrator]: A new theater troop in the Twin Cities is one-of-a-kind! The group is shining a spotlight on some unique performers who have disabilities. In tonight's Maury Stories, Maury Glover shows us how the members of MNprov Live! are using comedy to build confidence, resilience, and connection.

[Michael]: All right everybody, let's warm up a little bit!

[Narrator]: One of the principles of improv is accepting an idea and building on it. Known as “yes, and.”

[Michael]: Let's start with a little “Zip, Zap, Zop.” Why not?

[Narrator]: That's exactly what these performers are doing by embracing the power of play.

[Grace]: I like acting because I've always been dramatic in different acting ways. So, it’s been a really good fit.

[Narrator]: Grace Bohn has Down Syndrome, but now she's part I am of a new improv troupe that is ready to take center stage.

[Michael to Grace]: What are you doing?

[Grace to Michael]: I am opening up a secret treasure chest.

[Grace to Camera]: I really like doing this. So, it's one of my favorite hobbies that I do, and I like to have fun with lots of people.

[Narrator]: Bohn is one of eight performers who make up MNprov Live! All the members have disabilities ranging from autism to ADHD. Making it the first professional improv troupe of its kind in the state, and possibly the country.

[Michael]: It's basically anyone who isn't neurotypical, which means that their brain works just a little differently.

[Narrator]: Artistic Director, Michael Bruckmueller, is the co-founder of MNprov, which uses improvisational theater to help neurodivergent students reduce social anxiety, while learning valuable life skills like creative thinking, cultivating a positive outlook, and teamwork. But recently, the nonprofit received a couple of grants to create its own improv troupe, where the performers are paid for both rehearsals and performances. Which Bruckmueller says is no laughing matter.

[Michael]: I want them to feel pride in the work that they're doing. My work is valued. You are paying me for my work. That makes me feel better about it, and it really helps build your confidence.

Improv Scene

[Michael – in Character]: Thanks for being here!

[Lizzy – in Character]: Oh my pleasure, Sweetheart! I had to come out to your thing.

[Michael – in Character]: Great! Thank you, Mom.

End scene

[Narrator]: MNprov Live! rehearses once a week and plans to hold a couple of public shows a month, as well as private performances. Bruckmueller hopes the troupe changes people's perceptions, and proves the arts are for everyone.

[Michael]: What I would hope is that the audience comes away with just a greater sense of like, “Oh we are all the same.” We may have differences. Our minds might work differently, but we are all creative and individuals. We can all make these things, and these performers are brave!

[Matthew]: I love it. Everything about it. I love literally using my imagination. I love literally

acting with other people, literally interacting

[Narrator]: Matthew Machacek is on the autism spectrum, and also suffers from Tourette Syndrome. He says improv has made him more communicative in social situations, and now he gets paid to pursue his passion.

[Matthew]:  It makes me think faster. It makes it so my thought processing doesn't get dull. It makes it so I actually speak to people, instead of not, and it keeps me energized because I enjoy doing it.

[Narrator]: Bohn hopes people with disabilities seeing themselves on stage will help them all have the last laugh.

[Grace]: I just think it's a very powerful meaning to be more, have more inclusion for people like me. I'm the person who can show them that there's more to it, and you can do what you want. You can pursue your dreams!

[Narrator]: For Maury stories, Maury Glover

[Michael to Performers]: We are going to go ahead and call our rehearsal tonight. Give yourselves a huge round of applause!

[News Anchor 1]: So good. That was so fun for them. Really it's so spontaneous, always changing, so interconnected with the audience too.

[News Anchor 2]: That connection with other people is super important, yeah.

Return to Page: MNprov Live!

This is the transcript for the video “Using Improv Comedy to Unite Your Team.”

Captions are also available in the YouTube player.

Speaker: Francisca Gina, Behavioral Scientist and Professor at Harvard Business School

When I bought improv comedy classes, as a Christmas present for my husband, I did it almost as a joke. In a lot of our conversations, or our meetings, we tend to shut down others ideas. In improv comedy, you're trying to build a scene, or working on exercises, and they are based on principles that fundamentally how help people interact with other more effectively. The rule of the “yes, and,” is a rule where, you always start from a point of acceptance, and then you add to it. So, imagine that you are in a meeting, or in a brainstorming session, and everybody is trying to contribute to the discussion. It is much better to do so by adding ideas that start off from a point of acceptance.

Think about situations where you were the one person talking, expressing an idea and then you're colleague jumps in, and said, “’Yes, but that is not gonna work.” In this context, all of a sudden you don't feel as if your contribution is valued. And, what we know from research, is that next time around you're gonna probably stay silent. Improv brings about a lot of discomfort. You need to shift your attention from yourself to the other person. That’s not how we live our lives usually. We're very focused on what we are gonna say. So, improv teaches us to have a little bit more respect for other's contributions, in a way that makes all of us better off.

Return to Page: Corporate Training