Simple stories can give a sweet taste of wisdom. Cued by a compact wisdom tale passed on by friend and colleague William Hall, co-hosts Ted and Lisa wonder about purpose, sweetness, and gratitude in the midst of certain danger. The episode starts with a game that Ted created a while back but hasn’t gotten [more…]
Monster Baby #77 Living Under Lockdown
How do you make sense of living under lockdown? As citizens of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ted and Lisa have been holed up in their respective homes as the coronavirus crisis continues to unfold. Recorded over Zoom, they start this episode by considering their usual tolerance for germs (2:01) and then check in about [more…]
Monster Baby #72 Waking Up to the Gifts
What gifts do mindfulness and improv bring to your season of light? It’s the season of giving and Ted and Lisa are musing on the life-shifting gifts of their shared practice. They start the episode with an invitation for responses and then take a few moments for a warm-up game of “Three Things.” (4:11) The pair introduces [more…]
Monster Baby #65 Joy Conspiracy
What happens if you conspire for joy? Joy’s a huge part of improv—and hopefully, a huge part of life. On Monster Baby #65, Ted and Lisa explore the ins and outs of this delicious emotion. They start with a laugh-worthy warm-up game of “Convergence” (2:03) and a recap of Lisa’s great day (7:55). Ted [more…]
Monster Baby #63 Simmer Down, Inner Critic (A Conversation with Denise Jacobs)
Can you quiet your Inner Critic and nourish your Inner Coach? Few things block your creativity more than the nastiness of the voices inside your own head. And it’s true for all of us. On episode #63 of the Monster Baby podcast, Lisa and Ted sit down with creativity evangelist, Denise Jacobs, to explore insights [more…]
Monster Baby #60 “Congrats…it’s a BOOK!”
Have you ever wanted to get a creative vision into the world? In Monster Baby episode #60, Lisa and Ted celebrate the release of Ted’s new book, Playful Mindfulness into the world! The conversation starts with some reflections on Ted’s current voice and presence class (2:14) before Ted describes the error-finding process of bringing the book [more…]
Monster Baby #46 Playing with Creativity
What does it mean to be creative? Do you qualify? In Monster Baby #46, Lisa and Ted mix it up with the muses, exploring the boundaries and qualities of this thing called “creativity.” They start with a riff on poinsettias and mouth noises—hint: Lisa likes the former and hates the latter (1:08)—and acknowledge their entry [more…]
Improvisation as Spiritual Practice: A Deepening Path
Want to explore all this in person? Join our Mindful Play, Playful Mind retreat in Santa Cruz this June 11-15! This fall, I had the immense pleasure of spending four days in the woods outside Montreal with a most beautiful crew of applied improvisors. We laughed, we danced, we played, we performed, we ate amazing [more…]
Judgment vs. Discernment (Part 2 of 2 in a series on How to Evaluate Choices Without Shutting Down the Creative Muse)
For Part 1 of this series, “Unleash the Hounds!” click here. An improvisor who wants access to a free flow of ideas needs to unleash her creative imagination from the shackles of self-judgment and self-censorship. He needs to let go of worrying what others will think of him. As the renowned improv teacher Keith Johnstone [more…]
Unleash the Hounds!!! (Part 1 of 2 in a series on How to Evaluate Choices Without Shutting Down the Creative Muse)
In many ways, the spontaneity of improvisational theatre compares with letting a pent-up dog off-leash. For one, there’s a risk involved—no matter how well the dog has been trained, you’re simply not sure what’s going to happen. Even if your dog tends to stay nearby on its walk, you always have the uneasy sense you’ll [more…]
