Immersion Nation Podcast
by Immersion Nation
Entertainment is changing. Discover how Immersive entertainment is changing our culture, the way we interact, and the way we play. Each Monday, the creators of immersive experiences tell us what it means to engage with new rules in new worlds. VR, escape rooms, social adventures, and alternate reality games only scratch the surface of what’s to come as the immersive revolution grows.
Episodes
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Jury Games | Joe Ball & Tom Black
Emma Sheridan and Scott Cramton talk with Joe Ball and Tom Black of Jury Games about crafting live, interactive trials where participants interrogate a real-time defendant, wrestle with evidence, and race a ticking clock to a declare a verdict. They trace Jury Games’ evolution from lockdown Zoom...
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Bridge Command | Owen Kingston & Zoe Flint
Hosts Emma Sheridan and Scott Cramton speak with creators Owen Kingston and Zoe Flint of Parabolic Theatre about building agency-driven worlds, from WWII alternate history to the starship simulator Bridge Command. Together they explore the power of collaboration, the risks and rewards of giving...
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The Storehouse
Emma and Scott Discuss Sage and Jester's Newest Immersive Experience The Storehouse in London. https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/storehouse/
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Behind the Scenes of Immersive "South by Southwest" and a Nationwide Roll Out!
Emma and special Co Host Scott, Talk about their experience working with Universal Studio and their new movie drop. They take you behind the scenes and talk about what it's like to create a custom immersive event for South By Southwest and have that get picked up for a Nationwide Event!
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Sudden Closure of "Life and Trust" a New York Immersive Juggernaut.
Emma and Scott do their best job at a true crime podcast as they dig deep and attempt to find out why Life and Trust closed without warning. This was recorded 4-28-25
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Overlook Film and Immersive Festival 2025
Emma and Scott review the amazing work at the Overlook Film and Immersive Festival in New Orleans.
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We're BACK! Featuring Candle House Collective's Evan Neiden
New Host Emma Sheridan and special cohost Scott Cramton (Founder of American Immersion Theater and The Murder Mystery Company) interview the master of the remote immersive experiences, Evan Neiden. For more information on Candle House Collective, visit their website here. Be sure to check out…
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RECON & the Room Escape Artists | David and Lisa Spira
This week in the interview, we talk with David and Lisa Sipra; the co-founders of Room Escape Artist, the most prolific publication covering escape rooms and the escape room industry. We start by talking about Lisa and David’s first escape rooms and how Room Escape Artist (or REA for short) came…
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Innovating out of Limitation | Kendra Slack and Jordan Chlapecka
This week in the interview, we talk with Kendra Slack and Jordan Chlapecka of Linked Dance Theatre, a group based in New York City that creates immersive experiences that utilize a multitude of mediums in their work, but of course, emphasize dance. We talk about: Their paths and how Linked Dance...
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2019 Immersion Awards Announcements
The results are in! For all of you who voted. Thank you so much for taking the time helping to help support both your favorite immersive experiences, creators, and the immersive community! On January 28th, we reached out to a myriad of wonderful immersive creators... Now, 18 days and couple...
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Roundtable discussion: Immersive Entertainment and Real World Impact • Part 3
Welcome to the 3rd and final part of this roundtable discussion on immersive entertainment and it impacts on the real world. Joining us we have Caroline Murphy, Chief Creative Officer of Incantrix Productions. Jessica Creane, founder of IKANTKOAN Games. Justin Fyles, Co-founder and Managing...
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Roundtable discussion: Immersive Entertainment and Real World Impact • Part 2
This is part two of the three-part roundtable discussion on the real-world impact of immersive entertainment. This, in many ways, is the perfect set of episodes to be airing now, because this is the time of year where many so many people, subcultures, and industries zoom out to look at the…
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Roundtable Discussion: Immersive Entertainment and Real World Impact • Part 1
This week we have not one but 4 truly phenomenal guests. This is the first part of a round table discussion on immersive entertainment and its relationship to real experiences and the real world. Caroline Murphy of 'Incantrix Productions', Jessica Creane of 'IKANTKOAN Games', Justin Fyles of 'Any...
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Immersive in 2019 & 2020 • The Value of Play pt. 2 • The 2019 Immersion Awards
In this episode, we talk about the 2019 immersion awards and take a look at the big picture of immersive entertainment in 2019. We revisit the concept of play with a few listeners of the podcast joining us to share their thoughts on the importance of play. Next, we discuss the potential future of...
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#36 Connection is the Secret Sauce with Ross Tipograph
By now, we all know, It’s all about connection. So why am I coming back to this topic here? Because connection can be manifested in so many different ways. It struck me when going through the first section of this interview. It seems like the way Ross cultivates connection is by seeing a spark in...
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#35 Inside the Mind of an Experience Designer with Ross Tipograph
We all have our superpowers. The set of unique experiences we have that make us uniquely suited for specific things. Often, our superpowers come from the combination of many different skills. Now, in our world, the world of immersive entertainment; theater and marketing may seem like an obvious...
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#34 When fiction looks at you with Jeromy Barber of Dinolion
To recap, last week we left off. Jeromy had gotten a call from a local bar/beer garden asking him to produce a Halloween season show for their upstairs space. They had a month to make this show, the rabbit cage, come together. We talk about this adventure in creation and how one could layer...
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#33 Designing for Champaign Problems with Jeromy Barber of Dinolion
In 2005, Jeromy Barber moved from New York City to a small town in Texas. If Jeromy's life was a screenplay, and I was editing? I would probably advise the writer to make it just a touch less formulaic. It is fantastic. Jeromy has trained with the comedy monolith, Second City. Founded the improv...
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#32 Always a challenge but absolutely possible with Immersive Producer Niyia Mack
This episode is brimming, overflowing even with tips and techniques for those who like to look behind the curtain. If you didn’t catch last week’s episode, it gives some background on our guest Niyia Mack’s experience producing and consulting on immersive experience design. This week, Niyia…
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#31 It's ALL Co-creation with Immersive Producer, Niyia Mack
How does it all come together? How does one take a multitude of moving parts; actors, and scripts, and settings, varying degrees of audience agency and assemble them into emotionally evocative experiences? If you are the creator, the producer, the director, the writer venturing into unknown...
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#29 Relearning agency and rehearsal for existence with Noah Nelson of No Proscenium
“The art of immersive isn’t about the art of engagement, it isn’t about holding people’s attention... It’s about attachment. It’s about forging a connection.” -Noah You can consume or you can create. Usually, it’s one or the other. Whether you’re considering a movie, music, or a book.. You can...
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#28 Most People Think The Medium Matters with Noah Nelson of No Proscenium
What is immersive entertainment? Oh my word, does anybody know?? When someone asks you what you did Saturday night, what is the 2 second explanation? I went to see this movie, I went to dinner at x place, I went to this concert. These work because everyone knows what the movie, dinner, the…
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#27 Enabling empathy and cultivating connection with Siobhan O’Loughlin of Broken Bone Bathtub
Now this is where things change. One small group of people, one small room, one unexpectedly vulnerable interaction at a time. And it’s not easy. It’s hard to just be present, let alone open up to strangers. And this is where Siobhan comes in. Someone who can take something serious, and turn it...
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#26 Social design and Invisible Privilege | Risa Puno of The Privilege of Escape
We often think of people as so individual, so removed from their context. As individuals. But try as we might, we are.. the constantly shifting point that sits at the intersection of our internal identity and our external environment. And if you think about the curve of human history, this fact…
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#25 Soundbaths, soundscapes, and flourishing experiments with Andrew Hoepfner of House World
The word ‘soundscape’ seems to get lobbed around haphazardly, kind of like a half deflated football picked up out of a sense of obligation around the Thanksgiving season. However, the idea of a ‘soundscape’ seems to have a bit more vigor when applied more literally to an immersive experience....
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#24 Possession, Regret, and The Cutting Room Floor with Patrick Mueller of Control Group Productions
This is a season of the surreal. On some certain, inexplicable terms we find ourselves drawn to the ethereal, the supernatural, the unknown, and the misunderstood. At the intersection of all these things lies The Cutting Room Floor. The Cutting Room Floor is not a traditional haunt, no. This show...
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#23 The Heightened Mystery of Poe’s Passing With Aaron Salazar of Poseidon Theatre company
On the date of this recording, 170 years ago, Edgar Allan Poe died. It is disputed exactly how Poe died, and why. But there is a theory... Now, if you were to find yourself in manhattan 50 years ago, you might also find a group of young adults, gathered in a basement with Poe’s words eager on…
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#22 Privilege, Play, and Starting conversations with Risa Puno of The Privilege of Escape
A door has opened with the rise of immersive experience. Immersive experience can be fun, and wondrous, mind bending, but it can also aid incredible empathy in a way that very few other things can. The privilege of escape is an escape room and an experience that uses this fact to address the real...
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#21 The value of play pt. 1
Why is play important? What is the value of play? Well, today’s episode of the immersion Nation Podcast is a little bit different. This is the first in a series of mini episodes that we’re going to be releasing periodically in place of our normal interviews. We’ve been asking guests of the...
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# 20 The playful experience of chaos with Jessica Creane of IKantKoan
On May 18th, 2019, Ikantkoan Games founder Jessica Creane took the TED stage, under unusual circumstances, to give a talk about chaos theory. She explained that as a game designer, she takes complex systems and turns them into “playful interactive experiences” Today, Jessica joins the show to…
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#19 Invisible but not hidden: Wellness and the transformation economy with Melinda Lauw of Whisperlodge
On a humid August night in williamsburg brooklyn, Melinda Lauw, cofounder of the genre creating asmr experience, Whisperlodge, took the stage at new york immersive night. Melinda explained that she thought of immersive experience as a kind of wellness practice. At that moment I was sitting in the...
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#18 Hallowed Haunt: Inside a nationally acclaimed haunted experience: Dwayne Sanburn of The 13th Gate
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sitting just off the bank of the mississippi river is The 13th Gate. A repeatedly nationally acclaimed haunted house and escape room. The founder and owner -an understated multi-medium master- Dwayne Sanburn joins the podcast to discuss the experience that has…
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#17 Mimes, Accidental Immersion, and the Power of Story: Billy Angel of Story Works
Stories are trust. They create understanding and shared meaning. Stories are the fabric of culture so it is befitting that Billy Angel has carved his path through the world with his stories. From the Netherlands, to the UK, to the co-founding of Story Works in the United States. In this...
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#16 Fluid identity, empathy, and the struggle to understand: CoAct Productions
Identity is a complex topic under the best of circumstances. We are often defined by the invisible scripts we learned so long ago we forget we’re even reciting lines. The Severance Theory casts you in the role of someone contending with DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder, commonly known as...
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#15 What does it mean to be human?: Ben Cox of Trailblazer Productions
Imagine if human touch were a felony. What would that world look like? Ben Cox of Trailblazer Productions is exploring this question in his productions of TOUCH & TOUCH: INCARNATION. Ben joins the Immersion Nation Podcast for an adventure through dystopian futures, cultural change, and the...
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#14 Carnivals, crowns, and learning the power to change: Caroline Murphy of Incantrix productions
Any who have truly lost themselves in an immersive experience have glimpsed the potential of immersion as a whole. Caroline Murphy -co-founder of Incantrix production- discusses this potential, and the cause behind the air of wonder and openness that often follows audiences out the doors, after…
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Mini-Episode #13.5 New and upcoming with Windy City Playhouse
Windy City Playhouse has so much coming up, we pulled this clip out of the conversation in Episode 13 to try out a new format. If you have not heard Ep. 13, you can check that out here: And, of course, you can DM Immersion Nation on Instagram if you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or just...
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#13 Emotional realism, being first, and the infinite learning curve: Amy Rubenstein of Windy City Playhouse
Amy Rubenstein is in many ways the metaphorical tip of the spear within the burgeoning world of immersive theater in Chicago. As the artistic director of Windy City Playhouse, Amy explains the path to creating a bracingly lifelike visage of 1960’s Georgia in their recent show, Southern Gothic. If...
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#12 Data Privacy and Immersive for social good: Justin Fyles of Any One Thing
Any One Thing, can be thought of as similar to the futuristic Netflix series, ‘Black Mirror’ (excluding episode 1, for any who stopped there). Subtracting a heavy portion of darkness, ‘Any One Thing’ (or A1T) explores the edge of what could be possible with technology, today, or in the very near...
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# 11 Game VS. Story, A love tale: Haley and Cameron Cooper of Strange Bird Immersive.
It’s rare that you find an actor in an escape room. It’s even more rare to discover that the actor doesn’t detract from you an experience, but helps create it. Cameron and Haley, are masters of this very thing. Madame Daphne guides you through a seance in attempt to contact the ghost of Harry...
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#10 VR, AI, and the edge of immersive media: Pete Billington of Fable Studio
“I’m absolutely convinced that the best way to learn is through play” Fable Studios has created a piece of Immersive storytelling that is pushing the boundaries of both technology and immersion as a creative medium; Wolves In the walls. A Virtual Reality story based on the book, Wolves in the…
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#9 building curiosity: Inside a world class escape room- Allie Jorde & Eliza’bot’ Sonder of Palace Games
Palace games has been deemed the best escape room in the country. Based in the immersive tech capital, San Francisco they push to blur the lines between reality and fiction in their brilliantly engineered rooms. Adding to the environment, they are actually built into the San Fran palace of fine...
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#8 You are seen, you are essential: Relearning play with -The Speakeasy Society’s artistic directors
For 7 years Artistic Directors Genevieve Gearhart, Julianne Just, and Matthew Bamberg-Johnson of the Speakeasy society have shown LA’s immersive community the evolution of an artform. With more experience than most working in the LA area, they have a unique understanding of the word ‘play’ and…
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#7 Candles, memory, and the value of new perspective -Christoff Visscher
Description: An immersive experience based on memory and scent. Christoff Visscher has learned how to harness the link between nostalgia and our sense of smell to create emotionally resonant stories, worlds, and perspective. Through Cantrip Candles and Tales By Candlelight, he is exploring the…
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#6 Opting out, consent, and the Immersive revolution -Spencer Williams
Description: Spencer Williams has followed a common thread. From documentary, to haunted corn mazes, to boutique immersive experiences for only 1 to 3 guests. The desire to watch a story, a world, a new perspective unfold brought him to the front edge of immersive entertainment. Creating Walk the...
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#5 Magic realism, one-on-ones, and the shape of change -Spencer Williams
Spencer Williams has followed a common thread. From documentary, to haunted corn mazes, to boutique immersive experiences for only 1 to 3 guests. The desire to watch a story, a world, a new perspective unfold brought him to the front edge of immersive entertainment. Creating Walk the Night...
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#4 Police helicopters, rigid narratives, and the barrier to entry -Lauren Ludwig and Monica Miklas
Monica Miklas and Lauren Ludwig travel through the fringe, to the front lines of immersive entertainment. Encountering overzealous onlookers, confused law enforcement, and a lifelong frustration with the 4th wall; they solve the problems that come with being on the front edge of a new wave. Based...
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#3 Surplus reality, cultural communication, and the ancient roots of immersion -Marcia Angel
Marcia Angel, Cofounder of Story Works, has been working in both drama and psychology for more than 3 decades. Her staple event, Playback Improv, is one of the oldest most personally impactful vehicles for immersive experience. Originating in Nepal, playback mirrors the stories of the audience...
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#2 VR baptism, improv endings, and the state of play -Ian Mckneely & Austen Anderson
Ian McNeely & Austen Anderson are the shakespearean trained, co-founders of Broken Ghost immersives. Deploying a seemingly infinite supply of creativity, they create experiences that cater to any type of player. They have created The Bunker, and Rogue’s Gallery, and formerly the wake.…
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#1 Rebellious acting, Wonka marketing, and 'Wolverine' on broadway -Scott Cramton
Scott Cramton is the founder of American Immersion Theater with over 1,000 immersive shows under his belt. Over the course of 15 years Scott has developed and refined socially immersive experiences. Scott was born with a cleft palate and -naturally- chose to act professionally. Often, one’s...
About this show
Entertainment is changing. Discover how Immersive entertainment is changing our culture, the way we interact, and the way we play. Each Monday, the creators of immersive experiences tell us what it means to engage with new rules in new worlds. VR, escape rooms, social adventures, and alternate reality games only scratch the surface of what’s to come as the immersive revolution grows.
Hosted by
Immersion Nation
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