Episodes
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Bad Coach, Good Advice
This week, Rob and Adam open up the Backline Mailbag to discuss an anonymous question on the podcast. What should you do if you aren't having fun on a team? What if you don't respect your coach? What if the notes you're receiving aren't making a better improviser? We'll discuss conflict…
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Questions Only: Emotional Roleplay
This week on The Backline, Adam and Rob answer listener questions. First up: how do you better portray emotions onstage? What does it actually mean to play an emotion, and how can improvisers make those feelings read to an audience?Then they offer some tips and tricks if your troupe is uisng D&D…
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New in Town
This week on The Backline, Rob and Adam talk about what it’s like to leave the comedy scene you know and start over somewhere new. How do you find your people? How do you get involved in a new improv community? How do you balance making connections with actually doing the work? Also, tips how to...
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Stage Fright
This week on The Backline, Rob and Adam talk about stage fright, nerves, anxiety, and all the things that can make stepping onstage feel terrifying. Is stage fright just a silly emotional response, or is there something more serious going on? Why do some performers get nervous before every show...
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Noteworthy
This week on The Backline, Rob and Adam talk about one of the trickiest parts of being on an improv team: giving and receiving notes. How do you give someone useful feedback without turning the notes into a list of things they did wrong? How do you take notes, learn from a bad show, and then walk...
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Jokes VS. Jiu-jitsu
This week, Rob and Adam tackle one of the most dreaded words in improv: jokes.What actually makes something a joke? Are jokes bad for improv? And if we’re not trying to make jokes, how are we supposed to get laughs? Rob and Adam dig into the difference between earning laughs and trying to be...
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Rethinking the Who, What, Where
This week, Adam and Rob revisit a recent monoscene in which the context wasn't revealed until surprisingly late. They discuss the value of playing the dynamic from the top, waiting for the right moment to define the scene, and why the who, what, and where remain essential in every scene we play.
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Run Towards the Danger
This week on The Backline, Rob and Adam discuss: danger. Most training teaches us how to avoid confusion, conflict, and uncertainty onstage—but what if those uncomfortable moments are exactly where the best scenes come from? If you've ever wondered why some scenes feel thrilling while others feel...
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Low Energy
This week, Rob and Adam discuss "energy". What is energy onstage? What should you do if your show is low energy and is that always a problem? Whether you're trying to slow a scene down without losing momentum or wondering how to make silence, restraint, and authenticity exciting to watch, this...
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Improv Across North America
What makes improv in Toronto feel different from Chicago? Why does Los Angeles produce a different kind of performer than New York? And where do cities like Vancouver, Montreal, and Mexico City fit into the larger improv landscape? In this episode, Rob and Adam answer a listener's question about...
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The Back Row
This week Adam and Rob discuss competition, egalitarianism, and how the politics of the classroom affect improv teams, shows, and theatres. Should improv delineate between amateur and professional? What's the best way to transition students into shows with experienced vets? Also, Backrooms is…
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Longform Loves Openers
This week on Backline, Rob and Adam break down their favourite longform openers and put them to the test, ranking different approaches based on flexibility, inspiration, ease of execution, and how well they serve the show that follows. From monologues to monologs to organic openings, they discuss...
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Bubble Letters
This week on Backline, Rob and Adam explore how improvisers can create characters with greater depth, vulnerability, and gravitas. Beyond funny voices and quirks, what makes a character feel like a real person? The hosts discuss techniques for building emotional weight, making meaningful choices,...
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Pulling Premises
This week on Backline, Rob and Adam tackle one of the most fundamental skills in longform improv: pulling premises from a monologue and turning them into strong scene initiations. What information should you actually be listening for? Which details are useful, and which are likely to send you…
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The Competitive Spark
This week on Backline, Rob and Adam dig into the competitive spark inside improv — when it helps, when it hurts, and how great scene partners turn rivalry into fuel instead of friction. They talk about using your partner’s moves to elevate your own game, navigating ambition in ensemble work, and...
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The Undisputed Longform Champion of the World
What's better? Harold or Armando? Spokane or Close Quarters? This week, Rob and Adam help a new team choose their signature longform format through a grueling bracket of 18 possible formats.
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Paying the Tax
This week Rob and Adam, discuss the painful but necessary process of “Paying the Tax” , while trying to stay present, apply class lessons, and putting in the reps. Despite all of that, the laughs still aren’t coming. If you’ve ever felt stuck between learning and getting laughs, this episode is…
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Rehearsal Vibes
This week, Rob and Adam open up the Backline Mailbag and find, wouldn’t you know it, two questions about rehearsal. In this episode they discuss the strange shift that happens when rehearsal turns into performance — why things that feel easy in practice suddenly feel impossible on stage. They…
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PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Going Solo with Monika Smith
In this episode, Monika Smith—actor, writer, and comedian—dives into the art of solo improv, sharing how she transforms a single suggestion into an entire world of characters, stories, and unexpected turns. Drawing from her years touring with The Second City and performing at UCB in iconic shows...
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The Day of All Days
This week, Rob and Adam turn their attention to the concept “Day of All Days.” It’s a phrase that suggests high stakes and life-changing moments, yet so many of the most memorable scenes revolve around the smallest, most ordinary situations. Why do mundane premises so often lead to the biggest...
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Underwhelmed
This week, Rob and Adam explore how to navigate scenes with a partner who brings a limited emotional range. Together they break down the difference between performing emotion and truly embodying it, and offer practical ways to create better scenes using radical acceptance.
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Lost
In this episode of The Backline, Rob and Adam explore why performers lose their footing, from overthinking to disconnection, and share practical ways to stay present, reconnect, and move forward without spiraling into shame when you get lost in a scene. Also, a question about basketball, bullying...
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Learning but Bored
Advanced improv can be tricky—students freeze, forget the game, or feel overwhelmed by structure. This week Rob and Adam discuss practical strategies to reduce overload, and motivate students who may never perform but just want to have fun. Also, "Missiles", door-Ohs, and your new favourite…
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PATREON EXCLUSIVE: What Makes a Scene with Mick Napier
Mick Napier is an acclaimed director, teacher, and author of Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out. Mick founded Chicago’s Annoyance Theatre, served as the artistic consultant at The Second City, and worked with comedy icons like Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Amy Sedaris. This week, Adam and Mick...
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Awareness VS. Agency
This week Rob and Adam discuss how to create interiority in a character, how focussing too much on heightening can create undesired outcomes, and how intentionally burning your own Game of the Scene can make for a more interesting, and psychologically complex character.
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Is it a Scam?
This week, Rob and Adam discuss shady improv classes, incompetent improv teachers, and what to do when you’re dissatisfied with your experience in the classroom.
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A Surprising Way to Teach Improv
This week Rob and Adam discuss different methods of teaching improv, what's the best way for a teacher to get their ideas across, and how context changes an improv teacher's lesson plan.
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Is this the End of the Second City e.t.c?
This week, Rob and Adam unpack a major shake-up at The Second City. Starting January 22, 2026, the historic e.t.c. Stage shifts from scripted sketch to Improv Supernova, a fully improvised show—the first change in its 43-year history. They explore why the move makes sense now and what it means…
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Shame, Scene Hogs, and Everything Else
Rob and Adam answer three questions from a single listener. This week they discuss shame, greedy scene partners, and how to strengthen your comedic muscles offstage.
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To Care or Not Care
This week Rob and Adam discuss the delicate balance between telling jokes and caring about the reality of the scene, when it makes sense to care in your scene, and how to start investing in the reality more.
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Fresh Start
We all make mistakes—but how do we recover when they happen onstage? Is there a magic phrase an improviser can use to win the audience back? This week, Rob and Adam discuss the best strategies for recovering after bombing a scene.
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The Backline Holiday Special 2025
This week Rob and Adam reflect on the year and give spread thanks to improv communities across the world: Ann Arbor, Chris the Cameraman, mentorship from Greg Yates, and never giving up on the dream of a Magnet House team.
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Bulldozer
In this episode, Rob and Adam dive into the challenges of handling heavy offers, navigating information overload, and figuring out how to deal with unexpected “bulldozers” that can derail an improv scene. They break down practical strategies, share examples, and explore how to keep scenes…
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Touch the Lamassu!
This week, Rob and Adam tackle a tricky question: does your improv teacher have secrets to share, or are they full of it? With countless improv styles—many of them contradicting each other—it can be tough to know what to believe. Rob and Adam explore how improv ideas get passed down, why some...
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PATREON EXCLUSIVE: The Origins of Impro with Patti Stiles
This week, Adam Cawley talks with renowned improviser, director, and author Patti Stiles, a longtime Keith Johnstone student and key figure at the Loose Moose Theatre. Patti shares insights from her decades of international teaching and performing, exploring how whimsy, curiosity, and emotional...
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From Classroom to the Stage
This week Rob and Adam discuss the transitioning your skills from the classroom to the stage. Why is it so hard to do what works in an exercise, onstage in front of an audience?
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Spark-less
Rob and Adam talk about navigating your improv career, dealing with self-doubt, and having honest conversations with yourself about what's possible and what is probable.
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Intelligence VS. Integrity
This week, Rob and Adam dsicuss the time-honoured tradition of playing to the "Top of their Intelligence" by having a very dumb discussion about characters, point of view, and how much smart should you perform while improvising onstage.
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Offensive
Improv is not historically known for being offensive, but sometimes improvisers cross the line. Why is comedy so frequently associated with offense? Does comedy need to be provocative to be funny? What do you do if you offend your audience? All this and more.
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PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Under Pressure with Colin Mochrie
Rob is no more. This week Adam welcomes Second City alumni, and star of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Colin Mochrie to the podcast. Adam and Colin chat about pressure both onstage and offstage, and what it takes to find success in improv.
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Who, What, Where - but When?
This week Rob and Adam chat about framing scenes prior, during, or after the action. Do scenes always need to start in the middle? What's the best way to execute a tag-in? If you mention an event, does it always have to happen onstage?
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Platforms, Tilts, and Improvising Action
This week Rob and Adam, discuss platforms and tilts for improv scenes, how sketch influences scenes, and how to create action without blindsiding their scene partner.
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PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Making Your Own Work with Shreya Parashar
Rob is no more. In his stead, far superior host Shreya Parashar takes over. Adam and Shrea discuss making your own work, finding your voice, and figuring out what comes next.
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Technique
The improv world is full of technique. What techniques help individual improvisers? What techniques benefit the theatre you play at? Are there techniques you should embrace? Or some that you should avoid?
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Tethering
This week Rob and Adam discuss tethering: the act of linking your emotional state to what your partner is doing. Also, some great questions about tethering from our friend Martin in Estonia.
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Questions Only - September 2025
The truth is out! After a tumultuous three weeks apart, Rob and Adam return to the podcast to air thier grievances, resolve differences, and answer your questions about improv.
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PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Completely Justified with Will Hines
In this Patreon exclusive, Will Hines, author of "How to be the Greatest Improviser on Earth" joins co-host Adam Cawley to discuss the subtle art of justification.
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Competition is the Thief of Joy
This week Rob sits down with one of the organizers of the Robin Hood Improv Festival in Nottingham, Lloydie, to discuss competition, inclusion, and finding community in the face of rejection.
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Game Revisited
This week Rob and Adam debate the merits of Game of the Scene, pulling premise, and how to create meaningful patterns that bolster your longform show.
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Get Connected
This week Rob and Adam discuss connection, rapport, relationships onstage and offstage. Also, is it possible to have a meaningful conneciton with a stranger onstage?
About this show
Canadian Comedy Award winners Rob Norman and Adam Cawley discuss weekly improv-based topics based on a theme. New episodes every Wednesday.
Hosted by
The Sonar Network
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