James Abraham is a writer, creative and comedian, based in London. He studied improv with The Free Association and Second City.

Miztli Rose is a London based actor-comedian and qualified yoga teacher. She trained as an actor at RADA and has studied improv and sketch with The Free Association and Upright Citizens Brigade.

Rachel Copel is a theatre maker and performer originally from Chicago. She received her MFA from The Central School of Speech and Drama, and currently resides in London.

Verity Babbs is a History of Art graduate, art writer, and curator. She hosts ‘Art Laughs’ on YouTube, interviewing the UK’s rising comedic stars about their favourite works of art.

Aram is a documentary photographer and feature writer from London. His work has been featured in The Guardian, Narratively, and The Calvert Journal, as well as on BBC television. So far, the same thing cannot be said about his improv.

Kasia Kugay is a singer-songwriter from San Francisco, California currently exploring her cultural roots in Istanbul, Turkey. Her earlier studies in psychology have given her a fascination with the healing power of art and self-expression.

We spoke to FA improviser and actor Nadège Nguyen about how an improv class in LA led to her becoming an actor and why every actor should train in improv.

When I started out in sales, I was trained in specific techniques, such as how to get people to open-up and talk; how to get your prospective client to talk about something specific by asking leading questions; how to make your desired fee totally reasonable and valuable; how to get your client to say ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘sure, let’s book a zoom call for next Friday at 11am’ – and many more…

I did my first Free Association course in late 2018, armed for the first time in my life with both the time and the money, and recklessly determined to spend both on something purely for me. I’d wanted to do improv for years but a less than stellar experience with a boy in my university’s improv society had put me off…

As part of our new blog series, Improv In Real Life, we chatted to Megan Blair, an improviser in the FA community and hospital pharmacist, about how taking an improv class has impacted on her life inside and outside the NHS.

It feels like the older I get, the more comfortable I become in my own skin. Or maybe I’m just becoming more comfortable feeling uncomfortable.

On a daily basis I’m present in body, but my mind is elsewhere. Staying present is difficult and for most of us it’s a Herculean task to stay present for any significant length of time.

We read disclaimers before TV shows and films all the time, and by and large we trust them. For the most part, we don’t need to question them, or suspect that the channels or the production companies are trying to pull the wool over our eyes…

When you’re improvising you are constantly using a set of skills that are incredibly valuable to any employer. I know this because some of the biggest, most forward-thinking companies in the world bring The Free Association in to train their staff in business-specific improv skills!