What if one idea was all you needed to create something? Every week, we open the show by suggesting a new source of inspiration. Maybe it’s a word, a story, an interview, or something pulled from the strangest corners of the internet. From there, James Mastraieni, Mike McLendon, and a rotating cast of comedians take that spark and turn it into something completely improvised. No scripts. No plan. Just the joyful chaos of long-form improv.
Plus, Backdrop.fm subscribers get even more: James and Mike aren’t just performers—they’re longtime improv teachers with distinct styles. Beyond the laughs, they’ll share exercises, games, and shop talk, sometimes pulling guest performers into the mix. It’s part show, part workshop, part resource: a peek into how improv works, and why it works.
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What if one idea was all you needed to create something? Every week, we open the show by suggesting a new source of inspiration. Maybe it’s a word, a story, an interview, or something pulled from the strangest corners of the internet. From there, James Mastraieni, Mike McLendon, and a rotating cast of comedians take that spark and turn it into something completely improvised. No scripts. No plan. Just the joyful chaos of long-form improv.
Plus, Backdrop.fm subscribers get even more: James and Mike aren’t just performers—they’re longtime improv teachers with distinct styles. Beyond the laughs, they’ll share exercises, games, and shop talk, sometimes pulling guest performers into the mix. It’s part show, part workshop, part resource: a peek into how improv works, and why it works.
Greg Gallant (Firsthand, Haunted Hotel, Queen George) and Monte Montepare (The Moth, Ghost) join James and Mike to pull inspiration from the world’s favorite distraction: YouTube.
Plus, Backdrop.fm members get more with James, Mike, Greg, and Monte as they talk about what it’s like to perform with someone for the first time, how chemistry actually develops onstage, and the etiquette of improv mashups, when to sweep, when to support, and when to stop being polite.
Monika Smith and Nnamdi Ngwe join James and Mike for an episode inspired by Reddit’s "Am I the Asshole," where moral dilemmas and petty internet debates spark a whole world of improv. After the scenes, they break down what worked, what didn’t, and how experienced improvisers balance chaos and connection onstage.
Plus, on Backdrop.fm they dig into the craft of twoprov: building trust, timing callbacks, and why sitting down can be the death of a scene.
Toni Charlene and Ryan Meharry (of Bangarang) join James and Mike to see if they can turn the driest text on the internet—real estate listings—into improv comedy. After the scenes, they break down what worked, what didn’t, and how veteran improvisers build entire worlds from a single spark.
Get more at backdrop.fm
Join comedians James Mastraieni and Mike McLendon for Open to Suggestion, the show where they open with an idea, improvise from it, and break down how it all works.
Get more at backdrop.fm
What if one idea was all you needed to create something? Every week, we open the show by suggesting a new source of inspiration. Maybe it’s a word, a story, an interview, or something pulled from the strangest corners of the internet. From there, James Mastraieni, Mike McLendon, and a rotating cast of comedians take that spark and turn it into something completely improvised. No scripts. No plan. Just the joyful chaos of long-form improv.
Plus, Backdrop.fm subscribers get even more: James and Mike aren’t just performers—they’re longtime improv teachers with distinct styles. Beyond the laughs, they’ll share exercises, games, and shop talk, sometimes pulling guest performers into the mix. It’s part show, part workshop, part resource: a peek into how improv works, and why it works.
