We Got Your Back
Our Approach. Today Improv relies on strong business management principles and industry best practices to guide the design, development, and delivery of client solutions. We deliver learning sessions in a forum that is open, fun and participatory in order to deepen skills and understandings of the specific business objectives
Our Collaborative Working Style. Based on the core tenets of improv, we believe that collaborative working style is essential to teaming success. We exist to fuse your purpose with our methods and deliver something truly custom to you. The sessions are designed to spark insights, conversation, and learning using improvisation concepts and exercises.
Our Delivery. Today Improv’s creative team has extensive experience working with global corporations to deliver polished, professional solutions for high-profile events for audiences of all sizes, including one on one corporate coaching.
WE ARE EXCITED TO COLLABORATE WITH YOUR LEADERSHIP TEAM TO DESIGN A PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS YOUR NEEDS AND OBJECTIVES.
Whether it’s to reinforce your message with custom sketch solutions, encourage leadership confidence and communication skills building with hands-on workshops, improve talent engagement at corporate events or all of the above, we got your back. Heck, not sure what you need? We can help with that too.
OUR MISSION: DELIVER EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED AND MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD. Our ongoing dedication to the craft of improvisation has taught us two things: listen and make the other person look good. We custom build every engagement by listening in order to support your message. Your needs for employee engagement are unique, including your key messages and cultural sensitivities. Our philosophy is to partner with you to deliver exactly what you need to make your session memorable. With over thirty years experience teaching improv skills and philosophies to all walks of life, we know how to use improv to help you become a better person, embrace failure and go with the flow.
What makes us qualified?
Our team
Jay Sukow has been performing with and without a script for the better part of the past 28 years. Fun fact: two of Jay’s first teachers were Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell. Jay has created and delivered learning sessions and experiences that make people think and act differently, become more powerful and effective communicators and drive behavior change. Jay has worked as a creative consultant, program designer, and facilitator for SR4 Partners, InFocus Events, Sonata Learning, Windy City Fieldhouse, and Allstate Financial Services, to name a few.Some of his clients include PepsiCo, McDonald’s, Microsoft, AT&T, Kraft, Western Union, Tenneco, Apple, Yahoo!, International Trucking, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Kaiser Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, Takeda, PWC, Intel, Deloitte, Netflix, Kilroy, RSM, Abbvie, Merck and the Chicago Women’s Rugby Club. Some of the topics for learning sessions Jay’s facilitated include communication skills, effective brainstorming, change management, team building, public speaking, storytelling and personal branding. He created a five day immersive off-site seminar emphasizing leadership dynamics for the USACE. Participants experienced a series of highly interactive exercises and small group situations exploring interpersonal communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, presentational skills, team collaboration, public speaking and creative problem solving.Among the experiences he’s most proud of is designing and facilitating a 90 minute breakout session for the Intel Corporation’s Legal Summit. The program allowed participants to experience and experiment with adapting an improvisational mindset to unleash innovation and address blind spots driven by implicit biases. The workshop utilized improvisation exercises and philosophies to connect participants to the ideas of deferring judgment, using diversity as an advantage, listening with empathy, managing unconscious bias, solving problems creatively, building an innovative mindset and recognizing the power of word choice and body language.
Gillian Bellinger is a corporate facilitator with over 17 years experience, delivering effective sessions both face to face and virtually. Her clients include PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Amgen, Kaiser Permanente, Westfield Corporate, Cartoon Network, TBS, Luther College, Mt. Aloysius College, Macy's, State Farm, AT Kearney, National Business Travelers’ Association, Caltech, Edmonds.com and Gilda’s Club, to name a few. Gillian’s led programs for leadership, communication, team building, conflict management, change management, listening. She utilizes improvisation to create world class training and productions for her clients. Gillian also coaches business professionals individually on how to pitch to investors and develop the narrative of their pitch. She was an ensemble member on Second City House teams in LA and Chicago, ComedySportz Chicago and Minneapolis, the Del Tones at I.O. West, Laugh Out Loud Theater in Chicago, Improv Acadia in BarHarbor, Maine. She has taught and performed at The Second City Hollywood, Intentional Acting Studio, Improv Utopia, AMDA and Westside Comedy Theater, Finest City Improv, All Out Comedy Theater, Alchemy Comedy Theater, Think Fast Theater, Asheville Improv Collective, and Curious Comedy Theater.
Jay Sukow
Gillian Bellinger
Stephanie Rae is a Coach, Professor, & Applied Improv Practitioner with an extensive background in educational psychology, legal research, & improv acting (Howard University, 2007. Georgetown Law 2010). She is passionate about uplifting traditionally excluded voices and empowering clients to achieve at higher levels. She is the Executive Director of the Black Improv Alliance, working with theaters and corporations around the world to diversify communities and create better spaces for BIPOC employees through better practices for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Stephanie is the Curriculum Developer/Facilitator for FLS+, who helps teams flex their mental muscles through the power of improvisational play and joyful musicality. Stephanie has directed and taught classes and workshops all aroud the globe, from Louisiana to Liverpool. These days, she directs the Black Improv Alliance, performing with International Players Club and Wakanda vs. Everybody, and running the 100 Black Improvisers Partnership - a program which has created scholarships for Black improvisers at more than 50 theaters around the world. She also has a law degree from Georgetown - but mostly uses it to win arguments online. Catch her rapping about gratitude as a Freestyle Love Supreme Academy Ambassador and improvising scenes all over Obama’s internet.
Michelle Gilliam is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and currently lives between Los Angeles, CA and Milwaukee, WI. Michelle has over 25 years of expertise in Improv Comedy and Applied Improv, or The Art of Play. Michelle is the Artistic Director of Improv MKE LLC and a partner at Cornet & Gilliam which specializes in, impactful, and, customized, Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Trainings. Michelle specializes in leading corporate, medical, as well as various university departments and teams to success by helping them to harness the power of improv as a tool and resource for DEIB, creativity, empowerment, communication, fun, and much more. Michelle facilitates all over the world. She has worked with teams from: Scotland, Liverpool, Nottingham, Chester, London, India, Africa, Singapore, The Philippines, Norway, Copenhagen, Canada, Lithuania, New Zealand, and the list goes on. A few companies and universities Michelle has worked with recently include US Bank Wealth Management, Marywood University, Marquette University, Concordia University, ComedySportz Manchester and UK SoftWareOne
Michelle Gilliam
Stephanie Rae
Got your back
Whatever the need, we got your back. Heck, not sure what you need? We can help with that too.
Business Role Playing
Working with a coach helps create action plans, meet checkpoints, and stay accountable against objectives to achieve your defined goals.
Communication Skills Building
Role-playing helps develop creative problem-solving skills by practicing real life, difficult conversations.
One on One Coaching
Our talented corporate facilitators will lead your team through live, virtual or hybrid sessions designed to reinforce various skills with business relevant tie-ins.
Our workshop topics include: Effective Brainstorming Innovation Change management Team Building High Performing Teams Effective Public Speaking Personal branding Adaptive Leadership Diversity & Inclusion Developing an Innovative Mindset Creative Problem Solving Managing Ambiguity Building Great Relationships Communicating Effectively Building Networks Presentation Skills Empathy Conflict Resolution 2-way Communication Giving and Receiving Feedback Encouraging Teamwork Effective Delegation Empowering Others Emotional Intelligence Operating with Integrity Building Trust Treating Others in a Fair and Equitable Manner Continuous Improvement Developing Team Members Building Networks Building Personal Resilience
Our mission: Deliver exactly what you need and make you look good
Our ongoing dedication to the craft of improvisation has taught us two things: listen and make the other person look good. We custom build every engagement by listening in order to support your message. Your needs for employee engagement are unique, including your key messages and cultural sensitivities. Our philosophy is to partner with you to deliver exactly what you need to make your session memorable. With over thirty years experience teaching improv skills and philosophies to all walks of life, we know how to use improv to help you become a better person, embrace failure and go with the flow.