{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Charna Halpern, Co-Creator of Long Form Improv, iO Theater","description":"This is as close as I've gotten to interviewing someone who "needs no introduction..." but if you aren't THAT into improv... the list of people's she's trained and worked with is a who's who of the funniest actors on TV and in movies right now. But if you're not part of the improv world, you need to know that Charna worked with Del Close, who trained many of the Saturday Night Live folks everyone knows, and together they created long form improv... before which improv was mainly exercises for actors (a la Viola Spolin) and short form games like you see on Who's Line Is It Anyway. Charna also founded iO in Chicago, which is one of the major improv theatres in the world, and which has expanded with another branch in Los Angeles, CA. When Lorne Michaels is looking for new SNL cast members, one place he turns is to Charna... and there's a great story in this podcast about her and Chris Farley.\n","author_name":"Comedy Pros","author_url":"http:\/\/comedypros.libsyn.com","html":"