Obi Nwako talks Improv & Acting

Watch on YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83PddnRbEsQ
More Show Notes & Full Transcript at 
https://waltfrasier.net/2026/04/23/have-fun-4-obi-nwako-talks-improv-acting/

Obi Nwako is one of our more recent hires, in the grand scheme of things, but he is knocking it out of the park as a performer and teacher with us and other companies around town. 

Obi Nwako recently graduated from Williams College with a bachelor of arts in theater where he learned to be an actor and improviser. Born and raised in the Bronx, Obi is excited to make his NYC improv scene debut as a part of the group and even more excited to see where this part of his life will take him. https://www.instagram.com/monsterofrohan/ 

See Obi in Late Blooming
https://voyagetheatercompany.org/current-season/https-voyagetheatercompany.org-current-season-production-late-blooming
Apr 27, Apr 28, May 2, 2026
6:30pm, 8pm, 4pm 

For 30+ years Walt Frasier has been entertaining audiences live from Times Square NYC, Touring Nationwide, and occasionally popping onto their TVs and other devices. For casting Walter in SAG AFTRA Film, TV & Commercial projects, contact (Jaime) Baker Management. International credits include TV, Commercials, Theater, Music & Comedy. Currently the Artistic Director of the NEW YORK IMPROV THEATER and North East Managing Director for THEY IMPROV. 

My mission in 2026 is to knock stage fright of the top of the phobias list. We do this spreading joy & laughter one show / workshop at a time while teaching invaluable life skills. We have public shows weekly in Times Square NYC and tour schools, theaters, community centers and corporate / private events DC to Boston almost daily.
https://waltfrasier.net/

https://www.instagram.com/waltfrasier/
https://newyorkimprovtheater.com/
https://improv4kids.com/ 

Come see Obi & I live from Times Square. 3pm Saturdays TIMES SQUARE IMPROV COMEDY (Discount ticket links) https://ci.ovationtix.com/29075/production/1237881?promo=walter101 4/29 Wednesday 9pm BROOKLYN IMPROV COMEDY ($20) https://ci.ovationtix.com/29075/production/1231949?performanceId=11786516 5/23 Saturday 2pm LONG ISLAND IMPROV COMEDY https://ci.ovationtix.com/29075/production/1267225?performanceId=11797315 ADULT CLASSES https://ci.ovationtix.com/29075/production/914195 YOUTH CLASSES & COMEDY CAMP https://ci.ovationtix.com/29075/production/1049645 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Having Fun with Walt Frazier. I'm Walt Frazier, and we're here talking improv comedy, corporate team building, K-12 educational outreach, and what we do as actors and improv comedians and all that kind of fun stuff. I'm here with Obi. You know, I'm I'm still not confident I'm gonna say your last name, right? Introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Hi everyone, my name is Obi Nawako, and I'm very happy to be here on the podcast for this episode. I would have been better off than I thought I was gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

I would have said Nuako. I might have Nuako. Okay. So uh I'm I'm I'm the worst with names, and as soon as I think I have it, because I've butchered it in the past, three minutes in, I can't remember which was the right way.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

No, I have that all the time, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

I always second doubt my like second second guess myself. So yeah, I guess yeah, and I I feel so bad when I substitute for these classes, these these people know me now have been there five or six times, but I work with like 200 different groups a year, yeah. And it I I I I'm somewhat jealous. I even my own students that I work with every Saturday, yeah, so bad. And and then there are times when they mess with me and tell me the wrong name to be funny. And I'm like, I will never know your name now because of that. So but I um but it's on you, not me, so I'm okay with it. But yeah, so uh so yeah, tell tell me that you've been with us now two years, or when did you yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I started in 2024, about like August, September time. Um and yeah, so it's been going strong for the past like two years then. Awesome. And where'd you go to school? So uh high school, I did like Regis High School, born and raised in New York. Um, so yeah, I went to this uh Regis High School, Upper East Side, and I went to Williams College in Massachusetts, Williamstown, yeah, yeah, study theater there. Um, yeah, so it wasn't like a uh conservatory or anything like that, very liberal arts college, can study anything. But I learned I feel like I learned a lot of useful things about theater and life in general there.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Very, very cool. And then what you've been doing these residencies for us up at Dream in the Bronx, and pretty much almost every day, Monday through Thursday.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah, I start, yeah, started in the summer 2025, and then continued, started in this school year, uh the 2025, 2026. Yeah. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

And and then what what so really get out of the way? What's your best memory doing improv comedy with Age is Never Enough?

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Yeah, I mean, I it happened, I think, this past fall. It was you, me, Max, I think um Ashley was there too, and it was maybe like Dave also. Um, so it was a good group, and we were having this sing it, and I don't know how we got on to this, but we were in like this pizza shop, and we were like all we were all like kind of Italian cooks trying to figure out what we're gonna do. And then I just had this song stuck in my head. It was like Mamma Mia, Pizzeria, pizza, pizza, pizza. Very stupid, very silly. But honestly, for the next week, I kept a mummering to myself, and people were just going, like, Obi, what are you saying? Like, what is that? Uh very much it's stuck in my head constantly. I think sing it's our like really one of the most fun things we do. Because it puts all of our talents on display. Like, it shows our improv, it shows our thinking on the spot, it shows our singing, and we can just like really have fun and get into it.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

You know what's funny about improv, you know. I I I work with kids a lot. We do like shows. Remember that time we did this in that one class? Like, no. Uh it's like, you know, I I think I've done at least 10,000 shows slash workshops, probably more, but um I I I feel like I've done at least seven, eight thousand shows in 23 years because we we were doing five, six hundred shows a year for a time, four shows at a school back where we were going really hard, like 2008-2012, like doing four days a week of like three to four day shows a day, and then yeah, six to seven shows a week at night back when I could get up at 8 a.m. out of school and still be at the club at midnight, and then I turn 40, and that was into that. But uh, but those there are those weird songs that do get stuck, yeah. Those earworms from an improv scene that you remember. That's amazing what does stick, and then I I always have to remember when everybody asks me, because when I go to them, they don't remember it. It's like we all have our own things that we could latch on to from the improv.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Yeah, yeah. No, I definitely like when I was doing improv in college post-shows, I would like, oh yeah, I don't remember a single thing we talked about. It's impossible.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Yeah, it's it it's a it's a moment in time, and it's like the upside of improv is that it's a moment in time, that's why it's so good, but then it's also it's gone, and and and a lot of times the videos don't look good online too. We find these little clips from things like World's Worst, and then I'm just afraid that people are like, That that's all we do, that's what they think. Yeah, those that's what easily translates to a real or a short or a TikTok video. But these three-minute musicals or 10-minute musicals we come up with, it's like watching theater on Bravo. If you don't have 10 cameras, Hamilton was the one show that did it right, yeah, yeah, right. If they have the production value, but when you just take a video of a live thing, it doesn't translate well.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

So uh but yeah, it's more reason to come into person and see these type of things, yeah. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

So you gotta be there, buy some tickets, you know, DM me on free tickets. I just want you to be there because it's it's so different every single time. But uh, but that being said, so and I said you you you I have to I set out all of these people a questionnaire like what was the worst time you ever did? And and I I never want to talk about like a particular c uh client. There's a there you don't even know the one that is like the official worst that was ever ever gig we ever did. I I would say it's counting five or six hands, uh, or five five figures on one hand, like the gig I really regret doing. Um but you're but you were we were doing a gig out last summer that it it was more like and I feel like I want to do that gig again because I think I knew what I could do now to fix it. Yeah, yeah. But uh we're doing a gig at a summer place outside, and but it's like a huge place, and we're in one place, and it was almost like up to us to say, we want to do a show now and come see us, as opposed to at two o'clock, everybody go see improper case, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

And honestly, the only reason that I even thought that was the worst, it was just like trying to think on the spot how are we able to pool people, how to get them in. Like, I think we did actually pretty good performances, and we got actually by the end of it, which was pretty nice.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

They're great, like they're really funny scenes going on.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

It's just that start of like, oh, we aren't really scheduled, and it's more just like people are coming and going. Because you know, you're not really used to that when you're like setting up a performance for like improv.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Exactly, yeah. Did you see the videos I create with Laris where we went into Times Square and other places where I was just randomly getting people on the streets to improvise?

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Oh, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

I was thinking if we go back to that place, that's what we need to do. We just need to go around and say, hey, we want to sing a song for you. What's your name? Okay, we're gonna sing a song for you and get people to stop for two or three minutes and then go on. And just be basically strolling minstrels of a Renfest kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah, I think actually that that would really fit the vibe of that place, honestly. Yeah, I think that works.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yeah. We were gonna do a show. I ended up not doing the show. There's a show in Philadelphia that was gonna be a bar, a bot Mitzer, rather, and they wanted a Renfest Shakespeare improv program, and I pitched them this thing, and it was through another booker. I pitched it, and when I finally talked to her directly, um, it was not what I pitched, but it was gonna be like that show, like that day. They were gonna have to like go in. Okay, you just come out into like the dining room and say, Hey, in this other room over here, we're doing stuff if you want to come in. And you you haven't been a part of the show when we did this, but we did seven years where we went into Times Square every day saying, We have a show, come see our show, and we sold out six to seven to eight shows a week doing that. So I know how to do it, but it's weird at a private event, especially like at a fancy banquet hall, and people are dressed up for a wedding or a bar mitzvah or something like this. In this other place that's kind of like a historical kind of a pirate seaside museum kind of a place, it could have worked. Uh, it we could have done a Renfest almost type thing. But oh my god, I was like, I don't want and luckily I got sick, I didn't have to catch and it was also, oh, you know what it was also we had the blizzard, and oh yeah, people we ended up having an all-philadelphia cast do it, and they're they didn't get as much snow as we did. I think they were able to get home safe, but it was that Sunday that we would have had a huge blizzard, and you would not have been and that they were gonna shut down, I did shut down the subways at 9 a 9 p.m. So I think I had Sam and Thomas who were gonna come down with me. I would not have been able to get them home because the schools were closed, the subways were closed, they would have had to stay at my house. I know they don't want to do that. Uh so um, so yes, I want to so I want to talk because my big mission, I might have even told you this, I can't remember her. I uh for a long time I've been saying my mission is spreading joy and laughter, one show at a time, one workshop at a time, while teaching these invaluable life skills with improv comedy, going to corporate workshops, working with schools, for our pro public shows and classes. And I kind of have like this new thing. I realize that's what we do. I think my mission is knocking stage fright off the top of the list of phobias. We're not gonna cure social anxiety, but I've seen people through improv overcome it. You know what I mean? It's still a thing, it's still something you have to they have to work through, but they realize they have self-worth, they have agency. And so what I want to do is like start the conversation with you as an actor, what's the first memory of you being on stage and talking about the first kind of time that you felt comfortable on stage and to that point where you had agency where you know I there's still moments where I get in my head and I, you know, it's not a regular occurrence, but every once in a while I work worry about the wrong things, and I realize I'm not focused, and I get a little of that that little angst even at 53.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

But there was a time when that was every time, you know. What was that like that first time, and then how'd you work through it eventually?

SPEAKER_01 10:35

No, it's actually really interesting because I think my first memory of acting kind of deals with this, like uh, I guess like the stage fight or like the releasing of it. Um the first time I was on I was on stage, it was third grade, and I couldn't tell you what the name of the show was. It was one of those like little kids made something specifically for them. Um, but the scene was we were all at a family dinner, and our mom character was gonna come on and like start the scene. But the curtains opened early, so we hadn't fully set up. So like the curtains open, we're seeing everyone. So, like this honestly, it was probably only like five seconds, but to us it felt like hours of just like us staring at the crowd and nobody saying anything. And then in my mind, I don't know what really like called to me, but I was like one of the kids at the table, and I said, I'm hungry, and that's not one of my lines, but I just like felt something tell me like I need to say something in this moment, and like the crowd like laughs, and then everyone kind of like relaxes on stage. Like I can kind of feel everyone taking like a deep breath, like and then like the mom goes into her lines and everything like that. And then after the scene comes, like ends, I like leave the stage, and people are like, Oh, good job, Obi, good ad lib. And in my head, I'm like, one, I don't know what an ad lib is. I'm like a third grader, that means nothing to me. Um, but two, I'm like, oh my gosh, like I really loved I don't know, being on there and feeling confident enough to just like say something, keep it going, and like I really love getting that reaction from the crowd. So I think even just my beginning thoughts of theater, of acting was like like I want to be able to feel comfortable just to like go, just like have like even if I don't have like this net under me, I just have to say something and like continue with it, you know. So I think really, even from a young age, I was looking for improv and I didn't have improv yet.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Yeah. When when what when was uh what was that like that first more legitimate theater moment that you felt like really like you owned the space?

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Yeah, I would say on I think the first time I really had a lead role, I think it was like this fifth grade show, sixth grade show, and like I was just I just fully felt like confident. Like I was there was like times when I had to like come onto stage from like the audience, and like I really like was owning and milk my moment. It just like something that was like I I just like I knew what I was doing, I just felt good about it. Like there was just uh like do all of the like rehearsals we had and everything like that. I just felt very like I can do this. So yeah, I would say like fifth grade, sixth grade, like I knew very early on, like I was given a like a confidence to do it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

You know, it's funny, I wasn't looking to tie this in directly. I have like this paper I've been this PDF I've been sending to schools to promote what we do, and I'm on this kick like to to achieve my new mission without getting improv into every third grade class. And it's just so interesting you you mentioned third grade. That's uh it's just bringing it back to that. But uh because I wish I was a musician at that age and I could get on stage and perform, but when you're playing trump, or even if you're playing piano, if you're not singing and acting, you can lose yourself in the music in a way that it's easier to be confident, you don't have to make eye contact. In fact, it's weird if you do sometimes, unless you're like a even a soloist, like you're out there, you're kind of just oh, I'm just in my moment.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Compared to that first time where I had to like get on there and sing a song or do a monologue or really be an actor as I switched over.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

But yeah, it's interesting you bring up yeah, the instrument, because I I played saxophone when I was younger. Oh, right, and I very much, yeah, I was hiding in like I felt like okay, I don't like need to stand out in this. I can like focus on like the sound and like the people I'm playing with. So yeah, it's definitely like I was okay with performing, but like, yeah, it's interesting with an instrument. I felt very focused on like I can kind of hide away behind the instrument instead of really like showing myself off.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Yeah, I feel like there's a resurgence where people realize the value of the arts, but I really wonder the the the rise in social anxiety if there's anything to do. Although plenty of musicians have it, but plenty of artists have it.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

The play, this this huge rise in social anxiety, other than politics and other stuff that's going on. And I just a subtitle, and that wasn't my focus for today, but it's interesting with the last 34 years of slowly bringing arts out of the schools in many places. And yeah, I feel like it there's I feel like a resurgence. We're doing more residencies than ever, because I really feel like there's principals that realize we need something.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Give what can you do for my kids? And we're getting in there. And I feel like even in our in our biggest struggling moments, you know, the classes were really, we really like, why are we here? Uh sometimes we have like there, like there's the it's chaos in our minds, but then we leave, and the principal or the teacher says, Oh my god, I've never seen him focus like that before. Yeah, how bad is it when we're not here? Like that scares me that that was good, yeah. But it's like at the same time, I know I've had those conversations enough times that we are doing some good. Like that they keep bringing us back, so I guess there's a reason for that. But uh, so talking about now that you're using improv as a teacher, yeah. Um what what what is it like for you teaching? Because in this school, and I've been there a few times, and I've done workshops now for six and five-year-olds as well. We're doing a lot of improv for five, six, seven-year-olds.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

And I'm what you know, what what are the challenges, the rewards, all that kind of fun stuff?

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Yeah, no, I think I definitely have had to like rewire my brain about improv a little bit. Um and I think my main thing that I like, I I believe when I'm like doing improv myself, and I think it's it's your number one rule, like your own number one rule. I think the having fun thing is so, so important. And like that's kind of how I lead. Like, I want to make sure at the end of the day, the students end with like, I enjoyed improv. Like, I had fun today. I like playing this game. Because I think the more they're having fun, the more the skills are gonna kind of just like naturally like fall into them. Um, so yeah, I think the challenge at first was like thinking about games where like that aren't too like complicated for like these first graders, and they're like not just like, uh, what am I supposed to be doing now? Like, what am I even like? So you like you wanna like even just my explanations of the games, I want to make sure like I'm coming across across to them clearly and like making sure like I put myself in a first grader's brain. Like, if someone told me what how to do this, what are the first questions I'm gonna ask, and making sure like I can really make sure it's fully clear and that they're able to understand it and still have fun doing it at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yeah, it's interesting. I I there are times uh my biggest frustration, I think, and where I think you're good at this, I think you're better than I am at this, actually. I think, but you know, we're better than most, is the patience required to get through some of these sessions where it's so easy to cross the line and become like every other adult. Yeah, and I would say like the I never want to condemn these adults because they're being normal, because most people are that way in the sense that this is an unnatural situation that you know you and you just want to scream sometimes, you just want to yell and all this stuff. Like and I think you've realized, I've realized over time that it doesn't work, and over time the the patience works better, and we get eventually we have fun, and eventually we get them to a point where they're listening and focused. But that frustrating moment of like you can't even start a game, yeah. You it's like, what do you do when you can't even start a game? Because the just the 30 seconds it takes to teach a game to get the simplest game going, yeah, like there are classes you walk into, you can't even get to that step sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah, and I've definitely had my fair share of days where I'm like, okay, we weren't really able to get to the activity as much as I wanted to, yeah, uh, because there are so many things going on with different students. And I try to like in different times, you know, break them up and like try to pull the kids who are like immediately like ready to go and try to give them something because like it's always the worst feeling for me, like not being able to do the fun things with all of them. Like, that's what I hate the most about it. Um, so yeah, you you you do have those days and you try to find ways to work around it, but unfortunately, yeah, I I have many stories of days where I'm just like, well, 30 minutes have gone by and I haven't been able to explain my very simple game.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Yeah, I wonder part of it is I I've I've done a corporate workshop where they gave me 45 to 60 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

And even with the adults, and and we're able to get a game started in that situation.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Even with the adults, uh, in a different way, uh, I say, give me the 90. Uh, you know, maybe you don't need a full two hours. I recommend a full two hours, but give me the 90 minutes because that first 45 minutes, the people don't know what they're walking into. Yeah. And it takes 45 minutes to the point where it feels like a cohesive thing. Yeah. I'd say T, but not even that. But just this the energy in the room is such that the people that are nervous have eased up, the people that think they don't need it because they think they know everything, have a little bit, and everyone's just having fun. They're probably it takes 30 to 45 minutes to the point where they're just having fun. And I did a I did a workshop for Christian Wakefield with like the CEO, like they're top salespeople.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Huge, huge company, and they just gave me 45 minutes. I was ready to do two hours. I didn't know we were only doing 45. Yeah. Happy hour thing, and it was like great food, great drinks, all this stuff. It's like, all right, we're gonna go sit down and have dinner now. It's like, uh oh, oh, oh, we it was just getting good. Yeah, that was one of those situations where because the CEO is in the room, everyone's like, What's is he is he okay with what we're doing? Is he okay?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Like it was like it was like constantly checking in.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Yeah, it took 45 minutes to get to the point where they're really just oh, it doesn't matter what he thinks, we're having fun. We're not we don't have to worry about, we're not gonna be put in a place that's gonna embarrass us in a way that we have to worry about that. They realize, you know, we've created that fun, safe space for everybody. And there have been so many times at these schools, there's one third grade class too. I substituted for Max like two or three times now. And every single time by the time I leave, says, No, no, we're having fun now. And every time like it took us 30 minutes to get to a place where we could do something.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Next time I'm here, let's start there. Let's start there, let's start there. And that's why it really needs to be the same person, you know. The the the less subs, the better. Um, but I really think a lot of it is that it's just once you get them, I think that's the beauty of the improv. Once you get there, you gotta you gotta. There's so many things you can do. Um, but it's just I had a class the other day I get the Raiders at the basketball camp we work at, and it's okay. It's really funny, and I realize why they did it five minutes into the second one. First workshop was the older kid. And all the girls from the younger kids. I was like, Okay. Okay. And then I had all the boys from the younger kids next. And as soon as by five minutes in, you realized, oh, I see why they separated them. Because the boys are crazy. And they're there to play basketball. They just came from strength training. They kind of got the the the whatever, you know, all the fluids are flowing, like, oh, we're men. And nine to ten years old. We're bro. It was like a bro energy. And I'm like, okay, let's do stopwalk. And I think I go to get a single game. Finally, I said, let's sit in the circle. And we just talked. Because I think I always say they're at that age, I could say, listen, I'm here to play games, but I'm really here to teach you how to listen and focus. So you can hear me lecture, or we can play games. And so we're gonna sit down and hear me lecture. It's just oh, we want to play games, okay. And then like 30 seconds into trying to play a game, it's falling apart. Okay, everybody sit down, listen to me lecture a little bit. Yeah. It's like by the and again, by the end of it, like, oh, oh, we're just we're just having fun. I know. But if you realize, but it's like, how do you like if that's why I hate the one-off workshops more and more? Like when we have a residency like you have, yeah, build upon it, but it's much more about impressing upon those kids that uh, you know, there's so much more we could be doing.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Yeah, and I feel like with the residency, like they know me, they know what we're doing. So even if there's some pushback some days, like it's very easy to remind them we've had so many weeks of you having fun during this. And like, you know, my whole thing is like I want to play games with you so we can like you're you're gonna I'm gonna teach you something, whether you realize it or not. But the goal is to start playing the games that teach you it. So it's like that like rapport we have of like, okay, even like I'm I'm sorry, Mr. OB. Like, I I realize like what we want to do. So it's easy, like, and I know like which students are gonna like sometimes I need to push a little harder on them to get them into something. I have actually this one student every single time without Fair, he's in my third grade class. He's like, Oh, I don't want to do improv today. And I'm like, Okay, give me five minutes, you try for five minutes, and then we'll talk in five minutes about how you're feeling. And every single time he loves a game, he wants to like keep on going and like do every turn, and then at the end of it, he's like, Oh, thanks for improv today. It's like it's its whole routine we have with each other. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

I I wonder if sometimes this we're just different enough from everything else that they do. Yeah, even when it's like not perfect or not great for us, it's still better than what they're used to, or or different. Better if I'm the wrong word, different. And uh but you know, there's one class over at the other school where I literally just bring a ukulele and started singing songs and improvising songs. Yeah, and I go, hey, hey, hey, hey, and then you I just had them singing the alphabet blues style. B, beep, beep, bee. All right, now let's we can be bees. Like almost to try to create some kind of theatrical thing with them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything. You know what we're fine? We're doing a school up in uh Westchester. Okay, yeah. You're the gig um seventh graders, I think. I don't think you're on that one.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

I don't yeah, it doesn't ring a bell to me, but I think it was Larie Sam Andrea right before she went to Mexico.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

And uh but I was I was talking about like our success is I don't really care what I teach them as long as I reach them. Yeah, so whatever it takes to get them, it's just oh that's that progressive style of teaching. And I've never heard it labeled that before. And I if it is, I don't I always hate labels, I don't care what it's called.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

To me, it's like if you don't have the kids' attention, why are you even trying to teach them mathematics? Because if they don't care about mathematics, they're not gonna learn mathematics. So if they're if you don't have their attention, they're not enjoying school, and you go to so many schools where it is, it's like for the sanity of the adults in the room, it's just one step away from being a prison, you know, and and all the things that New York City schools had to deal with. I've been in schools where I don't I think I don't know if it's all this one of the first residencies we ever did out in Queens, way out in Queens, almost Long Island, and had an issue where they needed another math teacher. They had money for one, and they decided they need security more than math. And I thought that was like the saddest thing I had ever heard. Yeah, the reality on the ground kind of a thing, right? Yeah, and it was one of those schools where if there was no stabbings that day, they had a good day, and anything academic was a bonus, and I'm like, oh. And I mean kids come into my class, and these were like high school freshmen to seniors, and we'd have one of the most amazing sessions of improv out of professionals' kids, period, yeah. And then the next day, one of those kids had something going on at home that they just came in with the anger, and it just like I don't know what to do. And I was still young, this is going back to like 2009, maybe 2010. And I was still kind of figuring myself out, and not that I took it personally, but it like it just hurt me to the point as a human being that I didn't know how to deal with it, let alone how to teach them or how to mentor them. I just was like, this is so heartbreaking that I kind of took a step back from the program, and I felt bad because some of the kids loved me and they felt like I abandoned them. But I was like, I couldn't do it. It was so heartbreaking, and now I I know more about why those things happen, you know, 15, 16, 17 years later, and experiencing that stuff every day. I I deal with it a thousand times better now. In fact, now I look for it because I can be a uh a part of the solution now, not part of the problem. But I thought it was part of the problem because I was like, I don't know what to do with this, and um, any of those movies with Michelle Pfeiffer didn't prepare me for this, if you know what I mean. White savior teacher going into that classroom. Um it works sometimes, but it you know, it yada yada yada, you know, yeah, those kind of a thing. But uh what what's the biggest challenge you've had as a teacher in those situations?

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Yeah, I mean, I think for me, it's definitely like I I'm still very young, so I'm like a little inexperienced. And I think also having that and like having that moment and also thinking in mind like there are 15, like 20 other students in this classroom who I'm also supposed to be like teaching improv and having a good time for. So it's like how do I manage both at the same time without like like I I want to show care for this student, I want to figure out a way to like help them, but how do I do that at the same time as I'm like not make like not making it everyone else's like burden also to carry like in the class? Like it's it's a hard balance for me, yeah. And I I've definitely had moments and like uh maybe not to the same degree, but just like yeah, someone's having a really bad day and they're making it, they want to make it everyone else's problem. And it's like I and of course there are like other people in the room with me, they have their coaches and everything like that, but sometimes they don't have their coaches, like sometimes it's just like me and a teacher just kind of yeah, disappears, which I also understand like it's a busy day for you, and like you have to deal with this 24-7. But like as someone who doesn't know these kids, like and I'm just coming in for that day, or sometimes for like that four-week session, it's yeah, it's hard to try to balance both of the like caring for you, but also caring for literally everyone else in the room, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

100%. So I yeah, to care, I I could talk about this all day long. I I love this stuff because it's it's just the more we talk about it, the more I go in with my mind focused and fresh and all that stuff, and uh you know, think of it again. You go to these the coaches more than the teachers at that particular place because it's after school programming and they're not normal teachers. Um the day and I've got two fifth grade classes I sub for Max 4 at the other place. Yeah, every time I'm there, it's like and it's happens with the teachers sometimes too. They're on their phones, it's like and everything's going well, but that one thing they could really help me with, they're like, uh I'm on my own here. Okay, and I call them out in front of the kids. Yeah, I have to say, more and more I've been boldered about doing that. Um and I don't know if it's a good thing because I don't know about selling them short helps anything. But I've really been on this kick the last couple years. It started right after the pandemic, and we're doing our first live show and Mamarinek Village at their summer camps. We had five shows in a row. It was the first day that that town said you don't have to wear masks, and it was a little too soon. You know, we're gathering, especially because it was a rainy day and we're doing shows inside. We're outside, we're now inside, and our cast is a little uncomfortable. We have different variations of comfort levels with that point, and and the the counselors and everybody had been online. It's it's not that much better now, but everyone had been online for two a year and a half, I guess, at that point, and we the counselors just wouldn't shut up. And it was the first time I ever caught out counselors in front of the campers. Hey, counselors, you maybe you should lead by example, you you know. Um, but I've done professional development since then where I work with teachers, yeah. Like two or three in the back talking like it's a class of kids. I was like, you know that thing when the kids are talking in the back and you hate it, and you're like, lead by example, come on, you know, and they're like, Oh yeah, and the principal looks at me, oh, I love that you did that. You know, and I don't always like to do it in front of the kids, but at the same time, I was doing a group of six-year-olds at a Brooklyn school, yeah, and I did four classes a day for four weeks, maybe, and the whatever it was, the the the wisdom of the school was to put all the special needs classes in one room at the same time, like to get them out of the way, I guess. The people that probably need what we do the most, they gave them the least consideration, which is part of the problem in a lot of these schools. Yeah, a lot of the schools you go in and they have you know uh people on the spectrum, ADHD, dyslexia, this, that, and then this other school has a bunch of behavioral problems because they don't have the right same kids, same kids. It's just that neighborhood had money, that neighborhood didn't, or resources grants, whatever. So I'm in a room with like 25 or 26 kids that are on the spectrum, ADHD, special needs, all this stuff, and there's seven adults because they have all these powers because they're the special needs. Yeah, but I've got them on my own, in a circle, focused. It was really beautiful, six-year-olds focused, working amazing, and then six of them are in the corner talking, and then one by one, the students start noticing what's going on over there, and I'm like, I have their attention. Please, please, yeah, go outside. And I've more and more of this like, if you're gonna talk, go outside. And then one of the teachers told me I was at another school, they're like, Oh, you're uh you don't like it when we talk. No, you like when the students talk when you're talking? It's distracting. Yeah, on the spectrum. I have ADHD, it's distracting to me. We've I've got the kids, I've got 25 kids focused doing something you usually can't get them. But this is why you can't get them, because you don't lead by example. I go on the off my soapbox.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

But I know it's actually it's really interesting because on the opposite, when they buy in, the kids buy in so much. 100%. Yeah. Like I I've had so many times when like when the like adults in a room are actively in our like activity, it lets the kids know, like, oh, I can be silly with it too. I can have fun with this, like this is a like I can do this because the person who I'm constantly seeing, and honestly, they look up to like in a real way, yeah. Like is doing the same thing. So like they yeah, it's they their presence of like the a teacher, the coach, the adult in the room that they're with is so powerful for both a negative and positive way.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Have you done a school show yet where you ask adults to come up for like a freeze frame, a human slideshow game, and no adults want to come up?

SPEAKER_01 34:40

Oh oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I've had yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

Yeah. That to me is a sign of if the adults are afraid to come up and they're expecting kids to participate.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

Again, if you're not going to lead by example, that moment, I just like I looking around, all the kids are looking at you saying they oh, they see the hypocrisy. Yeah, are smarter than you think they are. Oh, yeah. Not you, but you, the people that I were talking about, you know, and it is truly, it doesn't matter what you say, it's all about what you do. Yeah, if you're not leading by example, I I think that's 90% of what we do. If you're leading by example, as soon as you lose your focus, they lose their focus. And and and the adults are worse, I think. I always tell the kids when we're doing our shows at the club, say, listen, we're doing a show. If you stop to think, if you focus, or you start to fidget, you do anything, start playing with the curtain and do these things that you do, your parents will be on your phone. Because we've been on phones for 20 years, our focus is worse than the kids. And listen, focus, respect, we're yelling at the kids constantly. The adults I work with are worse. Yeah, post-pandemic, post-everything, and they're always and I I I'll I'll leave with this conversation with this part of it. The people my age, I I dyed my hair, so I don't look as old, hopefully, as I am. I dyed my hair, it's darker. You can't tell with this lighting, it's darker than I expect it to be. It actually looks on the camera the way I wanted it to be. It's it's like three or four shades darker without the lighting. And I left the light brown in for too long. Yeah, sidetracked. But the uh, you know, the the adults my age are worried about the next generation or about the future. And I'm like, just give it to Gen Z now. I feel like their sense of logic is less ruined by 20 years of internet, 20 years of whatever crap politically, or you know, and again, no not even commenting which side of the spectrum you are politically, right? But just the discourse, the kids I feel like are more ready, just give it to them. You know, let's skip the millennials. You're you're you're Gen Z or Alpha, you're Gen Z, I guess, right? Gen Z, yeah, yeah. Just give it to Gen Z. You guys, I have nieces and nephews that don't drink because they saw their parents abusing it, and they're just smarter. Where like our generation, my generation, saw their parents drink and said, Oh, they're telling us not to drink, but look at them, they're drinking, so we can drink. You know, we're gonna do as they do, not as they say. And I feel like Gen Z, even Jen Elf, a little bit, are like, oh, they they're wiser, they see, like they're learning from our mistakes more than we did. You know, we we picked up all the bad habits and said, Oh, you know, whatever parenting was going on in the 80s, we we learned the wrong lessons, uh kind of thing. And uh blah, blah, blah, blah. So anyway, wrapping it up a little bit, uh, what else are you working on when you're not doing improv with us?

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Yeah, no, so I am an actor in the city. I like doing like plays and theater and stuff like that. Um, I my next show that I have, just based off uh the date it is, in April 27th, 28th, and May 2nd of 2026. I'm gonna be in this play called Late Bloomin'. Um, it's a really fun project, honestly. But yeah, I think my big focus is yeah, I want to be being able to like be an actor and provide for myself in that way. So theater is what I'm onto right now, and I'm also gonna try to tap into like the you know on-screen commercial um like world, but that's very much like still in the works and everything. Do you have a manager? No, not yet, not yet. I've been wanting to get into one, but I like haven't developed like I want to develop a real for them to like actually send in. So I have to like look into I don't have like too many like good recordings of the plays I've been in. So I think I might just like do a like kind of write something and record myself in like a studio. That's not a bad idea. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

I feel like when I was talking before, the the the way the algorithms go, I've kind of off my high horse of quit your day job.

unknown 38:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

Uh I've for the last, for those who don't know, I have books called Quit Your Day Job, all about using the internet and entrepreneurial side of being an actor. And uh, but I do believe there's still an a very big truth into creating your own work to get work.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Create a short film, do sketch comedy online. If nothing else, the only thing that's working is video content online now to get attention. You know, I mean, build the old school of like getting attention from managers and agents, that hasn't changed that much. But the ability to skip the line by creating something and either putting it online, putting it on a festival. If it's really good artistic stuff, put it in the festival. If it's entertaining, put it online. I really think that's what it's all about. People put all these these really entertaining videos, they go right to festival, and I don't think it matters anymore. I hate to say it. Because who's going, you know, it's not like it used to be. Unless, unless you're ready to go after that studio head that's gonna buy your piece. You know what I mean? I think you're you'd better go online and figure that out and or do what Dave is doing. Our friend Dave has full documentaries, feature-length films that he's putting up on Prime. And I don't know if it's making him any money, but you can watch his movie on Prime. I paid 20 bucks to see it. It's great, it's really fun stuff. And uh getting an 100 streamer, blah blah blah. But YouTube now is like well, now it's the number one watched platform now that people are watching YouTube. I I started watching YouTube at home, although mostly cat TV, because I put the videos on for my cats, and then I turn around and like, oh, I'm the only one watching this right now because I'm gonna work on my phone and they're they're out of the room. But we we start like watching travel on videos on YouTube and all that kind of stuff. They're entertaining stuff, and uh and I I it's like I've I'd rather watch that now than mediocre scripted things, so yeah, it's tough as much as I hate like traditional reality TV, just lowest common denominator stuff. But uh, but yeah, I I I can't travel right now. I I want to see some Italy and stuff, so blah blah blah blah. But uh hey man, thank you for doing this with me. I'm really excited. If you don't know Obi, come see him perform. And if if you are a manager and agent, give him a shot. He's a phenomenal talent, right? I'm gonna in fact you send me your stuff. I'm gonna send you in my manager because I I can't believe we haven't had this conversation yet. Uh, because you should be working. Uh Obi is just a solid human being, and nothing else. I think what everybody needs to learn from Obi, all actors, um what goes on offstage might be more important than what goes on on stage. Because there's a lot of talent on stage, but you bring it off stage, you know, lead with a smile. You do everything I teach before I met you. Leading with a smile, the have fun thing. You buy in because you did it. And uh, and and that that that's a quality you can't teach. You can only inspire and hope for the best as a teacher. But you you you came in the door with that, and and that's why I'm just like, yeah, what what are you available for? I'm sad you to the place because I can't get you for our public shows, but uh, but you know, but that's that's a wonderful problem for you. Uh yeah, I can't complain about being bugged. But and and if you're an actor watching this, take that lesson, learn that lesson, like be somebody people want to work with, and then have people like me, producers, like fight for you, you know, because we want to work with you, because we want I would say the reason I love doing what I do is I get to do a show, and when I have a 10 hours in the car round trip, I get to choose who's in the car with me. Yeah, the boss. And I more so than any other thing that we do. Though that being who I get to be on stage with, and there's a lot of people that I really enjoy their talents, but off stage are like, oh, I just can't hear them complain about Nepo babies again. Um I don't want to work with them. You know, it's like uh yeah, like like it's a new thing. I think Nepo babies weren't always getting all the work for millennia. It's just they're yeah, don't get me started. But anyway, check OB out and uh we'll put all of his links in the do you have a website?

SPEAKER_01 42:59

Uh no, actually not yet. No, I know.

SPEAKER_00 43:02

We're gonna talk when we close this. We're gonna you haven't heard my whole story then. Or you haven't listened to my quit your day job pitch. Uh I won't bore you right now with that. Hey guys, thank you for coming out, having fun with Walt Frazier. Come check us out in Times Square. Uh we're all over. We got shows in Long Island, we're touring DC to Boston Daily, murder mysteries, improv comedy, corporate team building workshops, and of course our K twelve educational improv for kids outreach program. We love just doing what we do, and uh we'll see you guys soon. Yeah, see you guys. There's another button to hit stop recording.