Ep. 09: Improv Games and the Art of Failure (Video Games with People Who Don't Like Playing Video Games Part 4)

Tune in to witness something that some might say is impossible… the changing of one man’s heart. This week JD interviews Jeremy Moran, a filmmaker, artist, and improv actor, whose consistent failure in the gaming arena USED to mean he disliked playing them all together. In Episode 09: Improv Games and the Art of Failure with Jeremy Moran, we'll learn more about failure, the tyranny of rules, improv games, and ways to find the art in everything. Even a door!

Jeremy historically has been pretty bad at games, and the consistent number of losses he experienced while gaming was a real turn off. But something's changed recently. While it’s been said that video games are “the singular art form that sets us up for failure and allows us to experience it and experiment with it”, another fail-friendly art form also exists: the art of improv theater. His experience with improv over the last four years, including improv games, has increased not only his tolerance for playfulness and failure, but his enjoyment as well!

This is the fourth (and final!) episode in a series of interviews about video games with people who don't like playing video games, inspired by Brie Code and a panel from SXSW (titled "Video Games for People Who Don't Like Video Games"). See Episode 06: Crying in a Closet, an interview with non-gamer Bailey Morrison about games and anxiety, for part one in the series, Episode 07: The Pleasures of Back-seat Gaming with game spectator and eSports lover Nora Green for part two, and part three, Episode 08: Learning the Language of Rules Vs. Creativity with Lisa P., for a rousing discussion on how gaming can help in the classroom (while still being hecka boring as a personal pastime). 

Stuff we mentioned...
Munchkins
Grandtheft Auto
Sandbox Games
Bioshock
The Game (film)
Bart's Nightmare
90s animation
Cuphead
Machinarium
Improv
Hideout Theater in Austin, TX
Whoosh Bang Pow (improv warmup game)
Bippity Bippity Bop (improv warmup game)
"Finding the game"
Gaming Broad(cast) Episode 08 with Lisa P. (in reference to disliking failure and rules)
Roger Ebert saying "video games can never be art" (followed by saying okay yeah they can)
Rythm 0 by Marina Abramović
Gaming Broad(cast) Episode 07 with Nora (in reference to stereotype threat and the gaming community)

JD (The Broad)
Website: GamingBroadly.com
Twitter: @JayDeeCepticon
Instagram: @JayDeeCepticon

Jeremy Moran (The Cast)
Instagram: @ModernistMuffin
Twitter: @MoranicJeremy
Vimeo: @JeremyMoran

Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Los Kurados for the use of their song "Rojo Y Azul" for the intro and outro music of our podcast.