“Winging It: Improv’s Power & Peril in the Time of Trump”
“Be Bold America!” Sunday, July 28, 2024 at 5:00pm (PT)
In the new century, we’re all winging it now. – Stephen Nachmanovitch,
The new book “Winging It: Improv’s Power & Peril in the Time of Trump (Spring Publications) brings a breadth of knowledge and a deep enthusiasm to an exploration of improv’s centuries-long influence on performance, culture, and art, as well as its contemporary role in AI, neuroscience, and politics.
As Randy Fertel, PhD, shows, while improv has given us some of the greatest creative work ever produced, it has also led to phrases like “Lock Her Up,” and the rise of a past—and perhaps future—President who connects with his supporters via an off-the-cuff speaking style they perceive as authentic and straight-shooting. Kirkus Reviews called Winging It, a “tour de force” and “a detailed explication of a vital artistic and cultural concept”
Interview Guest:
Randy Fertel, PhD, is a writer and philanthropist dedicated to the arts, education, New Orleans, and the environment. Randy holds a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Harvard University and is the author of A Taste for Chaos: The Art of Literary Improvisation and The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak: A New Orleans Family Memoir.
Dr. Fertel has taught English at Harvard University, Tulane University, LeMoyne College, and the New School for Social Research. He specializes in the literature of the Vietnam War and the literature of exile. In addition to his writing, Randy is president of the Fertel Foundation and the Ruth U. Fertel Foundation, named for his mother Ruth Fertel, founder of Ruth’s Chris Steak House. He is co-founder of the Ridenhour Prizes for Courageous Truth-telling, now in its 20th year. He lives in New Orleans and New York.
