#5: Relate to the World through Empathy with Jakob Wagner

Improvise Till You Make It!

Jakob Wagner, man of many hats, many deals, and many talents, brings this episode to life with his skills as an improvisor, actor, rapper, comedian, and storyteller as he shares and overshares about his uranium-like emotional antennae (you read that correctly), and his one-and-only conspiracy theory.

We get into the nitty gritty of what empathy means, when and how to wield it, and whether, as Swiss-German psychoanalyst Dr. Arno Gruen suggests, empathy has the power to save the world. Empathy's potential as a global force for good notwithstanding, the lives of empaths are both helped and hindered by their ability to tap into the emotional experience of others, as we find out on an episode which might otherwise be entitled, "Neurotic White Men." To cap the show off, we'll put our rapping, rhyming, and beat-boxing skills to the test in an epic game of "Beastie Rap."

Our neurosis bring us deep into the rage-fueled downward spiral of a pair of casting directors at odds with the actors who dare to take liberties with the script, and soaring into the stratosphere on the high of a Krav Maga expert who, after chancing upon a mega-celebrity and personal hero, is given the chance to show off his fighting skills to the whole world.

You'll find Jakob playing on improv teams across Berlin, including the CCB Harold Team, People System, which plays every other Friday at the Comedy Cafe Berlin. Check out his rap group, PuppetMastaz, and their latest record, Sweet Sugar Rush, on Spotify and anywhere else you get your music, and if you happen to be in France, be sure to see the PuppetMastaz live for some hip hop mayhem incited by a group of rapping puppets, bursting at their literal seams with rhymes, wit, and polyurethane.

As always, thanks for listening, and be sure to follow us on instagram at @henriandblake for a sneak peek of the next episode of "Improvise Till You Make It!" and to keep posted on all the exciting ways we continue to spread the improv mindset.