A few weeks ago, my Soap Opera Weekly colleague Joe Diliberto and I began an Internet radio show, The WEEKLY in Review, at BlogTalkRadio.Com. And I’ve got to tell you, it’s not easy. Sure, anybody and their brother can sign up for an account (and probably has), but being comfortable and successful at it is another story.

Five episodes in, we’ve managed to find our groove, and we’ll be slowly adjusting our podcast format and length, but it’s still…weird. I mean, I’m a writer. I’m most comfortable having time to craft my language and really giving it thought, like each piece is a tiny bit of art. You can’t really do that when you’re speaking and it’s being broadcast live. Unless you have a tele-prompter.

I guess one thing I have in my favor is several years of improv comedy training. Sure, I wasn’t very good at it, and it’s been eons since I’ve performed, but I still came away with skills that taught me how to run with any situation and build scenes. It’s really all about the “yes, and.” And that means taking the cue from whomever you’re with and adding to it with gusto. If Joe says, “So, I think AMC would be greatly improved if they had a live bear on, like B&B did,” it’s on me to go, “Yes, and then Tad and Damon can do a whole riff on Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo! It’s just too bad they can’t steal Adam’s picnic basket, because he left Pine Valley!” The other key to improvising is trust. You always have to trust that your scene partners have your back and won’t let you make an ass of yourself…or that, if you do, they’ll be just as idiotic right along with you! Frankly, I think Joe and I have that down pat. LOL.

Now if only I could teach  Joe and my other WEEKLY colleagues how to play Freeze or how to perform a Harold…