We had the wonderful opportunity to interview actress and entrepreneur Lisa Linke talks ‘Go Help Yourself Podcast’ and ‘Suggestion Sunday’ with us. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Lisa! Thank you for granting the interview. Congrats on your budding Instagram show, #SuggestionSunday. We love unique content. Why did you choose to launch the show on Instagram?
Hello! And please, thank YOU for having me!
Thanks for the compliment about #SuggestionSundayShow! I recently changed up the title/hashtag to make it more unique. It’s a funny story on how it started: I was taking a weekend retreat in Palm Springs to write an outline this script I’ve had in my head forever and I needed a break. I was on Instagram and while the live feature had been around for about nine months, it became standard for all users in December of 2016 if I’m remembering right. I’d seen the functionality and played around with it once or twice, but that Sunday in May, I took a break and walked outside and started streaming. I needed to get back into my improvisation mind, a really flexible space before I tackled mapping out scenes in the third act, so it was just a real quick way for me to be silly and relax. I hopped on and after a few minutes I had some people watching and I took their suggestions to do character monologues. It was fun and they got a good laugh. I hadn’t seen anyone use the live feature like this – I’d seen some cool, more performance art kinds of things, most people used it for engagement at the moment. I had a blast. It was fun, it got me into the headspace I needed and I feel like I even found a character I wanted to explore more for the sketch. After about 30 minutes, I thanked whoever was still there and ended the live stream. I knew something was cool in that format, and I felt so energized, it was a different kind of improv than I’d ever experienced, so at that moment I made the choice right then and there to do it weekly, at least for a while. This May (2019) it will be two years.
Besides delivering unique content, what sets it apart from other sketch comedy series?
What’s unique about #SuggestionSundayShow is that it’s totally different from any other show out there – and it’s live. I don’t know of any other live, weekly improv show on Instagram. The audience can show up, whenever they want, from wherever they want, wearing anything they want! There is no cover charge, no drink minimum, no watching other improv teams until you see your friend, no parking to contend with, you don’t have to stay the whole show, there’s no showering, doing your hair or getting ready required – you could be in your pajamas on your couch! You can come or go whenever you want and no one cares! I certainly don’t – it’s here for you to join in the comment section, watch without participating, or leave. Totally up to you. You don’t have to make awkward small talk with anyone before or after the show, and if you hate it you don’t have to wait around and tell me after that “it was soooo great!” or make an excuse to not talk about the show with me. ? Can you tell I’ve been doing improv for a looooooong time?
The other thing is that as it’s on Instagram Live, it only lives for 24 hours after it’s over, on my story. I’ve found a few opportunities to download and I’ve made a few promotional videos to help people understand what it is because it’s not like anything else out there! When you hear about it, It sounds like it would be a video-based series that you could watch at any time. But it’s not. It’s really sticking to the nature of improvisational shows in that they exist at that moment and are gone, never to be performed again. I benefit from the functionality of Instagram Live – that they allow live videos to be viewed for one day after. That’s nice for me and for people who can’t make it week after week at the same time. I do the show every Sunday (with a few exceptions) at 12:30 pacific/3:30 eastern, for about thirty minutes, give or take, depending on my schedule, the audience and the interest that day. It varies!
The content is made up entirely on the spot – based on audience suggestions in the comment section, so everything the audience is watching is improvised, live, and will never be done again… though while doing the show, I have come up with a few characters that I’ve written for. And with special guests each week, the content is bound to be vastly different because doing improv with others makes it even more enjoyable and unexpected. I’ve really loved doing it and when it hasn’t been easy, it definitely has been a great exercise in pushing forward and continuing to make content weekly.
What inspired the series?
As I mentioned before, the initial desire was to shake up my head space and take a break from writing. However, as I continued to do it week after week, the excitement of finding new characters and trying a new platform was really great. Also not having to travel to perform is such a new experience! I take different risks in the comfort of my own home than I might when sharing the stage with nine other people for a traditional show. It’s just totally different.
With special guests, some are seasoned veterans of improv and some have never improvised! That’s fun to have different abilities to play with and to take care of each guest who comes on the show.
Seeing people come back over and over to make suggestions in the comments or play along in the audience has been really fun too. I am very grateful that people are willing to share their time with me and have a good laugh.
I’m loving having a weekly outlet for creativity, to promote and invite people to that is easy for them to find, that’s free and has little to no stakes for people if they don’t want to go. After almost two decades of doing improv, I’m all about making it super easy for people to watch me do bits.
What are some of the challenges you faced producing a comedy series for Instagram?
#SuggestionSundayShow is particularly unique in all aspects!
Location: while no one has to go anywhere, lots of people don’t know how to “find” it. If they aren’t following me, it won’t be easy for them to find my live broadcast or see it in my story for 24 hours afterward.
Time: while it’s at the same time every week, it happens to live so it’s in different time zones across the globe. People watch as they are going to bed in Amsterdam and sometimes we get people who are in the middle of the night in Asia. You never know who will be there!
Content: I strive to have a special guest each week and we never know what the scenes will be about. It all depends on the comments from viewers.
Audience: Again, I don’t know who will be there or how long they’ll stay. Sometimes, people drop in early and I have them write a bunch of suggestions in case people aren’t around when we need them! The show will still be visible for 24 hours, so we do a show anyway!
Length: This varies depending on how many people in the audience are watching, how involved they are in commenting and if they seem to be having a good time and want more comedy. If the special guest is up to have more fun, we keep going longer than scheduled. It’s up in the air!
Technical difficulties: Try as I might with explanations and directions ahead of time, some guests haven’t used the Live feature before and we’ve had a time or two where the internet connection is poor. Since it’s live, we just keep going on, and it all works out. I’m an improviser, so I don’t get thrown and see it as an opportunity to truly improvise at the moment.
Promotion: I promote and try to get the word out, but at the end of the day, if people aren’t available when the show is on… they can’t come! Not everyone wants to be on Instagram in the middle of their Sunday – maybe they’re outside, maybe their phone is running low on battery, maybe they can’t get good reception, maybe they’re in a movie. Who knows?
It isn’t for the faint of heart, or for people who like to have all the details pinned down and predetermined. What’s the fun in that? ?
What I can depend on is my ability to show up and execute and have a good time. And that’s been the best part overall.
How has the production exceeded your expectations?
Well, I can’t believe it will be two years this year. That’s insane to me. I’ve had so many fun discoveries as new features are available with the platform, it gives me an opportunity to do more within the construct of the show. Just adding special guests and inviting people in life from wherever they are is a very very cool feature! Figuring out how to involve the audience in a variety of ways has been really awesome.
Also, people truly seem to have fun improvising from the comfort of their own homes, or wherever they join in. I like that. And people like joining in and being participative audience members from around the world. That’s been very rewarding.
Lastly, having the functionality change and upgrade is always giving me opportunities. It seems every quarter there are more and more cool things to do. I can now show photos while I’m live and have the audience see things that I want them to, so I could promote other things, like my podcast!
You recently co-created the “Go Help Yourself Podcast.” Tell us more.
Yassss!
My friend Misty Stinnett reached out to me and said “do you like self-help books? I’m thinking of starting a podcast.”
I told her that I hated them and hated having anyone tell me what to do. She decided having differing viewpoints would be great, and we created Go Help Yourself, a comedy self-help podcast to make life suck less. It’s a weekly podcast (we actually release two episodes a week) where we review popular self-help books and give our takes on them. Spoiler alert: I’m probably going to hate them. We’ve been doing it for about six months and love what we’ve created so far! We’re getting lots of positive feedback and reviews, and are having a good time learning all the stuff that goes into making a podcast. There’s so much!
It’s been a real journey – going from reading exactly zero self-help books to reading two a month and talking about two more – and in our most recent episodes between our reviews, we talk about the cost of self-help. There’s a bit of a backlash to taking in all these pieces of information to “make yourself better.” So that’s been an interesting direction, talking about the challenges of self-help and using these books.
Mostly we have a fun, lighthearted podcast and really enjoy spending time recording with one another. Give it a listen – wherever you get your podcasts!
@ghypodcast on twitter
@gohelpyourselfpodcast on Instagram.
You also have a recurring role on “Teachers” for the third season and will also guest-star on “For The People.” What inspired your love for acting?
I’ve always been very into telling stories and being in front of an audience. I loved being the center of attention in my family and I always did school plays. I started doing improv in grad school as a way to release stress and just fell in love with it completely and have been doing it ever since. Improv led to sketch comedy and I have really enjoyed my journey from being an improv/sketch comedian to an actor living and working in Los Angeles. I use my improv skills all the time and am very grateful for my training and my experience in Chicago before I moved here.
Living, studying and working out here in Los Angeles has made me only fall in love with this job even more! I love getting to visit different sets and learn something different every time I go to work. I love how collaborative the film/TV medium is – way more collaborative than improv and I am just so excited to be doing what I always wanted to be when I was a little girl.
Without giving anything away, what’s your favorite episode of #SuggestionSunday and why?
I guess my favorite episode is always the one that’s coming up – this Sunday, 12:30 Pacific/3:30 Eastern.
When looking back on the production, what resonated with you the most and why?
Usually, after the special guest and I have done a scene just the two of us, we do another scene with the audience participating.
It’s a fun way to do it through Instagram Live – the audience watching becomes a part of the scene! Either they offer up a dialogue that we have to take and say right away, or they can ask questions – maybe we’ll set it up that we’re at a press conference – lots of fun ideas come that way. We’re all collaborating at the moment and it’s so much fun and one can never know which way it’s going. With the time delay between what the guest and I see and the audience sees, there are super fun discoveries to have.
In your opinion, what scene in the series is going to have people laughing out loud and why?
I think that if you’re liking what you’re seeing, then when we start using the audience within the scene, you’ll have a good time making me and the special guest say something, anything you want. That part is fun!
What do you enjoy most about the production?
Being the sole person responsible has been a delight – usually, during production, I’m feeling like it is all weighing on my shoulders is stressful, but I’ve enjoyed only having to wrangle myself. ?
Do you have anything else you would like to share about #SuggestionSunday.
If you were ever afraid to go to an improv show, then #SuggestionSundayShow is for you! You can just sit and watch, and no one will look at you or single you out. You can also watch from your couch, so… come on. I’ve made it so easy for you!
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your career?
I’m doing some fun projects that will come out this year, so keep your eyes peeled! Watch my Instagram feed for photos when I can post and to keep tabs on both #SuggestionSundayShow and Go Help Yourself podcast updates!
Thank you for chatting with us about #SuggestionSunday. I hope we can catch up in the future for another interview.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for having me! I really enjoyed talking about #SuggestionSundayShow and Go Help Yourself!
@itslinke on all platforms
@gohelpyourselfpodcast (Instagram), @ghypodcast (Twitter).
Featured Image Credit: Birdie Thompson.
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