Clay Drinko, Ph.D.

Stop negative thoughts, assuage anxiety, and live in the moment with these fun, easy games from improv expert Clay Drinko.

If you’ve been feeling lost lately, you’re not alone! Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were experiencing record levels of loneliness and anxiety. And in our current political turmoil, it’s safe to say that people are looking for new tools to help them feel more present, positive, and in sync with the world. So what better way to get there than… Show more

Stop negative thoughts, assuage anxiety, and live in the moment with these fun, easy games from improv expert Clay Drinko.

If you’ve been feeling lost lately, you’re not alone! Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were experiencing record levels of loneliness and anxiety. And in our current political turmoil, it’s safe to say that people are looking for new tools to help them feel more present, positive, and in sync with the world. So what better way to get there than play?

In Play Your Way Sane, Dr. Clay Drinko offers 120 low-key, accessible activities that draw on the popular principles of improv comedy to help you tackle your everyday stress and reconnect with the people around you. Divided into twelve fun sections, including “Killing Debbie Downer” and “Thou Shalt Not Be Judgy,” the games emphasize openness, reciprocation, and active listening as the keys to a mindful and satisfying life. Whether you’re looking to improve your personal relationships, find new meaning at work, or just survive our trying times, Play Your Way Sane offers serious self-help with a side of Second City sass. Show less

Improvised scenes work when improvisers listen to their scene partners and agree and add onto each other’s ideas without judgment. These three principles derived from improvisation—listening, agreeing, and not judging—come together to form the improv paradigm, which can be used to modify pedagogy in order to improve student outcomes. Teachers can introduce activities that specifically target how students listen, agree, and judge each other. The principles of the improv paradigm can also be used… Show more

Improvised scenes work when improvisers listen to their scene partners and agree and add onto each other’s ideas without judgment. These three principles derived from improvisation—listening, agreeing, and not judging—come together to form the improv paradigm, which can be used to modify pedagogy in order to improve student outcomes. Teachers can introduce activities that specifically target how students listen, agree, and judge each other. The principles of the improv paradigm can also be used to reflect on and improve how teachers teach. Colleagues and supervisors can focus on how teachers consciously or unconsciously listen to their students, agree or disagree with their ideas, and judge students’ responses in order to adjust moment-to-moment teacher behavior to create a more creative learning environment. Once improved, these skills lead to more trusting, collaborative, and creative classrooms that foster creative ideation instead of causing students to feel shamed or judged and therefore stop contributing and creating. Show less

Improvisation teachers Viola Spolin, Del Close, and Keith Johnstone knew that with structure and guidelines, the human mind could be trained to be effortlessly spontaneous and intuitive. Cognitive studies is finally catching up with what improvisers have known for over fifty years. Through archival research, workshops, and interviews, Theatrical Improvisation, Consciousness, and Cognition explores improvisation's effects on consciousness and cognition and compares these theories to current… Show more

Improvisation teachers Viola Spolin, Del Close, and Keith Johnstone knew that with structure and guidelines, the human mind could be trained to be effortlessly spontaneous and intuitive. Cognitive studies is finally catching up with what improvisers have known for over fifty years. Through archival research, workshops, and interviews, Theatrical Improvisation, Consciousness, and Cognition explores improvisation's effects on consciousness and cognition and compares these theories to current findings in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy. Show less

How to use the science behind improvisation to live everyday life more optimally.

The science behind Viola Spolin's Theatre Games compared to current cognitive science research.