#11: Seek Common Ground with Andrea Bjork

Improvise Till You Make It!

Andrea Björk (rhymes with jerk) is a designer, animator, comedian, improvisor, podcaster, and writer whose career path has been as unique as her nationality (she's one of only 330,00 Icelandic people on the planet!) Her humor and wit coupled with her eloquence and experience behind the mic make for one of the most informative and easy to edit episodes of our podcast yet!

Whether onstage as an improvisor or offstage navigating clients' needs as a freelancer, she understands the immense value of seeking common ground to make sure everyone is on the same page, and to mitigate conflicts by aligning everyone's basic desires and using that as a platform for moving forward. We talk about the ways in which we can seek common ground by dropping our egos and our own ideas when appropriate, how to give feedback in a way that won't make people hate you, and what it means to stop taking things personally.

Our conversation takes us into Ancient Rome where two battling gladiators, in an effort to avoid killing each other, invent modern sports, and to a French battlefield where the Magical Arrow of Effective Feedback helps end a century-long war.

Andrea is one of Berlin's most active comedians, and you can find her playing with ComedyShorts Berlin, on the CCB House Harold Team Funf Dollar, and in her Late-Night Day Time Talk Show, It's That Time of the Month. She also runs a monthly Character Open Mic called "The Queen's Court," and for the few people out there who speak Icelandic and haven't already heard of it, she has a weekly podcast, BioTvio, which is set to review every Icelandic film ever made. Follow her on Instagram and on Twitter to stay up to date with everything she's doing!
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.