How Comedian Tests Ideas in Live Performance - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 1 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby finds motivation performing live and testing ideas in a room full of people.  Ruby hones his craft nightly using storytelling to elicit laughter, a genuine success indicator, and measuring audience response to his changing material content and delivery. 

How Northwestern University Shapes Artist Career - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 2 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby reflects on his Northwestern University college experience.  Meeting creative peers and joining a band while attending Northwestern shapes Ruby's passion for public performance. Surrounded by smart and creative individuals provides stimulus Ruby embraces over many years living in Chicago playing music live.

How Musician Finds Rock and Roll Career in Comedy - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 3 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, musician Matt Ruby moves to New York City and transitions into stand-up comedy and its Rock and Roll scene.  After an introductory comedy class, Ruby finds a groove and begins developing material, his voice, and peer relationships.  He finds the progress addictive, especially the steep growth curve associated with early development, pushes Ruby to begin performing regularly each week.

How Peer Support Networks Develop in Standup Comedy - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 4 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby discusses how peer support has affected his development working in performing arts.  Leaving behind the negotiation, royalty and songwriting debates in a band environment for comedy teaches Ruby new lessons in loyalty.  Performing nightly, Ruby finds shared experiences create lasting,  loyal bonds between comedians. Ruby spotlights Patton Oswalt as a respected voice in the comedy community who prioritizes peer support.

How Audience Feedback Helps Comedian Improve - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 5 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, comedian Matt Ruby shares how performing stand-up comedy provides him continuous feedback via crowd - known as "civilians" - and comedian peers. Peer appeal helps comedians land slots on hosted comedy shows, but audience response remains a higher priority refining his craft.

How Comic Refines Material by Trial and Error - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 6 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby constantly uses audience feedback, positive and negative, to refine material performance by performance.  Failure is fundamental to comic material development.

How Comedian Uses Improv to Enlist Audience Support - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 7 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby shares how he uses listening to create supportive, versus adversarial, audiences. A supportive audience disables any fear of failure and raises Ruby's willingness to improvise material and take risks. This approach wins him support as audiences appreciate Ruby's non-scripted effort that recognizes each audience is different than the last.

How Parents Courage Inspires Son to Explore World - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 8 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby learns to live in the moment from his parents experiences.  Ruby shares how witnessing his parents transition into a sedentary lifestyle, including his mother's long battle with Multiple Sclerosis, serves as a daily reminder to embrace each day.  Ruby recalls his mother's passion exploring art and culture and father's willingness to emigrate from Israel to the United States.

How Repetition Shapes Stand-Up Comedy Style - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 9 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby discusses style.  Understanding the tools - structuring a joke, playing an instrument, painting a picture - gets an artist admission into the profession, but generating and editing ideas through repetition is what shapes style. This style, which comedians, including Mitch Hedberg and Louis Black, call finding your voice, develops gradually, often taking years, even decades, to assemble.

Why Comedian Louis CK Inspires Future Stand-Up Leaders - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 10 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby answers why fellow stand-up comic Louis CK is viewed as the best by many peers.  Ruby shares Louis CK's inspiring approach, including a relentless performance schedule, ongoing material review & refinement, and over 60 minutes of new material per year.

How Comic Uses Performance Metrics to Improve - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 11 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby measures performance and personal development by new material created annually - ten minutes is goal - and by frequency he can "kill" while performing, i.e. fill a quiet room with laughter. Both combine to shape Ruby's short-term and long-term goals in comedy.

How Stand-Up Comedian Develops New Material - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 12 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby performs five nights per week to continually develop and refine his block of material. This material changes nightly as Ruby delivers jokes, hones his delivery, and integrates new material with established material.

How Crowd Wisdom Informs Comedy Presentation - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 13 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, comedian Matt Ruby reflects on lessons learned over first four years performing stand-up and its impact on his style. From early characters, including Mortimer the Steel Baron, improv work, and clever one-liner jokes, Ruby traces transition to longer form, more genuine topics that carry a big payoff to win an audience. Ruby highlights collective audience wisdom and what he has learned about more effectively presenting ideas honestly and openly to engage a room and earn respect while honing his craft.

How Mountain Climbing Analogy Motivates Comedian - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 14 of 14 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, stand-up comedian Matt Ruby reflects on the surprising incremental progress achieved by performing five nights a week.  Ruby compares progress to climbing a mountain and how each step adds up to measurable progress at year end.

Aspiring to Change the World Through Good Storytelling - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 1 of 17 in her 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how she finds purpose in aspiring to change the world through good storytelling. Traveling internationally across cultures, including Columbia and Pakistan, has reinforced her belief and further fueled her ambition.

Tricia Regan on Finding Wealth and Fulfillment

In Chapter 2 of 17 in her 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan talks about changing lives through film, one personal connection at a time, creates a feeling of wealth and fulfillment that far outweighs any feeling of sacrifice. An immersion into documentary filmmaking is an immersion into pushing boundaries and making choices. For "Autism: The Musical" director Tricia Regan, this does not mean sacrifice when meaningful results remain possibilities.

How Basic Storytelling Elements Transcend Cultures - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 3 of 17 in her 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan shares storytelling fundamentals she has learned in her work. She finds it fundamental to reduce a story to basic elements where people, regardless of culture, can relate. Sadness, fear, frustration, safety, progress, and love represent some basic elements present in all cultures. Regan frames her recent film "AUTISM: THE MUSICAL" as kids trying to put on a play faced with overcoming an obstacle, in this case autism. By reducing autism to an everyday obstacle, Regan uses the play production to forge a connection with her audience and build their stake with the movie characters.

Overcoming Obstacles in Documentary Filmmaking - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 4 of 17 in her 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how she overcame obstacles while filming a documentary. She unexpectedly finds herself in Los Angeles directing and has to overcome grueling obstacles while filming "AUTISM: THE MUSICAL." These challenges include financing shortages which threaten her ability to complete telling a character-driven story with a structured beginning, middle, and end.