London, 18th of August 2026

👋 Greetings, dear readers.

I hope you are doing great! I’m still riding the high of a magnificent show we had with Acaprov last weekend. We had close to forty people in the audience and the energy was fantastic. I know some of you came, so thank you so much! It was very refreshing after our July show, which was great as well, but we had to compete with the football World Cup and had only nine people in the audience, they were very devoted though.

This week, I feel like tackling one of the biggest differences between improv and Playback Theatre, or perhaps a similarity after all, since they share a significant trait in common: gender disparity. Improv has always been very male dominant whereas Playback Theatre has more female and NB presence.

First, a quick clarification: I’m writing this as a cis straight man, though my relationship with societal expectations of manhood is far from normative.

Contemporary improv, for the most part, has been a boys' club. If you go through the history of the biggest improv schools in Chicago during the late 20th century, like The Second City or iO, their yearbooks are dominated by men who later thrived, like Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis (yes, I realize I’m just naming Ghostbusters). But for every bunch of guys, they had just one Catherine O’Hara.

This century, things started to change, with more female improvisers challenging the “women aren’t funny” cliché. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph have been an inspiration for the contemporary batch of non-male improvisers and comedians.

We can say that nowadays, male dominance in improv is, luckily, not as strong (still strong though), and certain behaviors associated with toxic masculinity are held accountable. We can still expect those behaviors to appear today, though, and sadly not always accountability is met, and people may still choose to believe men over those raising awareness. Even when that behavior is kept in check, that energy of entitlement and a puffed-out chest is still there.

I'm happy to be in an improv group where all the lads are proudly part of the “woke cult”, and that sensitivity really shows in our work.

However,if men are so entitled and eager to take over every space, why aren't they showing up to Playback Theatre? What kind of kryptonite do we hold that keeps all the “men of steel” at bay?

Since moving to London after the pandemic, I’ve been part of five Playback Theatre core training courses. Out of the fifty-ish people who attended, I can count the male-identifying attendees on just one hand, and it would be enough with the hand of a teenage mutant ninja turtle to count the ones who decide to stick around. The same goes for the Playback Theatre companies in the London area. Less than a handful of members are men, and sometimes they are the same.

I didn’t chose the title of this newsletter randomly. I took Rachel Bloom’s funny song satirizing about men to kind of make a point. Playback Theatre can be considered one of the forms of theatre for social change where care, staying in touch with feelings, empathy and listening are fundamental pillars. Yeah… men are not particularly known for carrying those banners.

Many of the people drawn into Playback Theatre come from dramatherapy and psychodrama, a field where female presence is strong and heavily associated with that caregiving role history has long attached to women.

Still, there are a lot of men in the global Playback Theatre community. My colleague Jori Pitkänen set up the company Big Men in Finland, where all members are male and they perform specifically for men, although that is not the norm. I think it’s a brilliant idea.

Historically and objectively, men suck. Big time. Men are mostly responsible for everything wrong in the world by being emotionally unstable warmongers. We are currently seeing manospheres thrive among young men drawn to the appeal of male dominance, victimizing themselves and blaming women, claiming to be part of an epidemic of male loneliness instead of looking at the problem from within.

Creating a space where men can open up, share, and empathize is completely feasible in Playback Theatre. I genuinely think those men are like this due the lack of that kind of spaces for them. Would it change the world? Well, at least it would make it a bit better. Don’t you think?

🫶 Stay hydrated, love to you all.

P.S. Shall I find inspiration for other topics in more songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend?

📆 What is coming up

• 🇬🇧 11th of September - Acaprov at Shoreditch Balls (London, UK). For so many people, September is a time for another beginning. Kick off the academic year with a musical. Secure your sit.

• 🇲🇹 18th of September - Intro to Playback Theatre (Valletta, Malta). I´m honoured to be part of the facilitator roster attending the Improvizza! festival in Malta. I´m excited to introduce Playback Theatre to improvisers there. Tickets here.

• 🇬🇧 27th of September - True Heart Theatre open rehearsal (London, UK). We are going to be hosting another open rehearsal at the end of the third quarter. Bring your curiosity and experience Playback Theatre in a safe space. Free registration here.

• 🇬🇧 9th of October - Acaprov at Shoreditch Balls (London, UK). It’ll be spooky season! Will our show be? Come and check out. Get your tickets. 🎵

📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert

I’m going to talk about a fictional man I used to look up to. Since I’ve been enjoying Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a canonical entry in the famous archaeologist's adventures that connects directly to the movies, I’ve been revisiting all of the films, challenging the perceptions I had of them when I was young, especially the ones from the 80s.

Focusing on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle first, I'll keep it simple: it is phenomenal. In this story, Indy tries to outrun the Nazis (duh) while chasing the secret of an ancient order of giants, the Nephilim, guardians of a mysterious device with supernatural and divine powers.

Troy Baker does a remarkable voice work emulating the voice of Harrison Ford, who granted his likeness for this new adventure set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. From the Vatican to Egypt, from the Himalayas to Thailand, and into ancient Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq: every single location, gorgeous in its own distinctive way, holds puzzles to solve, adventures to experience, and fascists to punch, which is immensely satisfying.

As for the movies, yes, my perception is altered slightly for the worst. I still consider The Last Crusade the best in the series. The Temple of Doom is the most goofy… and cringe due the blatant racism displayed, I used to adore this movie when I was a kid, but growing up is realizing and acknowledging these things. The Crystal Skull still is a travesty. I did reconcile with the last entry though, The Dial of Destiny, although it’s quite bloated in its runtime, it has its virtues.