Storytelling, AI & Why Live Theater Matters More Than Ever with Nick Sholley MSW

In this episode, I invite actor and therapist Nick Sholley MSW to join me for a wide-ranging conversation about storytelling, presence, and why live theater might be the antidote to our screen-saturated lives. 

In this conversation, we discuss: 

• theater as an ancient community ritual

• what acting teaches us about vulnerability, connection, and meaning-making

• what we lose when we stop gathering in the same room. 

• improv superpowers: presence, and “yes, and”

• AI, technology, and giving your power away

• what live performance asks of us as an audience

• the shared social contract that exists in community spaces

• how meaning making is impossible in isolation

Nick Sholley MSW: There's so many different ways that we are engaged in a live performance where, when we're at home on the couch, we're like, okay, entertain me. It's entertain me. There isn't the same contract when I go to the show, like okay, I need to be quiet. If I have a lozenge, I need to unwrap that sucker before this begins, because I don't want to be that person. I don't talk to the person next to me.Now, in theaters, I've heard people talking about how people don't stay quiet anymore. They like they've lost that sense of mutual consideration. But that's part of the contract.

Listen to the full conversation on the innercalling podcast here. 

For those who prefer a visual experience, you can check out the conversation on YouTube here.

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