The Sonar Network
274 episodes listed below
Improv craft with the jokes left in.
The Backline treats improv like a living practice, not a set of slogans. Rob and Adam move from bits, travel stories, listener questions, and theatre gossip into sharp arguments about scenes, classes, teams, auditions, and confidence.
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The Backline is an improv podcast about what actually happens before, during, and after people step onstage. Rob and Adam bring a fast, conversational rhythm to questions that can sound abstract until they are tied to a bad laugh, a dull class, a confusing jam, or an audition that suddenly matters too much. The show is funny first, but it is rarely just banter. A joke about construction, snow, transit, Los Angeles, Toronto, or a strange travel delay can become a way into the mechanics of attention, emotion, and confidence. That looseness is part of the appeal. The craft talk arrives with fingerprints on it. Episodes consider why jams can feel artificial, why shared training can make a format easier to play, and why an audience losing emotional investment changes the labor of a scene. They also get into the performer’s private panic: the moment when the expected laugh vanishes and the improviser has to figure out what broke. The advice is practical, but not packaged as doctrine. Rob and Adam are comfortable saying that a lesson may depend on the city, school, room, teacher, or team culture around it. Teaching comes up often, especially the gap between delivering a technique and making students care enough to use it. The show also examines the economics and expectations around improv classes, including the uneasy feeling students can have when training does not lead to house teams, talent pools, or mainstage work. Guest episodes can deepen the perspective, as with Mick Napier talking about play, importance, Second City auditions, and the value of caring less in the right way. The tone stays loose even when the topic is serious. It is dry, generous, and self-aware. The show works best for listeners already near the improv world, especially people who know terms like Herald, edit, sweep, premise, and heightening. Newer performers can still follow the emotional logic. Veterans may recognize the small failures immediately. The Backline’s real subject is not just how to do improv. It is how improvisers learn, stall, recover, teach, overthink, and sometimes find play again.
Made for: For improvisers, comedy students, teachers, and stage performers who want specific craft talk without sterile instruction. It especially fits listeners already familiar with improv rooms, formats, and team culture.
What sets it apart: The show turns casual duo banter into grounded analysis of real performance problems. It is less about selling rules and more about testing what actually helps onstage.
Canadian Comedy Award winners Rob Norman and Adam Cawley discuss weekly improv-based topics based on a theme. New episodes every Wednesday.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · August 2026
The Backline gives improv listeners a precise craft conversation about scenes, rooms, training, and audience response.
The Backline - An Improv Podcast is built for Comedy listeners who want the working notes, not a loose tribute to spontaneity. Rob and Adam take small, stubborn subjects like technique, being lost, underwhelming scenes, and boredom in class, then press on them until the…
This is shop talk where a broken scene becomes a broken hammer, and you get the repair manual.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A dry, practical improv chat about why some jams lose energy instead of building it.
The episode starts with a simple improv gripe and works outward from there: what happens when a scene, a jam, or a room stops holding the audience, and why that can be harder to fix than it sounds.
A funny, practical discussion of what it means to lose a scene and keep going.
The episode starts in a loose back-and-forth about an improv conversation that should have been the recording, then settles into a sharper question: what happens when a scene stops working and the room goes quiet?
A loose improv chat that turns into a practical look at teaching people to care.
A construction-site joke opens things, but the real interest is the classroom problem: beginners, veterans, and highly driven students all land in the same room, and the discussion stays with what a teacher does with that mix.
A loose, sharp talk about how improv works better when it stops trying so hard.
Mick Napier keeps the discussion on a plain improv problem: once the work starts to feel precious, play gets harder to find. Adam and Rob move through Second City auditions, confidence, stage time, and the way overthinking can work against the thing it is supposed to support.
A sharp reminder that improv technique still has to fit the room.
The episode treats technique as a question of fit: how an idea holds up under tight rehearsal time, a different room size, and a different audience.
Kaitlin Prest blends personal reenactment and Gaza war testimony across serialized documentary seasons.
Rob and Adam open with construction chaos and plane-landing jokes before turning to feedback from their last episode.
Rob and Adam kick things off with a pre-show detour that probably should have been the episode.
The Backline opens with Rob watching a building come down across the street.
Adam Colley and Rob welcome Mick Napier for a loose, fast-moving talk about improv craft and teaching.
Rob shares a humorous and unexpected travel story about being stuck in Dubai for seven extra days after a drone strike disrupted their flight, blending comedy with real-life adventure.
Rob and Adam discuss the concept of 'the scam' in improv education, where students feel cheated when classes don't lead to performance opportunities.
Rob and Adam discuss snow days and phone etiquette with humorous improv-style banter.
Hosts Rob and Adam discuss improv topics and share a story about a train trip to San Diego for workshops.
Two comedians banter about deviled eggs and introduce their improv-themed podcast.
Hosts Rob and Adam discuss carnival games and childhood memories in an improv style.
Hosts Rob and Adam kick off 2026 with a humorous discussion about watching the horror movie Hellraiser and their contrasting experiences with horror films.
Adam Cawley hosts Patti Stiles, a renowned improviser and teacher, discussing her work with Keith Johnstone and the Loose Moose theater.
Two improv comedians discuss their recent travels, personal experiences, and the changing seasons while sharing lighthearted banter.
This Patreon-exclusive episode features an interview with improv comedy legend Colin Mochrie, discussing his career, recent projects like a horror movie role, and personal life including his mother's 90th birthday celebration.
Solo host Adam Cawley interviews performance artist Shreya Parashar about her clown bouffant show and improv background.
Rob and Adam spend the episode on technique and context.
Adam Cawley introduces a new co-host, Will Hines, to replace the absent Rob Norman, discussing improv and Will's current film project in Amsterdam.
Rob and Adam discuss horror movies and the challenges of being a modern baby in an improv comedy format.
Rob and Adam open with a sponsor ad, then introduce themselves and joke about mascots and career trajectories.
This episode features a conversation between improv comedians Adam Cauley and Inessa Frantowski about her extensive experience in character work and sketch comedy, including her time with the Skechersons and Second City.
Two improv comedians discuss credentials, humor, and personal experiences with improv training and comedy shows.
This episode features an interview with Susan Messing, an experienced improviser and teacher, discussing her background across major improv theaters and her thoughts on starting scenes.
Hosts Rob and Adam joke about updating their podcast credits and discuss the comfort of consistency in comedy.
Comedians Rob Norman and Adam Cawley banter about their Patreon bonus segment and upcoming guest co-host episode.
Hosts Rob and Adam discuss a funny mishap involving a lost credit card during a bike ride after an improv show.
Rob and Adam chat about personal changes and their evolving interests, like cocktail bars, in a comedic improv style.
Rob and Adam discuss improv comedy, including a recent show and the importance of batting average in performance.
Two improv comedians chat about biking mishaps and summer fun, setting up a theme for the episode.
Hosts Rob Norman and Adam Cawley discuss improv comedy topics and share personal anecdotes.
Hosts Rob Norman and Adam Cawley discuss their recent improv show and personal anecdotes in a comedic, conversational style.
Rob and Adam discuss being 'improv'd out' and share behind-the-scenes banter about recording setups.