The Feral Audio podcast “Improv Nerd,” founded by 1987 alumnus Jimmy Carrane, begins its fourth season on Oct. 11, featuring Columbia professors as guests on the comedy show. 

Carrane said he started “Improv Nerd” in 2011 after leaving his job at WBEZ hosting the radio segment Studio 312. He said he has been doing improv since he was 18 years old. 

“I combined both of my passions and started the podcast,” Carrane said.

The show can be seen live Sundays at 5 p.m. at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. 

The podcasts—which range from half an hour to more than an hour in length—feature a 20–25-minute interview and improv scenes performed by Carrane and his guest. 

Carrane said the interviews include questions about his guests’ career history, what they were like as a kid and what their family was like. Carrane also emphasizes the struggles his guests have faced.

“All of that stuff plays a big part in who they are as a comedian,” Carrane said. “It’s really inspirational to improvisers today to hear not everybody has had an easy route.”

“Improv Nerd” has previously hosted well-known comedians and improvisers, including Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele of “Key & Peele,” Jeff Garlin, Bob Odenkirk and Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson from “Broad City.”

“[Odenkirk] said at the end of the interview, ‘That’s the most personal interview I’ve ever had,’” Carrane said.

For the upcoming season, Carrane will be joined by the improv group TJ and Dave, wrestler Colt Cabana and three Columbia professors from the comedy studies program: Jen Ellison, Anne Libera and Anthony LeBlanc. For guests whose jobs do not explicitly involve improv—like Cabana—Carrane said he asks them how they bring the practice into their professions.

Carrane has started his own improv courses for different levels of performers.

“I believe we are all funny if we can just tap into our life experiences,” Carrane said.

Libera, an assistant professor in the Theatre Department, will guest on Carrane’s podcast this season. She said she has known Carrane for 20 years.

Libera said she did some improv in college but was not planning to make a career out of it. That changed when she got a job at The Second City in 1987 where she took some improv classes for free to get more involved in improv.

“I thought I was going to be a very serious theater director,” Libera said. “I realized [improv] was something that interested and fascinated me.”

On the podcast, Carrane digs into what is hard or scary for someone to talk about, Libera said.

“Jimmy talks about his process and asks his guests to talk about theirs,” Libera said.

Carrane attended Columbia in the ‘80s and said his favorite thing about the college was that the teachers were actively working in the field.

A lot of the interns and people who work on the show have come from the comedy studies program at Columbia, Carrane said.

LeBlanc, an adjunct professor in the Theatre Department and director at The Second City, will also guest on “Improv Nerd” during the upcoming season. 

LeBlanc said he has been doing improv since around 2000 when he was in college and started at The Second City in 2003.

One of the producers on the podcast was a previous student in one of LeBlanc’s comedy classes at Columbia who connected him with the show, LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc has been on multiple podcasts and radio shows, but said “Improv Nerd” is different than others.

“It’s a cool thing that Jimmy does, sitting with different people who have different jobs and experiences with improv and having them talk about that, and then playing with them,” LeBlanc said. “It’s a really cool look into people’s brains, and how they think and feel about improv and comedy.”

Live shows will run Oct. 11 through Dec. 5 at Stage 773. Tickets are available on stage773.com for $10 and $8 for students. Carrane said Columbia students can purchase tickets for $1. Information on improv classes and previous podcasts can be found at jimmycarrane.com.