WIT improvisers lend their voices to new improvised podcast “Ark”
A new podcast called “Ark” has launched, featuring the voices and comedic storytelling talent of 20 of the WIT community’s most experienced and hilarious improvisers.
Co-hosted by Noah (played by Jamal Newman of WIT groups Kinfolk, Lena Dunham, and Uncle Gorgeous) and Naamah (played by Bethany Stokes of Nox! and The Hypothesis), “Ark” centers on the two of them “interviewing” thousands of pairs of animals aboard Noah’s Ark.
Recurring characters in Season 1 include Noah and Naameh’s out-of-work son Japeth (played by Eli Okun of Nox!) and God (played by Krystal Ali of Hellcat, Kinfolk, Lena Dunham, and LIZARD GIRL.)
We asked the show’s producer Tim Townsend to tell us more about this miraculous menagerie of voices.
Question: What’s the premise of “Ark”?
Tim Townsend: The premise is that in 2018, archeology students from the Antiquities Institute at the University of Tehran were excavating a cave system along the Black Sea in eastern Turkey, when they uncovered dozens of large ancient ceramic vases.
Inside, they found reels of 5,000-year-old audio tape. Scholars theorized that sometime during the Bronze Age, a collective of Akkadian Empire priests placed the recordings inside the caves, which are just 300 miles from Mt. Ararat — described as the resting place of Noah’s Ark.
In 2024, researchers finished meticulously restoring the magnetic coating on the tape, held their breath, and hit “play.” What they heard was the most important archaeological discovery in history: Noah [Jamal] and Naamah [Bethany] talking to the animals about life aboard the ark. We learn that their unemployed son Japeth [Eli], who was really into AV stuff in high school, recorded and produced all of it.
So, what you’re saying is that even 5,000 years ago, there were 24-year-olds still living with their parents, trying to figure out what to do with their lives?
Tim: Precisely.
Who else is aboard “Ark”?
Tim: We recorded 10 episodes in the fall and Season 1, which just launched last week, includes some of the city’s great improv talent. The first episode features Clare Mulligan** and Patrick Fleury as beavers. Other animal pairs voiced by WIT performers are:
- Eva Lewis and Darnell Eaton as peacocks
- Devin Hiett and Madeline Dozier as a horse and donkey couple
- Krystal Ali and Samiyyah Ali as dinosaurs
- Bethany Coan and Alex Kazanas as armadillos
- Arie Rich and Simone Webster as snakes
- Kristina Martinez and Neil Baron as dolphins
- Isaiah Headen and Eddison Wilkinson as aardvarks
- Katie Munn and Steven Karig as flying squirrels
- Allison Yolo and Mikail Faalasli as prairie dogs
What was the impetus for the project?
Tim: My first podcast, “Optophobia,” which was also improvised, focused on conspiracy theories. We made up a new conspiracy theory each season. Guests created a character and came on each week to give their character’s take on the central conspiracy.
I wanted to try something totally different with “Ark.” So many people think of the story of Noah’s Ark as a children’s tale but when you read the text in the Hebrew Bible, especially the verses immediately before it starts raining, the story is actually tragic, dark, and very adult. I thought it would be funny to sort of combine those ideas to create a podcast aimed at adults but that also features talking animals.
Is the podcast itself improvised or scripted?
Tim: “Ark” is mostly improvised. I provide the scaffolding and then watch these amazing actors build whatever structure makes sense for the next 40 minutes of the recording time. The only scripted parts of “Ark” are the “ads” that break each episode into two halves. I typically draw inspiration from the improv itself in any given episode, and after we’ve recorded, I write an “ad” based on something I heard that struck my funny bone.
Why did you choose to do a podcast instead of video? After all, improv is a very visual medium.
Tim: We actually did record the first ten episodes of “Ark” using five HD cameras — one focused on each host and guest, plus a wide shot of all four actors. I’m hoping to produce a video and release it once we find a sponsor.
Why do you like working with improvisers in particular?
Tim: I’ve loved improv since I first discovered it while working as a bartender in Chicago in the late 1990s. Watching a Harold show be pulled-off flawlessly by a group of people working together and reading each other, is insanely fun.
There’s something about the high-wire act of improv that ups the audience’s energy. We’re lucky to live in a city with so many smart, talented improvisers and that values comedy enough to embrace a theater like WIT, which puts such a premium on education and performance.
Where can people find “Ark” and who’s the target audience?
Tim: Anywhere you find podcasts, including Apple and Spotify. Basically, if you like improv comedy and you like podcasts, you should check it out. If you go to the written credits for each episode, listeners can learn more about the performers.
** Editor’s note: Clare Mulligan is WIT’s Artistic Director for a Day on Friday, Jan. 31 and she’s curated an entire evening of comedy showcasing more great improv talent as part of our Laughing Matters series. Visit WIT’s people page to discover more about the improvisers, who are listed.