214 Improv Interviews Dr. Stephanie McCullough -Musical Improv Director Extraordinaire!

Carlisle is the only city In County Cumbria, UK and one of the oldest cities, spanning 2,000 years. Someone who hasn’t been there quite that long is the marvelous Dr. Steph McCullough, world renowned musical improv director! In this first of a two-part interview, Dr. Steph describes her love of her husband James and her new hometown of Carlisle. In her unique and melodious way, Dr. Steph describes her journey from Chicago to this historic city that is close to Hadrian’s Wall, a place she loves to explore. She shares the story of her long distance love affair with James is better than any Hallmark movie, and it brought tears to my eyes.
As she lives near Scotland she performed the 2025 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh.

We discussed her research project on “seniors” while pursing a Ph.D., interviewing Del Close. Dr. Steph hadn’t entered the world of improv yet and wasn’t sure she wanted to after meeting with this historic figure. When studying at the IO she met up with Del again.

Recently she has created The Improv Lineage Project, a research project that already has 700 participants on their personal improv lineage. You can join the study below.

improvlineage.com

To learn more about Dr. Steph you can visit her YouTube channel for some lessons on musical improv.