Mike: Hi, I’m Mike Fuller.

Kari: And I’m Kari Aguila.

Mike: And we’re actors on the improvised audio fiction podcast, “Broken, Alaska”.

Broken is a tiny town.

Kari: Only 71 people…

Mike: It’s small, but it’s full of stories. The show revolves around the people who live in Broken, and the ways that they handle the stresses of living in such a secluded place.

Kari: And just like in a real small town, there are people from all walks of life and all political ideologies, and a lot of the richness of the story we create comes from those differences. One of the greatest things about “Broken, Alaska” is that the neighbors often disagree, argue even, but they still have to really rely on each other. You can’t unfriend anyone in Broken just because they drive you nuts – you’ll still see them in the grocery store tomorrow. The characters really are like family.

Mike: The good and the bad…

Kari: Broken, Alaska began several years ago. We were all taking an improv class with Kay Lavergne Jaz, and one night at the end of a class Kay said, “Ok, pick the name of a town.” Somebody said, “Broken, Alaska.” Kay said, “Ok, one at a time go on stage, decide a name and a job for your character, and just run with whatever happens.” And one-by-one we all created the characters and the town of Broken.

Mike: It was a really amazing scene.

Kari: It was! It was one of those moments when you think, “This is good!” So, we wound up going back to Broken whenever we had a few extra minutes in class.

Mike: Then about 2 years ago, a new radio station here in Seattle asked me to come up with some original programming. I’d worked in radio for a lot of years, and I thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could do Broken as a radio drama?

Kari: Everybody was on board.

Mike: Yeah. And all those characters we’d been playing in class, pretty much became the characters you’ll hear on the podcast now.

Kari: Broken, Alaska is an improvised show, though I do write a basic story outline for each episode just to keep us on track, and to give us some landmarks to hit during each scene. For example, I’ll write: Scene 1, setting, Produce Stand; Rose and Heather worry that George has been acting weird; by the end of the scene, they agree to talk to Burt about it. And that’s really all the actors get. Every line of dialog you hear, is the cast just making it all up as they go along.

Mike: Which makes it really weird sometimes. But also, really amazing.

Kari: Definitely! We hope you’ll agree that “Broken, Alaska” is a unique improvised podcast with a rich set of characters, and an endearing, and, sometimes sort of odd story. Try the first episode of Season 2*. It’s called “The Munskie Library”. We think it introduces you to a lot of the characters in town, and it highlights the incredible improv skills of the actors on the show. Broken is a town full of heart, full of warmth and weirdness, and we hope you’ll fall in love with “Broken, Alaska”.

Mike: Thank you for listening.

*Last minute change! The episode you’ll hear is called “Doc Burgess”. It’s the 2nd episode of Season 2, but it’s still a great example of what we do in Broken. We started Season 2 on September 24, and the AVA Awards are for the period beginning October 1st, so we had to pick a different episode to submit for the Showcase. Enjoy!

https://www.brokenalaskapodcast.com

2021 Showcase: Liberty: Mines and Mysteries

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