A day in the life: Noah Levin

Noah administrates the Barcelona Improv Group and the B.I.G. School of Improv, hosts a weekly radio show for Barcelona City FM, and travels Europe teaching improvisation skills to businesses as well as actors and comedians. Every day is different and tasks vary depending on what major events are happening in the coming month. 

8AM I’m awake, but I don’t want to be. I take out my phone and catch up with texts or emails in an attempt to be active while still remaining horizontal. 

8.30AM Alarm goes off, meaning that it’s time for a shower, coffee, and yoghurt with honey and nuts. Sometimes, in the morning haze, I’Il forget to have one, two, or all three of these.

9AM Grab a Bicing in the Born and bike to Barcelona City FM. When I arrive at the station I meet with Nick Dutton, my co-host, and Jim Kent, the station manager, to review what’s on this week’s show. 

10AM We record an episode of ‘Nick and Noah Need Help’, our weekly show to help expats navigate Barcelona by answering their questions and interviewing a guest who shares their story of acclimatising to Barcelona.

11.15AM Bicing back home to start ‘work’.

11.30AM My working day typically involves making progress on a variety of tasks and projects. Today involved uploading the radio show to the internet and promoting it, confirming details for an upcoming weekend improv retreat and a two-week teaching tour in Poland, contacting businesses about giving in-house applied improv workshops (using the skills of improvisation—agreement, teamwork, creativity, positive communication—to help team cohesion), reviewing photos from our last Barcelona Improv Group show, and, as always, creating newsletters and Facebook posts to gather students and audiences for our upcoming improv shows and classes.

3PM Someone or something will remind me that I haven’t eaten lunch yet, and that I probably should. I usually cook at home and I like to take my time. Sometimes I pop out to the Mercat Santa Caterina for fresh organic meat and veggies. Today I cooked a red curry with shrimp and aubergine. While I cook, I watch YouTube videos of US talk shows, like Late Night with Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, et al. 

4PM Siesta. It took me years to realise how amazing this is. It’s the best perk of working from home. A little snooze and a break from multi-tasking. 

5.30PM Coffee! And a little more work. Today, it’s scheduling meetings, preparing for rehearsals, and creating the web page for our upcoming show.

7.30PM Rehearsal with the Barcelona Improv Group. I love this time. No matter how I’m feeling, even if I’m tired or stressed, within 15 minutes of warming up, I am in a new place. We challenge ourselves to be emotive, connected, funny, dramatic, and have fun throughout. 

10PM Time to go home (only a five-minute walk from the studio). Sometimes I finish up some urgent work. This week was filming and editing a two-minute video to promote my workshops in Poland.

12AM I’ll be texting my girlfriend when I realise that I haven’t eaten dinner. Yikes! Looks like it’s reheated curry.

1AM Shut the computer, brush my teeth and go to bed.