| ASTRONAUT UNIVERSITY Four Improvisors, Four Astronauts... Think Armageddon/Bad Ass space epic journey meets long form improvisational comedy! Everything you want to see in improv and SPACE! |
| IMPROV MONSTER WITH THE SHUT-UPS The long-form improv comedy meets new-wave power-pop for a mind-blowing performance when Improv Monster joins with The Shut-Ups. Taking inspiration from the songs played by the band, the Improv Monster cast will weave a night of hilarious magic not to be missed. |
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| PLAN B Plan B gets along well with others and practices good self-hygiene. Go on, take a smell! They were voted "Improv Group You Would Most Like To Have As Houseguests" by their mothers. |
| SNACKERS Snackers is a group of fun loving, experienced improvisers who have been playing together for three years. They specialize in the off-beat, the goofy and the just plain weird. |
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RICK ANDREWSWORKSHOP: Feel The Rhythm!
Rick Andrews has been improvising for over 11 years, beginning at Improv Boston in Cambridge, MA and continuing in Saint Louis, and now NYC at the Magnet Theater. He's studied with Armondo Diaz, Will Luera, Mark Sutton, Joe Bill, Jill Bernard, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Asaf Ronan, Zach Ward, and others. He has been teaching and directing improv to all ages and experience levels for the past 3 years.
JILL BERNARDWORKSHOP: Fireball Theory & The Fix'em Up Shop
Jill Bernard has been performing with ComedySportz-Twin Cities since 1993, and is also a founding member of HUGE Theater. Her one-woman improv piece, Drum Machine, has been featured at the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toronto Improv Jamboree, the Miami Improv Festival, Philadelphia Improv Festival, and the ComedySportz National Tournament, among others. She has taught and performed improv in Norway, Canada, and over thirty of these United States, in cities that include Juneau, AK; Spokane and Seattle, WA; Washington DC; Bowling Green, KY; Phoenix, AZ; and also on an episode of MTV "Made." She has studied at the Annoyance Theater, Improv Olympic, the Brave New Workshop and other organizations; and is the recipient of the 2005 Chicago Improv Festival Avery Schreiber Ambassador of Improv Award, and the 2007 Miami Improv Festival award for Best Solo Show.
JOHN BRANDTWORKSHOP: Comedia del Arte for Modern Improvisers
John Brandt has been a practitioner and teacher of the commedia dell'arte style for more than a decade. He has created a teaching format that allows modern improvisers to quickly adopt the techniques of the commedia dell'arte and fuse them into their own work. John holds a Master's Degree in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis and is the current Patron Services Director at Dad's Garage Theatre in Atlanta.
MANDY BUTLERWORKSHOP: Be Specific
Mandy Butler is co-Founder, Artistic Director and Youth Program Director for FuseBox Theatre. She holds a BA in Theatre Performance from Georgia College & State University and has been studying and practicing the Meisner method for eleven years. Mandy is currently pursuing an MFA in Performance Pedagogy at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she teaches undergraduate classes in audition technique, intro to acting, and longform improvisation. In addition to her experience in scripted theatre, Mandy has also studied and performed improv at Chicago's Annoyance Theatre, Improv Nashville, and the Richmond Comedy Coalition. Mandy has coached youth improv for the YMCA artEMBRACE program and headed up the improv curriculum at Bravo Creative Arts Center in Nashville.
DAVE DENNISONWORKSHOP: Beginning the Improvised Stage Play Format
Dave's love affair with improvisational theater began at BATS Improv in 1993. He has been a member of the Mainstage Company at BATS since 1998 and served as the Artistic Director from 2005-2008. Dave has played with a number of improv troupes including Scratch Theater, The Particulars and Start Trekkin and as a guest with True Fiction Magazine and the Secret Improv Society to name a few. In 2003, he developed the Family Drama 3 act stage play format at BATS. Dave and Lisa Rowland developed the Awkward Dinner Party format in 2008. He has been teaching Improv for five years at BATS and Stanford University, working with beginning, intermediate and advanced students.
COLLEEN DOYLEWORKSHOP: Real. Funny. People.
Colleen Doyle grew up in Cleveland, where she wrote greeting cards and performed with The Second City. Since then she has had the good fortune to play with ImprovAcadia, The Second City aboard the Norwegian Dawn, and the ensembles Chairs and Showpony at the Chicago Improv Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival, DC Comedyfest, Del Close Marathon, and Out of Bounds Austin. Currently she performs with Dummy and The Diplomat Motel. Colleen is very happy to teach at iO Chicago.
KIT FITZSIMONSWORKSHOP: Break Open the Monkey Barrel
An alumnus of Georgia Tech's Let's Try This!, Kit FitzSimons is Theater Manager and Instructor at DSI Comedy Theater in Carrboro, NC. He has been performing, coaching and teaching improv for over 11 years. His two-man show Banana Breakup has been a featured act at Black Box Improv Festival in 2008 and 2009, and it guested at Jackpie earlier this year.
ERIC FRAMPTONWORKSHOP: Comfortable Notes: An Introduction to Music in Improv
Classically trained in piano from age five, Eric is a first-call keyboardist, producer, composer, and technician. He has toured and/or recorded with such artists as the B-52s, Paul Simon, Mother's Finest, Stuck Mojo, Yanni, Ed Roland (of Collective Soul), the Hollywood Hills Orchestra, and Fozzy. Eric has written four musicals including the award-winning Song Of The Living Dead, performed on over 150 album projects, produced dozens of radio and television spots, and recorded cues for several feature films. He is allergic to chicken.
BRIAN GODLESKIWORKSHOP: Intro to Sketch Writing
Brian has been studying and performing extensively in New York at the the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. He's studied under such greats as Michael Delaney, Will Hines, Curtis Gwinn, Zach Woods, and a host of others at the UCB. He currently performs all over the city with his team Exit Strategy, and with his travelling team the Ragamuffins
JIM KARWISCHWORKSHOP: Tension vs. Conflict
Jim Karwisch is the owner and Artistic Director of Jackpie Theatre in Atlanta. He is currently a member of the Jackpie House Team Kevin, Splinter Team Guttersmack, Solo Show MixTape, Duo Project Gemini and is the coach for Babies mit Bearden and Einstein meets Elvis. He is a graduate of Valdosta State University with a BFA in Theatre. He toured the US for three years as an actor and director before moving to Chicago to study long-form improvisation.
LEW LEFTONWORKSHOP: Funny You Should Say That
Lew Lefton likes to keep both the right and left sides of his brain working. His day job, as a faculty member in the School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech, includes being the Director of Information Technology for the College of Sciences. But Lefton is not just your ordinary geek. He's also an accomplished and experienced comedian who has done stand up and improv comedy for over 25 years. Throughout his comedic life, from the 1980's in Illinois, through the 1990's in New Orleans, where he was a driving force behind the long running Improv group "Brown!", Lefton has always been a supporter and mentor of young and local comedy talent. Now in his hometown of Decatur, GA, Lefton directs a youth Improv comedy troupe called D.U.C.K. He is a natural teacher, and his broad experiences, sharp wit, and unique perspectives make both his classes and performances truly engaging and effective.
SHANA MERLINWORKSHOP: Big Stories Small Cast
Awarded "The Best Improv Teacher" and "Best Female Improviser" by the Austin Improv Collective, Shana Merlin has been a professional improviser since 1995, performing from Calgary to San Francisco to Atlanta to Las Vegas to London. Shana founded Merlin Works in 2003, providing custom training, interactive presentations, and comedy shows to businesses and organizations using improvisation and founded The Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation in 2008, offering shortform gameplay and narrative longform improv classes to adults in central Texas. You can see Shana perform in the improv troupes Get Up and the winner of "Best Improv Troupe" in Austin Chronicle Readers Poll, Girls Girls Girls Improvised Musicals. For information on training, workshops, and shows head to www.merlin-works.com.
TIM ORRWORKSHOP: Dynamic Scene Starts
Tim has improvised since 1988 with many San Francisco-based groups, including BATS Improv, Rafe Chase's groundbreaking longform troupe Improv Theatre, the renowned True Fiction Magazine, and with the acclaimed troupe 3 For All. In 2009, he founded a new improv group, the Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. He has appeared in numerous plays in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received critical acclaim for his leading roles in the improvised feature films, Suckerfish and Security. With Stephen Kearin, Tim co-wrote, and originated the role of Dirk Manly in, An Evening with Dirk & Blaine. Tim has performed (and taught) improvisation at the American Conservatory Theatre, BATS Improv, Stanford University, and many other venues nationally (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Austin, Louisville, Atlanta, etc.) and internationally (Amsterdam, Beirut, Helsinki, Leuven, London, Paris, Stockholm). He is currently the Director of the BATS Improv Long-Form Intensive.
ASAF RONENWORKSHOP: Getting Out of Your Own Way & Improv Diagnostics
Asaf Ronen is the creator and Editor-in-Chief of YESand.com, a website devoted to improvisation, and is the author of Directing Improv: Show the Way By Getting Out of the Way. He has been involved in improv since 1990, starting in college and working with Theatresports, ComedySportz and directing his own longform improv troupe, Hiatus, where he helped create original formats. Asaf has taught improvisation in Canada, Great Britain, Norway and in twenty-two of The United States. His directing credits include the all-girl group goga, the improvised comic book adventure show Ka-Baam!!, and Death in the City, a dramatic longform improv piece, at the NY Fringe Festival. Asaf has taught throughout NYC's public school system as a resident artist through LEAP and New Horizons and as part of Weist-Barron's ACTeen. In 2000, Asaf worked with Cirque du Soleil as a scout for improvisational talent. Currently, he resides in Austin, TX where he is the Managing Director of the Austin Improv Collective.
LISA ROWLANDWORKSHOP: Quickfire Shakespeare
Lisa began improvising in The Devil Mountain Improv League at her high school in Walnut Creek, CA in 1997. She moved on to become an active member of the Stanford Improvisers at Stanford University and then joined San Francisco's BATS Improv Company in 2005. At BATS, she has directed shows, taught improv classes in dialect and Shakespeare, as well as leading corporate improv trainings. She coaches high school improv teams and is also a regular guest improv coach at Stanford University. She and Dave Dennison developed Awkward Dinner Party in 2008.
REGINA SAISIWORKSHOP: Keep It Simple
Regina Saisi has been a professional actor/improvisor and teacher for 25 years. Her theatrical experience includes work with such directors as Maria Irene Fornes, Jose Rivera, Darrah Cloud and Gary Leon Hill. The focus of her work throughout her career has been improvisational theatre. She has been deeply involved in the fertile San Francisco improvisation community, helping to start several improv companies including Riot Squad, Improv Theatre, Pulp Playhouse, and her current company True Fiction Magazine. She is currently the Dean of the BATS School of Improv.
JOHN SEXTONWORKSHOP: The Four C's of Scenic Improvisation
John is co-Founder and Managing Director of FuseBox Theatre. He has trained and performed at Chicago's Annoyance Theater and Second City, and with members of the Upright Citizen's Brigade, iO, and Dad's Garage. John was also a co-Founder, Director of Development and Instructor for Improv Nashville. He is currently Development Consultant and ensemble member for the Richmond Comedy Coalition. John also has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. Please don't pick on him.
JASON SHOTTSWORKSHOP: Simplify Your Scenewoek
Jason Shotts has been teaching long-form improvisation at iO Chicago for the past four years. He's also been lucky enough to perform with Henrietta Pussycat, Cougars, The Lindberg Babies 2.0, Brad Renfro and FELT. Jason has performed at the Chicago Improv Festival, Del Close Marathon, The Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, the Raleigh Longform Improv Festival, the Dirty South Improv Festival, and Chicago Sketchfest with the ensembles Dummy, BirdDog, OTIS, and Sketchcore.
MATT STANTONWORKSHOP: Dramatic Action in Comedic Improvisation
Matt Stanton is a founder and former artistic director of Dad's Garage Theater. Before receiving his BA in Theater from Florida State University, Matt was a director of the collegiate comedy group Whammo Players. This became the award-winning Dad's Garage, where Matt has performed in and directed hundreds of improv shows such as TheaterSports, Scandal!, Micetro, Long Johns, BRAWL, Gorilla, Captured!, and Road Trip. Mr. Stanton has also appeared at Dad's Garage in Griefers, Psycho Beach Party, The Lights, subUrbia, O Happy Day!, Cannibal! the Musical and The Homage that Follows. His writing credits at Dad's include the sketch comedy show Free Parking and adapting the film Cannibal! the Musical for the stage. In the metro Atlanta theater scene, Matt has played in The Cripple of Inishmaan (Theater Gael), Stakeout at Godot's (7 Stages), Henry IV Pt.1, The Miser, Measure for Measure (GA Shakespeare Fest), A Christmas Carol (Alliance Theater),As I Lay Dying (Haverty Marionettes), Bremen Freedom, screwmachine, Finer Noble Gases, The Festival, Macbeth, The Frog Queen, God of Hell (Push Push). In cinema, Matt has appeared in The Hawk is Dying, Warm Springs, and in The Signal, a full-length feature originating from Push Push film workshops. His performances (most likely the best) have been cut from the films Mr. 3000, Talladega Nights and Soul Men. On broadcast television he appeared in the Fox Network drama Dawson's Cree. More recently, Matt has voiced characters for Cartoon Network animations, including Bigsby in Xtacles and D&D Wizard in Frisky Dingo.
JOSH WARRENWORKSHOP: The Living Character
Josh Warren began acting at age 14, began studying improv at age 17, and by age 21 was a part of the Upright Citizens Brigade. There he took instruction from Ian Roberts (a UCB creator) and acted along side fellow actors such as Dan Fogler, Gavin Speiler, and Law Tarello. In 2004 Josh relocated to Atlanta, Ga and joined with forces with Whole World Theatre. Since then he has become a founding member and instructor at The Village Theatre, has created and been a part of multiple improv troupes, sketch comedy troupes, comedy shows, short film groups, comedy websites, and is a regular occuring feature in the commerical and voice over markets. In January of this year Josh starred in and created his first ever television show. It is called 'Mlarky' and it is coming soon to Comedy Central and Atom Films. And scene.
