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Will Luera (Director) joined ImprovBoston in 1997 as a member of the ImprovBoston Mainstage. Within two years he joined the TheatreSports cast and also became the director of Sitcom. In 1999, he left ImprovBoston to start his own improvisational theater company called Blue Screen, where he continued to direct Sitcom but also developed and directed Secret Society and Dropkick Bandito. In 2000, he rejoined ImprovBoston as Artistic Director, directing the Mainstage cast as well as premiere productions of Sitcom, Secret Society, Blue Screen, and Quest. He has appeared at the Chicago Improv Festival, New York Improv Festival, Greater Boston Improv Festival, and Toyota Comedy Festival and has studied improvisation with ImprovOlympic, The Second City, The Annoyance Theater, The Upright Citizens Brigade, and Keith Johnstone. In addition to his work at ImprovBoston, Will has taught improvisation classes for the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), the National Fire Prevention Association, Northeastern University, Boston College and numerous regional, college, and high school improv troupes. Will continues to direct the ImprovBoston Mainstage, but has also worked with Improv Asylum, The Tribe Theater, The Alarm Clock Theater, and Another Country Productions. |
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Michelle Barbera joined Mainstage as a cast member in September, 2005 after guest performing with the troupe for several months, and is delighted to be performing with ImprovBoston. She co-produced and acted in last fall's Space Mission 5000 and last spring's DVD Commentary, which was performed at the Toronto Improv Festival in 2004. She has also performed with Skitches, ImprovBoston's Project D, Grimmprov, and George and Martha, The Tribe's Mr. and Mrs. Phelps, Big in Japan as well as Faces for Radio. She directed The Sosny's, Sister Brother and Brescia & Swaim, and alternately directed and appeared in The Aside Project. Michelle is Co-Artistic Director and a founding member of Boston's The Tribe. Michelle has also acted in plays in the Boston area. |
Aaron Crutchfield is a commercial actor living in the Northeast region, as opposed to NYC or LA, because the small town pace is one that allows him time to be with his family. Aaron often works in industrials, training films, regional and occasionally national commercials. In addition to work as a corporate trainer, touring with the theater company ImprovBoston, and working as a print model, Aaron also teaches. As a year interactor with DramaWorks, Aaron has enjoyed very fully integrating improvisation and corporate training. Whether it's 4th graders or Fortune 500 executives, Aaron enjoys guiding everyone into a place of comfort and confidence in their presentations. Currently Aaron is a Mainstage actor with ImprovBoston and is also part of the Mass. State lottery's TV announcement staff.
Theatrically he has performed from Boston to the Berkshires in roles ranging from Sergeant Wilkie in A Soldiers Story to the lead in Othello. His most distant venue has been Riga, Latvia
in the role of Tolstoy for Russian television.
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Paul Dome started performing with ImprovBoston in 2001 with Micestro and then joined the Mainstage cast in 2002. A Cubs fan in Red Sox nation, Paul originally hails from the suburbs of Chicago. Over the past 7 years, Paul has studied under various improv gurus at theaters from across the country, including Second City, ImprovOlympic, Upright Citizens Brigade, ImprovAsylum and ImprovBoston. Additionally, he has performed throughout New England and the US as well as internationally in Toronto and Puerto Rico. Past performances at ImprovBoston include Secret Society, Writer's Block, Radio Hour, George & Martha, The ImprovBoston Holiday Spectacular, Bert, and Phys Ed with Coach Crotchky - a character-based improv show where he played Coach Crotchky. He has written for several ImprovBoston original productions and dabbled in voice over and video work. Recently, Paul became an ImprovBoston instructor and is excited about sharing his passion for the craft with others. As a final thought, Paul contends the Chicago-style hot dog is about the most perfect food. |
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Patrick French. Patrick French has been performing as an actor and improviser throughout the Boston area since 2002. He currently performs with the ImprovBoston Mainstage, and is the director and co-writer of the upcoming ImprovBoston Showcase Show Laugh Track!, a comedic, behind-the scenes look at the world of sitcoms. Since joining the Boston comedy community, Patrick has enjoyed performing stints with the Improv Asylum's NXT cast and The Tribe. He was also named ImprovBoston's "2005 Rookie of the Year." Some of his other credits include the role of Darius in ImprovBoston's GoreFest III: The Gruesome Tale of Penny Dreadful, Randall in GoreFest V: Blood on the Bayou, and Walker Harris in the SouthCity Theatre's production of Two Rooms. He also once threw a snowball at a moving police car to impress a girl - proving he'll do anything to make you love him. |
Sasha Goldberg
Harry Gordon
Matt McLaughlin
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Katie Proulx started at ImprovBoston in 2001 as a student in the ImprovBoston University program, and has been a cast member since 2002, first with Micetro, and currently with Mainstage. She has also been seen in several showcase shows, most recently Misunderstood: A Rock Opera and Girls' Night Out. Choreography credits include GoreFest II and III. Katie has been seen around Boston in Blazing Appalachia at Theater One, J.B. at the Episcopal Divinity School, and Burlesque Exposes Bush, or, How Dubya Got Kerry'd Away at Improv Asylum. She graduated in 1999 with a degree in Theology from Boston College. |
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Neil Reynolds hails from New Hampshire, a Boston suburb. When not playing on ImprovBoston's Mainstage, Neil tours with Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr, and writes/produces for screen, stage, and radio. Recent projects include internet audio play The Chagoon Conspiracy and postmodern late-night show The Wasteland Comedy Hour with T.S. Eliot! He also teaches improv and sketch writing workshops at ImprovBoston. By day he is Director of Marketing & Public Relations at Stoneham Theatre.
He's an aspiring producer, director, and screenwriter. He has a website. |
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Rachel Rosenthal has been performing improvisation for over 15 years. Over the years, she has worked with many groups including 7 years of sketch and improv comedy with The Half Pint Players in CT and New York, and 3 years with Improv Foundry in Boston. In the past few years, she has been a familiar face at the ImprovBoston theater, performing in many showcase shows and seasonal productions such as the 2004 Holiday Spectacular, Voice of the White House, and GoreFest III and IV. She also performed with IB's TheatreSports cast from 2005 to 2007. Rachel minored in theater at Ithaca College and has taught numerous improv classes to young kids. She is no stranger to drama and musical theater as well, performing everything from Shakespeare to Christopher Durang. Currently, you can catch Rachel performing with Neutrino Boston or as a member of IB's Mainstage cast. |
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Dave Sawyer has been performing at ImprovBoston since 2005. Previous credits at IB include UnNatural Selection, Comedy in the Round, and Groaners & Boners: Schtick it to Vaudeville. In addition to performing with Mainstage, Dave makes improvised movies with Neutrino. He also writes and performs sketch comedy with The Uncommonwealth and in his two-man show, Sawyer & Hurley which is performed throughout the year in Boston and New York. He was a member of Boston's The Tribe in the sketch comedy troupe, Comedy Bronze. He's a Chicago native but grew up on Martha's Vineyard. There, he appeared in numerous productions at the Vineyard Playhouse and was a longtime member of the Island's popular WIMP comedy troupe. He has studied and performed improv for over 12 years is a graduate of the Second City conservatory. This summer, he will be appearing in Law & Puppet, an improvised Law & Order-style crime drama - but with puppets. |
Don Schuerman has been performing with ImprovBoston since 1997, after four years with My Mother's Fleabag (Boston College). He is a member of ImprovBoston Mainstage and appeared in the original casts of Sitcom, Musical! the Musical, Election! and Secret Society. He was director of ImprovBoston's ongoing production of TheatreSports from 1999 to 2004 and directed ImprovBoston's 2001 showcase productions of The ImprovBoston Holiday Spectacular and Red Herrings, which was selected as a feature performance at the 2002 Chicago Improv Festival. He has appeared at the Comedy Connection, the Comedy Studio, the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toyota Comedy Festival and Montreal's Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. Don has studied improvisation with ImprovOlympic, The Second City, The Annoyance Theater, The Upright Citizens Brigade and Keith Johnstone. He can be seen on Canadian television in the Comedy Network's World Improv Championships, where he was twice named Most Valuable Player. Don is also the Director of Programming for ImprovBoston.
Elyse Schuerman has been performing with ImprovBoston Mainstage since the spring of 1999. In addition to Mainstage, Elyse has been a part of such showcase shows as Boston Creem, Writer's Block, Commedia dell'High School, and BackStory, and has performed and written for the Holiday Spectacular and GoreFest shows. She performed in the Del Close Longform festival and The Scene, both in New York and at the Chicago Improv Festival. Elyse graduated with a BA in Theatre and Education from Flagler College in Florida. Directing credits include ImprovBoston's Micetro, UnNatural Selection, Radio Hour, and Misunderstood. She has also directed scripted theatre in Boston and in Florida. Elyse has taught adults at ImprovBoston and ImprovNashville and young students throughout Massachusetts. Elyse has studied improvisation with Mick Napier, Susan Messing, Joe Bill, and Keith Johnstone. By day, Elyse is Managing Director of ImprovBoston.
Bobby Smith

Bobby Smith (Director)
Camilo Aladro is thoroughly enjoying his rookie season with the Theater Sports ensemble. Camilo graduated from New World School of the Arts where he received Dean's Honors in Musical Theater. In 2003 he joined Roadkill Buffet at MIT which then led to a run with the Postmodern Avengers, an IB house troupe. In addition to performing improv Camilo has become involved in short film projects for the 48-hour film contest and the National Film Challenge including A Super Career (Best Super Hero Film) and I.N.S. and Outs (Best original music). Camilo uses improv as a release from the many hours he gives every week to "the man" and wants audiences to know he does this for the kids.
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Dana Jay Bein was dubbed the Bastard Son of Comedy by comedians in his native Western Massachusetts. He currently performs stand-up comedy all over New England and is the director of the stand-up comedy curriculum at ImprovBoston. You can take a stand-up class under his guidance at ImprovBoston or across the Charles where he is also an instructor at the Boston Center for Adult Education. ImprovBoston has known Dana since 2001 where he began performing in the Micetro/UnNatural Selection cast on Thursday nights. He has been a cast member in ImprovBoston Showcase shows such as Quest, Action Comix, Felt, In the Garage, GoreFest IV and V, Dana and Steve Do It, Law and Puppet and Fort Awesome (which was selected to perform in comedy festivals in Toronto and DC). Dana's stand up act and his "From Improv to Stand Up" class were both selected for the 2007 Lowell Comedy Festival. For more information, visit his website: www.danajaybein.com. |
Brian Bridges
Shannon Connolly started her improv career at UMASS Amherst with Mission:IMPROVable known to the college party animals as Diesel. Her three years spent there she was able to train in Chicago with Joe Bill, Liz Allen, Mark Sutton, Susan Messing, and TJ Jagodowski at Improv Olympic and the Annoyance Theater. Upon return to her roots in Boston she performed with The Rumble at the Tribe Theater, and is currently a member of the BHP players. In early summer of 2006 Shannon found herself cast at ImprovBoston in TheatreSports. Since joining she has found that salt can cure anything.
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Kara Gelormini (pronounced Jell-or-meeenie) joined the ImprovBoston family as a member of TheatreSports in 2005. After graduating from the Improv Asylum's training center, Kara entered the Boston improv scene in 1999 as a member of the short-form improv and musical troupe Comedie du Jour. Kara helped create Adam's Rib, an all-female improv and sketch comedy troupe, and still performs with them occasionally. Kara has also performed as a stand-up comic, vocalist, and dramatic actress. Memorable roles include playing Laura in ImprovBoston's GoreFest II: Slaughterhouse on the Prairie, Annie Sullivan in the Medfield Gazebo Players' The Miracle Worker, and singing a jaw-dropping version (in a good way) of the Ave Maria at her good friend's wedding. By day she is a mom (no! you don't say? she looks so young!) and a middle school English and reading teacher.
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Megan Goltermann. Having received her training at ImprovBoston, Megan joined the TheatreSports cast in 2004. She has studied and performed improv and stand up in and around Boston since 2002. Megan was a member of Pants! and the MuthaF#%&ing Puppets, winner of the 2004 Bass Red Triangle Comedy Festival's "Audience Favorite" Award. She is an original cast member of the showcase show Pirate Lives, as the cantankerous pirate named "Boots!" Having received her degree in sculpture in 1999, she moonlights in the visual arts outside of her performance.
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Kevin Harrington joined Improv Boston in May 2001 as a member of the Micetro/Unnatural Selection cast, and currently performs with TheatreSports and Bostonnews.net. Kevin started improv at Boston College as a performer and writer for the murdery mystery comedy troupe The Committee for Creative Enactments. In addition to his current work at IB, Kevin has played in many showcases: Radio Hour, Play Book, Luv Boat, Pirate Lives, Real Puppets Real Problems, In The Garage, Dream Show, IB Sketch, and Henchmen. In 2004, he performed with Dirty MuthaF#%&ing Puppets at the Bass Red Triangle Comedy Festival, (where they won “Audience Favorite” Award) and was a finalist for Pax TV's Boston round of World Cup Comedy. Kevin is also an instructor at Improv Boston, teaching in the Somerville school district. Outside of Improv Boston you can find Kevin writing and performing standup throughout the area, or at his day job— performing a one-man educational theatre piece about the life of Ben Franklin in schools througout New England. Seriously, that is his day job... well one of many. |
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Manny Hernandez joined the cast of ImprovBoston in July 2006. Currently, he can also be seen performing with Neutrino Boston. Before training at IB, he studied at the Improv Asylum and at The Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles. He moved from Southern California to Boston in pursuit of better weather, and to attend Berklee College of Music where he is working toward a degree in being unemployable. Manny believes he was cast into IB due to a case of mistaken identity, but is very happy to be part of The Family Show (even though he has to pick up Will Luera's dry cleaning). |
Marcelo Illarmo, a native son of Guam, USA, joined ImprovBoston in May of 1999. In addition to being a cast member of TheatreSports, Marcelo has performed in Playbook, Election, and Commedia dell'High School. Marcelo has studied playwriting, acting, and improvisational comedy at Boston University Playwright's Theater, the University of Guam, The Hangar Theatre, and the Upright Citizen's Brigade. With his longtime collaborator, Greg Reimann, Marcelo has written and produced several plays in the Boston area and beyond, including the critically acclaimed Tales of a Broken Heart: Not a Love Story, a one-man show which chronicles Marcelo's humorous struggle with the sudden onset of a life threatening heart condition. Marcelo is currently pursuing a career in the law where he hopes to fight injustice in the courtroom
by day, and on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen by night, just like his hero, Daredevil. Visit his Web site at www.notalovestory.com.
Stephanie Jones
Michelle McNulty
Blake Moloney In 1998 Blake gave up traditional theater at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and became known as "The Mad Bomber" in the world renowned improv troupe Mission:IMPROVable. Moving on after college, Blake was cast into ImprovBoston in the fall of 2000 and has been there ever since. He has performed at ImprovBoston in such shows as: UnNatural Selection, TheatreSports, Commedia dell'High School, Quest, and Fort Awesome. Blake is also an ImprovBoston instructor who teaches children ranging in ages from 6-17 years old.
Mike Morrell
John Serpico joined ImprovBoston in July of 2005 as part of the UnNatural Selection cast, and is now performing with TheatreSports. He got his start in improv at Boston College, where he performed and wrote for BC's Committee for Creative Enactments. In addition to his weekly gig with TheatreSports, John has appeared in the original casts of several IB Showcase Shows (In The Garage, Unauthorized Biography, The Robert Cycle, and Groaners & Boners), and in the revival of Blue Screen. Additionally, John has performed with the Tribe on a few delightful occasions and in venues across Boston. When not performing, John likes to conduct financial analysis and secretly root for non-New England sports teams.
Kristina Smarz has been a member of TheatreSports since 2004. Kristina has also performed with the improv troupes PANTS, Spinprov, Impeach B.O.B., and was a founding member, director and performer with the NYC troupe, Choking Victim. In addition to having been performing in improv and sketch shows since high school, Kristina has also been very active in theatre. She has performed and directed in many venues, from summer stock in an open field at Williamstown Theatre Festival to spaces that really aren't theaters in New York City basements, and several places in between. Her IB showcase show credits include Luv Boat, Felt!, and Girls' Night Out.
David Totty joined ImprovBoston's TheatreSports cast as a full-time member in 2004. A founding member and producer of Pants!, an IB House Team, David has also performed as a guest player with UnNatural Selection, as well as a cast member with Spinprov. He has studied and performed improv, stand up, and sketch comedy in and around Boston since 1999. He is a member of the Boston Area Guild of Puppeteers and active in creating new puppets and new puppet theater. David is a founding member of MuthaF#%&ing Puppets, winner of the 2004 Bass Red Triangle Comedy Festival's "Audience Favorite" Award. He puts his background in mechanical systems and industrial controls to work as the theater's Technical Director.
Andy Waldrop is excited to be back in Boston, and playing again with TheatreSports at ImprovBoston, where he began his performing career in 2000; he has been spotted among the casts of the showcase shows Secret Society, Red Herring and Writer's Block. In 2002, the thrills of a Purple Mountain Majesty tickled his fancy and drove him west to Denver where Andy played for four years with Bovine Metropolis as a cast member of the mainstage troupe On The Spot and showcase shows Sans Script Players: Sans Script 1.0 and Lessons from the Dead. Returning from Colorado in 2006, Andy brings with him a minor in theater from Colorado State University where he acted in and directed numerous productions, some minor altitude sickness, and a wife Jennifer. (Unrelated occurrences I assure you.) Andy studied improvisation at Improv Asylum in Boston and learned by osmosis from Mick Napier, Susan Messing, Joe Bill, and Keith Johnstone. Please be nice to him, he is still jet lagged.
Misch Whitaker fell in love with improv at UMASS Amherst performing with Mission: IMPROVable, where she was known for five years as "Tornado." After graduating in June of 2007 she was very pleased to join the cast of TheaterSports at ImprovBoston. Her first introduction to improv was playing games in the park with the Yellow Submarines at Boston Latin School. Through the years Misch has been blessed to take workshops with Susan Messing, Mick Napier, and TJ Jagodowski. She is a past and current member of the N.X.T cast at Improv Asylum. She also performs on the South Shore with Hat Trick Theatre in improvised murder mystery dinner shows. During the day Misch works as an RN with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. She has also been known to moonlight part time teaching theater and improv to Montessori children. Sometimes, she sleeps.
Robert Woo's
improv comedy experience includes training at ImprovBoston and workshops with various improv gurus including Armando Diaz, Asaf Ronen, Susan Messing, and Joe Bill. He has performed in showcase shows with IB and also as a cast member of the Family Show, which was formed from a group he co-founded called Wrong Kind of Funny. He has also performed with Tribe Boston in various capacities including Sister/Brother, The Rumble, The Woo Crew, the two-person show Botched, The Mainstage Tribe Players, the Dream Show, and as producer/assistant director of Sea Mission. Currently, he performs as a member of IB's TheatreSports . He is the director of a Boston-based short form improv group Flaming Awesome, and teaches improv at the Boston Center for Adult Education as well as ImprovBoston. He is also busy writing, filming, and acting in video sketches with his production company Hard Left Productions (www.youtube.com/hardleftprod).

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Jaime Church (Director) Past credits include several operas and musicals, but her heart is in the improv. She started in New Jersey where she took workshops with Victor Vernardo and Susan Messing and performed with a troupe called Mixed Signals. Although it was hard to leave the rockin NJ improv scene, she came to Boston three years ago to expand her horizons and has since gone through the IB University program and performed with groups Wrong Kind of Funny, Day Job, and Sosnys. When not on stage, Jaime is improvising getting her Masters in Education and is a private voice and piano teacher. She is very excited to be a part of the Family Show. |
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Jacey L. Bokuniewicz has been performing in the theater since age 6, some of her favorite roles include Rosalind (As You Like It), Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Dromio of Syracuse (A Comedy of Errors), Carol (Oleanna), Snoopy (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), Felicia (I Hate Hamlet) and Lenny (Crimes of the Heart). After 20+ years of scripted theater, Jacey decided to give improv a try. Following her completion of ImprovBoston's University program, Jacey began performing around Boston, appearing in such shows as Neutrino Boston, The Robert Cycle, Gorefest III, Spinning Hardcore, With Guest, The Rumble, Phys. Ed. With Coach Crotchky, Groaners and Boners: Shtick It to Vaudeville, Last Call, and What the Dickens?!. Joining ImprovBoston's UnNatural Selection/Comedy Thursday cast in 2006, Jacey is currently the assistant director for the IB sketch troupe The Ruckus, and is a cast member of the IB Family Show, the third IB Harold Troupe, Back By Popular Demand, and Crackers in Bed. Jacey can also be seen doing stand-up in the Boston area. When not performing, Jacey likes to challenge people to correctly pronounce her last name. |
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Robert Bonazoli graduated from the IBU program, where his fellow cast members eventually outgrew their fear that he would injure them or himself. Robert has performed regularly with the string of non-profits where he has made his career, including appearing in the famous and forgotten fast-sketch troupe The City Year Players, as The Gorilla of Idealism in Operation Butterfly, as Elvis Presley in The Elvis in Slumberland ballet, and as The Man Who Slams His Face In Donuts in the Jaime Tate training-video series. He has worked with children and adults in cultivating creativity to improve communication, conflict-resolution, and team-building skills, as well as with organizations and their stakeholders in the service of building more vibrant and effective non-profits. He is presently working toward his Masters in Social Work at Boston College, and is thrilled to be a member of the Family Show where he can help children and their parents experience the transformative power of being a goofball. |
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Scott Braidman
discovered improvisation in 2002 with Mission: Improvable at Umass Amherst. Since then, he has studied with Improv Olympic, The Annoyance Theater, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, ImprovBoston, and Improv Asylum. He would like to thank you for taking the time to read his bio when it's in a list as long as this one. |
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Max Brown merrily joined ImprovBoston's Family Show in July of 2005. A native of Minnesota, Max began his improv career at the tender age of 17 (though it should be noted that Max himself was not tender at this age, but rather abrasive and egotistical). Though marginally successful with the Minnesota chapter of ComedySportz, Max left the state in 1997, mainly due to overwhelming gambling debt and severe familial animosity. His passion for improvisational theater unquenchable, Max then traveled to approximately two other Midwestern states, wherein he joined a few short-form improv groups, institutions of higher education, and doomsday cults. (Regrettably, specific information about this period is unavailable.) Finally, in 2004, his intense physical and psychological therapy complete, Max moored his boat off the majestic shore of Boston (purely metaphorical imagery) and began his current routine of nights riffing with the crew at IB and days working as a Professional Architectural Lackey.
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Marc Hirsh joined the Family Show in 2007, and has been with ImprovBoston since 2001 as a member of the Micetro, TheatreSports, UnNatural Selection, and Comedy Thursday casts. Other ImprovBoston shows include Radio Hour and the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Halloween GoreFest shows. He has also been in Flanagan's Wake and a number of Mystery Café shows. He is a veteran of ComedySportz Indianapolis (four years), ComedySportz Houston (one year), Auckland University TheatreSports, the Auckland University Comedy Guild and the Brat Pack. Marc has performed at a number of national comedy and improv festivals and once got huge laughs for doing nothing more than standing on stage and summarizing the Communist Manifesto. He's still trying to figure that one out.
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Melissa Holman is an ImprovBoston neophyte and a die-hard Californian. She has previously performed as part of the troupe Paolo for Presidente! at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC, and spent four years as a performer and director with Tufts University's improv troupe Cheap Sox. Melissa is an elementary school teacher and an alumna of more than 20 plays and films in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. She hopes that you will play well with others, and not run with scissors. |
Matt Kapolka has trained at ImprovBoston University with other coaches in the Boston area. He began his performing career as a dancer/choreographer/writer in Phunk Phenomenon: Urban Dance Theatre. Matt toured 13 states in the original cast of The Radio Disney Magic Carpet Time Tour. He is proficient in Popping, Breakdance (B-boy), Salsa, and Hip Hop dance styles, Matt has choreographed several dances for his own dance group (A.M.P.E.D.) and has performed at many public events and competitions throughout the greater Boston area. He holds a BS in Physical therapy from Northeastern University. Matt is dedicated to using the performing arts as a means of educating and unifying people.
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Paul Kursky has performed improv around Boston for several years and is thrilled to join the ImprovBoston cast as part of the Family Show. Paul graduated from Brandeis University, where he wrote, directed, and performed sketch comedy with Boris' Kitchen. He writes humor pieces
when so motivated and occasionally performs standup in the Boston area. Of course he has a day job, too, but that's irrelevant, isn't it? |
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Katie Leeman has been involved in a life-long affair with the arts, so
tumultuous she couldn't possibly detail it all here. She's won acting
awards from the Boston Globe, stage managed in professional and Equity
theatres in the U.S. and London, played the flute in many orchestras
and chamber groups, has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and actually has a
career in marketing that she loves. Katie's recent theatrical
performances in the Boston area have included hurling herself through
a hole in the stage in Ingulf at the Devanaughn Theatre, playing
trickster Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor and taking a
rare turn as an ingenue as Alice Sycamore in You Can't Take it With
You. She's also been part of the improv troupe Wrong Kind of Funny
and occasionally performs with Phoenix-based Galapagos Improv. At
ImprovBoston, Katie has been performing with the Family Show since
2005, and has been in the casts of Archipelago and Coach Crotchky.
She graduated from IBU in 2005 and has taken Master classes with
Armando Diaz, Joe Bill and Matt Besser.
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Maile Shoul hails from the bustling metropolis of Royalston, Massachusetts, a town so small that it has no traffic lights. She first performed improv comedy with the Smith College SIKOS (Smith Improv Komedy Organization of Smith). After graduating, she performed as a founding member of the Ha-Ha Sisterhood, an all-female short form troupe in Western Massachusetts. Maile then moved east and began taking classes in Improv Boston, where she learned that men are allowed to perform improv too (who knew?). She joined the Family Show in 2008. Maile also performs with the short form troupe Flaming Awesome.
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Deana Tolliver told her family she wanted to be a stand up comedian... she was 3 at the time. She thought that meant you had to stand up to tell jokes. Since there were no open-mic nights for kids, she played the lead in countless suburban musicals that are hard for everyone but parents to watch. After an acclaimed turn as Sandy in "Grease" Deana went to Emerson College, where she quickly learned that everyone there played Sandy in "Grease." Shifting her sights back to comedy she spent four years writing and performing with Emerson's Swolen Monkey Showcase. Several years and comedy ventures later, Deana graduated from IBU. In the Family Show she happily combines her love of comedy, singing and tiny people. When not performing Deana can be found cavorting with her husband and two young children. To this day she cannot tell a joke while seated. Deana also works at ImprovBoston as their Director of Training & Sales, as well as a sketch writing instructor. |
The Ruckus
Jacey L. Bokuniewicz has been performing in the theater since age 6, some of her favorite roles include Rosalind (As You Like It), Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Dromio of Syracuse (A Comedy of Errors), Carol (Oleanna), Snoopy (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), Felicia (I Hate Hamlet) and Lenny (Crimes of the Heart). After 20+ years of scripted theater, Jacey decided to give improv a try. Following her completion of ImprovBoston's University program, Jacey began performing around Boston, appearing in such shows as Neutrino Boston, The Robert Cycle, Gorefest III, Spinning Hardcore, With Guest, The Rumble, Phys. Ed. With Coach Crotchky, Groaners and Boners: Shtick It to Vaudeville, Last Call, and What the Dickens?!. Joining ImprovBoston's UnNatural Selection/Comedy Thursday cast in 2006, Jacey is currently the assistant director for the IB sketch troupe The Ruckus, and is a cast member of the IB Family Show, the third IB Harold Troupe, Back By Popular Demand, and Crackers in Bed. She can also be seen doing stand-up in the Boston area. When not performing, Jacey likes to challenge people to correctly pronounce her last name.
Max Brown is a native of Minnesota, who began his improv career at the tender age of 17 (though it should be noted that Max himself was not tender at this age, but rather abrasive and egotistical). Though marginally successful with the Minnesota chapter of ComedySportz, Max left the state in 1997, mainly due to overwhelming gambling debt and severe familial animosity. His passion for improvisational theater unquenchable, Max moored his boat off the majestic shore of Boston (purely metaphorical imagery) and began working with ImprovBoston in the Family Show and later The Ruckus. He believes the goal of good sketch comedy is to find little kernels of truth in vast oceans of mean-spirited ambiguity and deceit.
Maceo Gilleece studied creative writing at Emerson until a once in a lifetime opportunity to work in food service presented itself. He invented chicken fried bacon and chose the carbohydrate's side in the war on carbs. He's been involved with Improv Boston since 2005 and performs improv and stand up when he gets around to it. He joined up with The Ruckus at the tail end of 2007.
Megan Goltermann is currently a member of Improvboston's TheatreSports cast and the Ruckus sketch group. Having studied and performed improv, sketch and stand up in and around Boston for over 5 years, she has hosted The Art Showdown game show as the mullet wielding hick, Chlorine, was a member of The City That Sleeps, the MuthaF#%&ing Puppets, assistant director of Law & Puppet and a winner of the 2004 Bass Red Triangle Comedy Festival Audience Favorite Award. She is an original cast member of the ImprovBoston showcase show Pirate Lives, as the cantankerous pirate named 'Boots!' Having received her degree in sculpture in 1999, she also moonlights in the visual arts outside of her performance. To see her other hobby that makes no money visit www.megangoltermann.com
Kevin Harrington joined Improv Boston in May 2001 as a member of the Micetro/Unnatural Selection cast, and currently performs with Theatre Sports and Bostonnews.net. Kevin started improv at Boston College as a performer and writer for the murdery mystery comedy troupe The Committee for Creative Enactments. In addition to his current work at IB, Kevin has played in many showcases: Radio Hour, Play Book, Luv Boat, Pirate Lives, Real Puppets Real Problems, In The Garage, Dream Show, IB Sketch, and Henchmen. In 2004, he performed with Dirty MuthaF#%&ing Puppets at the Bass Red Triangle Comedy Festival, (where they won "Audience Favorite" Award) and was a finalist for Pax Tv's Boston round of World Cup Comedy. Kevin is also an instructor at Improv Boston, teaching in the Somerville school district. Outside of Improv Boston you can find Kevin writing and performing standup throughout the area, or at his day job-performing a oneman educational theatre piece about the life of Ben Franklin in schools througout New England. Seriously, that is his dayjob...well one of many.
Melissa Holman has been a member of ImprovBoston since 2005. She performs regularly with the ImprovBoston Family Show, and has appeared in ImprovBoston shows such as Up With Family!, Tivo Nation, and Back By Popular Demand. She was also a performer with Wrong Kind of Funny at the Tribe theater. In the past, Melissa has studied and performed with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC, the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, and Armando Diaz. Melissa has appeared in more than 16 plays and films across the U.S. She holds a MA in Child Development and a PhD in keepin' it real.
Quentin Sean James came into the world stark naked. This is his first season with ImprovBoston, and he likes it-he really likes it. He hails from St. Louis, MO, studied film at the Missouri State University, received his M.A. in creative writing from the Florida State University, and currently resides in Cambridge, MA where he sincerely hopes no one discovers that he is The Last Dragon. Along the way Quentin has performed for film and stage, read for the Southeast Review Literary Journal, taught English composition to America's youth, produced and hosted a community television and radio show, and helped found STL Bottle Rockets and The Quiet Generation Presents, two comedy gangs that are hardly ever not uninteresting. His work is currently accumulating rave reviews from podiatrists across the Midwest (Actually, just one podiatrist.one unlicensed podiatrist.okay, basically it's a guy who really digs feet.) You can catch Quentin around New England performing stand-up or at Cambridge Community Television where he volunteers.
Michael Jones is a recent graduate of ImprovBoston's sketch writing program, where he made his writing and acting debut in Help Me, Help You. In his former life he was a public relations guru for a progressive human rights organization, and continues to dabble in various writing projects. He has previously taken improv workshops at Second City, and has been known to make a delicious cheesecake.
Matt Kapolka has been an enthusiastic member of The ImprovBoston Family Show cast since it began in 2004. He has performed in showcase shows including: Phys Ed with Coach Crotchky, Unauthorized Biography, Boston Off Book, and The 2007 Holiday Three-Way; for which he choreographed and performed five original dance pieces. He also writes and acts in the IB sketch group The Ruckus. He began his performing career in the dance company Phunk Phenomenon: Urban Dance Theatre, based in Everett, MA. He left this company to tour 13 states as an original member of The Radio Disney Magic Carpet Time Tour. For several years Matt has contributed his talents to youth programs throughout the community as an instructor of Break Dancing, Popping and Gymnasitcs, and workshops about Hip Hop Culture. Matt received his improv training at IB University, where he met the amazing artists with whom he co-founded the troupe Wrong Kind of Funny, which will always be the "happy place" in his heart. He has also learned from Armando Diaz, Matt Besser, and by watching the many talented cast members of IB. Matt believes strongly in the power of the performing arts to educate, unify and empower people of all ages and backgrounds.
W. Blair Kenney joined ImprovBoston as a student in 2006. He completed both the Improv and Sketch workshop programs in 2007. Blair is currently performing with the house team Manprov and is also writing sketch comedy for Ruckus. He is a 1998 graduate of Dartmouth College with a Classics degree in Latin and Ancient Greek.
Renee Kenney is a recent graduate of ImprovBoston's sketch writing program. She enjoys the concept of miniature ponies and believes that the space elevator may one day save humanity.
Steve Kleinedler (Director) began performing at ImprovBoston in 2001 in Micetro/UnNatural Selection, directed the ImprovBoston Family Show from July 2005 through May 2008, and has been an improv instructor at ImprovBoston since 2004. He was an ensemble member of Secret Society, Action Comix!, and Agent Spy and is currently a member of one of IB's Harold teams. His improv directing credits include Ay Diego, BackStory, Crackers in Bed, and The Robert Cycle; scripted directing credits include David Mogolov's one-man shows and the original production of the full-length play Diptych written by David Mogolov and Sara Faith Alterman. He has been involved in improvised and scripted theatre since the early 1980s. He was a founder of Spontaneous Art! at Michigan State University in the mid 80s and was in the ensemble of the very brief-lived Empty Pockets in Chicago. In 1991, he was one of the founders of the critically acclaimed Shattered Globe Theatre in Chicago, and after moving to Boston in 1996, he was a member of the cable sketch comedy ensemble Abneria. Steve is a graduate of the Player's Workshop of Second City (1987) and IB's workshop program (2001), and also has taken workshops with Del Close & Charna Halpern, Mick Napier, Susan Messing, Joe Bill, Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, and Keith Johnstone.
David Mogolov has been hanging around ImprovBoston in various capacities since 2002 when he performed his one-man show "One Night at T.F. Green." The show was selected to appear at Chicago's SINGLE FILE festival and was referred to by at least one attendee as "quite funny." Since then he has written and performed another one-man show, "I Got in a Fight", two oddball "Ameriprov" shows with Steve Kleinedler, and numerous other shows as part of the Sgt. Culpepper Jamboree and "The Artistic Director Presents..." He co-wrote and performed "Diptych" with Sara Faith Alterman in the fall of 2008, and is currently a writer and actor in IB's sketch troupe, "The Ruckus." He teaches in the ImprovBoston comedy writing program, and will occasionally be spotted performing standup.
John Serpico has been performing with ImprovBoston since the summer of 2005 and is very excited to be joining The Ruckus. His previous scripted comedic performances include IB Showcase Shows Groaners and Boners: Shtick it to Vaudeville and Laugh Track, as well as with Tales from the Script and Sawyer and Hurley. In addition, John performs weekly with IB's TheatreSports and as the host of the Sgt. Culpepper's Improv Jam.
Jen Stansfield conned her way into ImprovBoston by showering various people with handfuls of change. A graduate of IB's sketch writing program, she currently writes for the IB sketch troupe, The Ruckus. In the fall of 2007, she took the stage for the first time as a member of the nationwide sensation, Mortified! She was one of the winners of the 2008 Other Network Comedy Contest and is pursuing her master's degree in creative writing at Emerson College.
Deana Tolliver has been writing and performing sketch comedy since she was 4 years old. The first sketch she ever wrote was about a singer who had really bad back up dancers that were dressed like chipmunks. She made her older sister and cousin be the chipmunks. Since then, Deana has been part of many sketch troupes including Emerson College's Swolen Monkey Showcase, and was a founding member of the professional troupe Sissies. She has performed stand-up comedy, has written and performed in several live radio comedies, and is a member of the ImprovBoston Family Show. Deana also serves as ImprovBoston's Director of Training & Sales and teaches sketch writing for the theater. Oh, and she's the mother of a four year old daughter and six year old son who are already writing their own sketches. Theirs are not about chipmunks. They are mostly about people who turn into mermaids at the wrong time, like at the grocery store.
Randi Wiggins first started writing sketches with ImprovBoston for the Family Show sketch show and has kept writing ever since. She was a contributing writer to the OffBook showcase show and looks forward to continuing her writing. Additionally, Randi is a regular cast member of the Family Show and loves performing with all of the talented people at ImprovBoston. By day, she occasionally helps translate techno-jargon into readable, understandable everyday language. If you hear her talking about defects and fixes, she should be slapped. She's thrilled to be a part of Ruckus and looks forward to great productions ahead!
The Great and Secret Comedy Show
Renata Tutko (Host) is a young standup comedian from Boston that has for the past year been doing sketch, improv and character work at The Great & Secret Show at ImprovBoston. Before long, under the caring eye and wing of the Walsh Brothers, Renata (along with three other local comedians, Nate Johnson, Ken Reid and Sean Sullivan, who also all contributed to the Walsh Brothers' show in the same way) teamed up and formed The Untrainables. Together, The Untrainables have performed at various venues throughout Boston and Cambridge, including hosting their own shows at the Brattle Theater and the Paradise Lounge. Renata also was part of the last Boston Comedy Festival for not only her individual standup comedy but also for sketch with her group formed from The Great & Secret Show. She hosts a weekly standup comedy open mic (begun by the Walsh Brothers and the band The Grownup Noise, who participate in the comedy world often and features frontman Paul Hansen of the IB) called Hilarium. Renata has been featured in The Boston Herald, The Boston Globe and The Weekly Dig for the attention she has garnered from both her standup and sketch/character comedy performing. Together with The Untrainables she will take over as host of The Great and Secret Show, which will weekly include standup comic guests and many local comedians' participation in the show.
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Adam Brooks (Musical Director) was born and bred in Boston, and is excited to be back home. After graduating from Oberlin College where he co-founded the Sunshine Scouts, Oberlin's first longform improvisational troupe, he moved to Cleveland to follow his passion of writing silly music for silly people. In his short three-year stint, Adam worked with Second City Cleveland, writing and directing for graduation and understudy shows, as well as understudying the Mainstage shows. He also provided music for many sketch shows in the Cleveland area, including Attack of the Baby Makers, Last Call Cleveland, The Public Squares, and Habitat For Insanity, in which he wrote the music for the original, critically acclaimed musical 20,004: A Race Odyssey. He has also accompanied numerous improvisational troupes, including Cabaret Dada, Flanagan's
Wake, The University Circles, and Oliver Twisted, which performed fully-improvised musicals. Adam is currently studying film scoring at the Berklee School of Music, and is thrilled to be a part of the ImprovBoston family. |
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Stephen Gilbane is the artistic director and founding member of Musical Improv Company, an improvisational troupe that specializes in developing and performing full-length improvised musicals, as well as developing scripted musicals based on improvisation. He has been accompanying improvisational troupes since 1991, when he joined ImprovBoston as music director and helped them develop their signature improvised musical structure. Steve has co-written a number of short musicals, including The History Of Nails!, Romance101!, Hollywood Insider, and GoreFest I (Lunch At Your Desk), II (Slaughterhouse On The Prairie) & III (The Gruesome Tale Of Penny Dreadful), ImprovBoston's annual scripted Halloween musical. He has workshopped his full-length musical Showstopper! A High-Tech Musical with NOMTI, the Boston-based musical theater workshop, of which he has been a member for 5 years. He currently plays keyboard for Sukey Tawdry, a neo-Cabaret ensemble, and has studied jazz piano with Charlie Banacos and film scoring at Berklee School of Music. |
Paul Hansen B.M. Berklee College of Music. Paul has performed national tour
dates with Blue Note jazz singer Marlena Shaw, film director Barbara Hammer, and Senegalese master drummer Ibrahima Camara (percussionist with Stevie Wonder). As staff accompanist at Berklee College and faculty for the National Music Workshop's Dayjams, Paul enjoys improvising and teaching in all styles of music. In addition to weekly shows at ImprovBoston, Paul has provided music for IB's BackStory and Misunderstood: an improvised rock opera.
Hans Indigo Spencer Called a "master composer" by The Boston Globe for his Indigo Invention Group's debut jazz CD, First Storybook, Hans Indigo Spencer's versatility has ushered his music into numerous media. From his recent foray into film music to his work composing for the acclaimed Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra and classical artists, he is a highly adaptable collaborator in each setting. Having mastered live underscoring for comic theater at ImprovBoston, he joined the theater's film group to score their entries in the 48 Hour Film Project's 2004 and 2005 festivals where their musical production Recipe for Love garnered both an "Audience Favorite" Award and the "Best Use of Genre" distinction.
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