Mike Betette
Mike Betette is an improviser/actor/writing living in Los Angeles by
way of Chicago. He has performed improv at colleges across the country
with Mission IMPROVable and on a cruise ship around the world with The
Second City. He currently performs at iOwest and Mi’s Westside Comedy
Theater. Mike has written for tvgasm.com, Blackbook Magazine online,
Superdeluxe.com, CurrentTV’s Supernews!, and Manswers. Mike also
co-produced two improv game show pilots for CBS starring Craig
Ferguson, played a cat burglar in a short directed by John Landis and
starred in the improvised mockumentary film “Hitting The Nuts: The
True Story of the 2009 Scott County Series of Poker.” Visit
Mikebetette.com for more.
Currently teaching Level 1 – Beginning Scenework
Craig Cackowski
Craig Cackowski has been involved with the iO and iO West Theaters as a performer, coach, teacher and director since 1992. As a teacher, he is the three-time winner of the Del Close Award as Teacher of the Year. As a performer, he can be seen weekly at iO West in Quartet and The Armando Show, and monthly in My First Time With Cacky, with a different celebrity guest each show. In Chicago, Craig performed with the Second City Mainstage and ETC, as well as with Baby Wants Candy, Carl and the Passions and the original cast of Close Quarters. Film and television appearances include Community, How I Met Your Mother, Workaholics, and Year of The Dog.
Shows: Quartet, The Armando Show, First Time With Cacky, Dr. Craig Cackowski & the Ladies
Joe Canale
Joe Canale has been writing and performing comedy for the last 15 years. In Chicago he wrote and performed 4 revues on the Second City mainstage, as well as countless shows at iO Chicago and the Annoyance Theatre. He wrote sports themed sketches for ESPN radio in Chicago. He also spent a year working at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. Since moving to LA, Joe has written numerous videos for the Second City Network and with his sketch group Mr. Johnson.
Currently teaching Sketch Writing Class
Teams: Spirit Cat
Shows: The Armando Show, BoomTang
Shulie Cowen
SHULIE COWEN has taught improv to kids, senior citizens, and everyone in between. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, a former member of The Second City National Touring Company, and a member of the original cast of the long running musical Schoolhouse Rock Live!. Shulie studied improv in Chicago at The Second City Training Center, The Annoyance Theatre and at Improv Olympic with Del Close. Shulie currently directs and performs in Opening Night: The Improvised Musical! every Friday at IO West. Movie and television credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Factory, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, How I Met Your Mother, and Reno 911!.
Currently teaching Level 3 – Heightening The Scene
Shows: Opening Night: The Improvised Musical!®, The Armando Show, Monument 14 Book Release, The Cherry Pick
Sean Cowhig
Sean Cowhig is from Boston, MA and is a graduate of Emerson College. While at Emerson Sean joined the all improv comedy troupe This is Pathetic. He remained with the troupe for three years including his senior year when he was president of the troupe. Sean is a graduate of iO West’s improv program. He has been a member of several Mainstage Harold teams (Saucebox, Maddox Furley, Hey Swayze). Sean can be seen performing both improv and sketch at iO West with Dr. God, Pilot, and Top Story Weekly. He has guested in some of the greatest improv shows around, Opening Night the Musical, Dasariski, and The Armando Show.
Shows: Mainstage Sketch Show, Top Story! Weekly, Dr. God, Spin-Off Cinema, Top Twending Topics, Glory Stories, The Cherry Pick, Dr. God Revival
Matt Craig
Matthew Craig is a professional improvisor, actor, writer, and director. He is an alum of iO Chicago, where he played with the ensembles Tobacco Lobby and Mystery Machine, and The Second City in Chicago, having performed in their Resident Company for over three years on both their Mainstage and their ETC theaters. He spent several years traveling the world with their touring company and has worked for their corporate training division as a writer/performer/instructor/director for over twelve years. His career began at Washington University in St. Louis with the troupe Mama’s Pot Roast, and additional theater credits include UCB, the Annoyance, iOWest, Disney Cruise Lines, and Brave New Workshop. Most recently, he works for Norwegian Cruise Lines writing and directing sketch comedy that is performed all over the world, is a current faculty member of the Training Center of The Second City Los Angeles, and performs regularly in his two-man show FrankenMatt and the improv group Mr. Johnson in L.A. and beyond. Check your local listings. Some recent television credits include “The Office” and “According to Jim.” He lives in Studio City with his lovely wife Rebecca and his beautiful daughter Phoebe.
Currently teaching Advanced Harold – Level 7
Shows: FrankenMatt
Molly Erdman
Molly Erdman spent 11 years performing at iO in Chicago with groups including Genealogy, Valhalla, The Armando Diaz Experience, and the Lindbergh Babies (directed by Del Close). She was a member of Second City’s National Touring Company and created and performed in three Mainstage shows at the Second City Chicago. For 4 years she played the quietly suffering wife in the minivan in Sonic commercials. Molly moved to LA in 2007, and she currently performs at iO in the Armando Show.
Shows: The Armando Show
Megan Grano
Megan Grano is a 2008 alum of Second City Chicago. She toured with The Second City Nat’l Touring Company for three years and wrote/performed in original revues for the ETC stage and Girls Night Out. At iO Theater, she performed on various teams over the course of 9 years. Her two favorites were the all-female groups Virgin Daiquiri and Ragdolls. The Ragdolls’ sketch comedy show “Moist” was selected for the 2007 HBO Aspen Comedy Festival. Also in 2007, Megan won The Oxygen Network’s nationwide “Create A Series” Webisode Competition.
In addition to performing, Megan teaches, coaches and directs improv and sketch comedy. She has taught improv and sketch groups around the country, she taught improv at Columbia College in Chicago, she has taught corporate comedy workshops, and she designed the sketch writing program at The Annoyance Theater in Chicago.
Currently teaching Intermediate/Ensemble Scene Work – Level 2
Teams: Spirit Cat
Shows: The Armando Show, Grace 'n Grano, I Protest Live Podcast
Brian Guest
Brian Guest has been acting professionally for over 10 years and in the past year alone has booked such shows as “SHAMELESS”, “TORCHWOOD”, “HAWAII 5-0”, “FRANKLIN AND BASH”, “CSI: NY”, “SOUTHLAND”, and the SONY film"DETENTION" with Josh Hutcherson and Dane Cook. He himself trained at PLAYHOUSE WEST with JEFF GOLDBLUM for several years, as well as LESLY KAHN’S studio. He is passionate about mixing the craft of acting with the business knowledge of “how to book the job”. After coaching many actors, he has helped up and comers as well as established talent find their unique voice as an actor. He is enthused by the creative process, and looking to coach people equally excited about their craft.
Dave Hill
Dave Hill is a Chicago native and veteran improvisational performer, writer and actor who has been performing at IO (Chicago and West) for several years. Trained at ImprovOlympic, the Annoyance Theater and the Second City, he was a member of the celebrated house team People of Earth at IO Chicago in addition to performing with numerous other wonderful ensembles including Atlantis and Jimmy Jimmy Do. Here at IO West he performs with King Ten and Cog as well as regularly appearing in the Armando show and the occasional sketch affair. He has done several commercials and TV and film work, but he does not think it germane to this biography.
Currently teaching Beginning Scene Work – Level 1 and Advanced Harold – Level 7
Teams: King Ten
Shows: iO Rep Presents: Close Quarters, The Armando Show, Elevator and Hill Jones present: Double Standard, The Cherry Pick
Eric Hunicutt
Eric Hunicutt has been performing scripted and improvised theatre continuously since he was 15 years old: everything from Shakespeare at Lincoln Center to sketch comedy in dive bars (with a lot of improv shows throughout). Eric has studied and performed with Improv Olympic (iO) Chicago, The Second City Chicago, Comedy Sportz, Steppenwolf, and is a proud alumnus of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a working actor and director in film, TV, live theatre, and performs weekly at iO West, as well as touring nationally with the acclaimed Chicago-based ensemble The Reckoning. Directing credits include shows at The Comedy Central Stage, iO West, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, The Second City (L.A. & Chicago),The Upright Citizens’ Brigade Theateres (NYC & L.A.), and the University of California San Diego. In addition to iO West, Eric teaches at Steppenwolf Classes West, Warner Loughlin Studios, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Cal State University’s Summer Arts, and recently served as a Guest Faculty/Director at UC San Diego.
Currently teaches Intermediate/Ensemble Scene Work – Level 2
Shows: The Reckoning, The Armando Show, Milieu
Doug Karo
Doug Karo has worked on several comedy shows including “Jimmy Kimmel
Live” “Infomania” and currently “Conan.” His work can be seen at
www.dougkaro.com
Andrea Kittelson
Andrea Kittelson is an award-winning playwright, a Los Angeles theater critic and co-founder of Hyde and Turk Performance Works, a San Francisco-based theater company which produced, during its tenure, diverse works of theater and performance art. She holds an MFA in Theater Performance (writing, acting and directing) from SFSU. With six solo shows and hundreds of other works of theater under her belt, Andrea has come to understand what makes solo performances either flop or soar.
Her book “How to Put On Your Own One Person Show” is used as the textbook in university programs and is a comprehensive and practical guide that addresses every aspect of solo performance from creation to production.
Shows: The Audition
Bridget Kloss
Bridget began performing with IO in Chicago in 1997, when she was asked to join the house team Missing Fersons. She later performed with Prefontaine for several years, and was in the shows Two Slow, Epic Prattle, and Ask Charna. In 2000 she joined the cast of The Second City National touring company, and in 2004, became a member of The Second City Mainstage cast in Las Vegas. She has taught and coached improv for over 5 years, with IO, Second city and independently around the country.
Currently teaching BIntermediate Forms – Level 6
Teams: Sweeterhouse
Annie Kouris
Annie grew up in NW Indiana has been performing improv since 1997. In 2001 she helped found the children’s improv touring group, Smarty Pants Theater Company in Cincinnati, OH before making her way west to Los Angeles where she trained at the iO West Theater.
Over the years of training and performing a strong philosophy of team over individual emerged. With this idea in place, Annie began coaching which eventually turned into teaching. She currently teaches at MI’s Westside Comedy Theater, AMDA and at iO West where she also runs the student performance program, The Lottery. She also teaches and tours with her two man show, NOW? w/Annie & Levin and has performed at festivals in cities including Chicago, Vancouver, Honolulu, Austin, LA & San Francisco. But you can see her with the Del Close Award winning Harold Team, Uss Rock n Roll, every Wednesday at iOwest.
During the day Annie is also a working commercial actor and has appeared in several national and local spots. But mostly she gets totally jazzed-off about improv, and yes, that is how she talks about it.
Currently teaching Beginning Scenework Level One Intensive
Teams: USS Rock n Roll
Shows: Dr. Craig Cackowski & the Ladies, iO Rep Presents: Close Quarters, The Cherry Pick
Aaron Krebs
Aaron Krebs, from Texas by way of Chicago, has been involved with improv for over twelve years. He is part of the National Improv Touring Company, Mission IMPROVable, where he performed in such noted comedy festivals as: Chicago Improv Festival, Memphis Comedy Fest, Orlando Fool s Festival, Great Lakes Comedy Fest, Big Stinkin Improv Festival, as well as others. After three seasons of touring the US, he is proud to find his home here with the Improv Olympic West.
Currently teaches Level 3 – Heightening The Scene
Shows: NSA, The Cherry Pick
Ed Lee
Ed Lee is an alumnus of the iO West Improv Training Center. He has been on the writing staff of almost 100 episodes of television comedy (including “Are You There, Chelsea?” and “The Drew Carey Show”), written numerous freelance episodes, and worked in punch-up rooms of several television pilots. He has also lectured and taught seminars in film and screenwriting at Wesleyan University and Gettysburg College.
Currently teaches Comedy Writers Room
Michael McCarthy
Michael McCarthy’s credits include writing for “Saturday Night Live,” “Sesame Street,” and “The Drew Carey Show,” along with many, many Comedy Central projects—not to mention creating a TV series for Channel Four in England called “Beyond The Pale,” a morning radio show in Chicago called “The Morning Fix,” and a comedy festival in Ireland called “The Cat Laughs.” Prior to most of that he opened five reviews at The Second City in Chicago, three on the mainstage with titles like “Economy Of Errors” (ha), “Winner Takes Oil” (ha, ha) and “Truth, Justice or The American Way” (ha, ha, ha). He loves The iO West and richly enjoys referring to himself in the third person.
Currently teaches Talk Show Portfolios, TV Pilot Presentations, Sitcom Spec Scripts, and SNL Sketch Packets
Shows: Comedy Lab Live
Katie Nahnsen
Katie Nahnsen is an LA based actor, writer, improviser and teacher. She was a series regular and story contributor on the syndicated comedy Sports Action Team, which was distributed by MGM and aired on HDNet and NBC affiliates across the country for two years. Katie’s written and performed in plays, improv and sketch comedy revues throughout the nation and is a Moth StorySLAM winner. Notable groups include the award winning Baby Wants Candy, CatNip, Virgin Daiquiri, Spirit Cat and the Late Night Late Show. In Los Angeles, Katie’s performed at iO West, The Second City LA, UCB LA and The Groundlings. In Chicago, she has performed at iO Theatre, The Second City, The Annoyance, and The Neo-Futurists. Katie loves teaching improv and acting classes not only to comedians and actors, but also to corporations and children in foster care as a way to improve confidence and communication.
Teams: Spirit Cat
Shows: Dr. Craig Cackowski & the Ladies, The Cherry Pick
Brian James O'Connell
Directing Sample Video
Brian James O’Connell Website
Dr. God Comedy
Brian James O’Connell is a working actor, writer, director, filmmaker and improviser in Los Angeles. Brian is a graduate of the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts (David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Jody Hill,Ben Best, Peter Hedges, Mary-Louise Parker, Tom Hulce,Terrence Mann, Chris Parnell, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeff Nichols) and moved to Los Angeles to follow his dreams of a career in filmmaking. Read more about Brian here on his website
Shows: Top Story! Weekly, Dr. God, The Armando Show, Top Twending Topics, Tigerpants, The Cherry Pick, Dr. God Revival
Levin O'Connor
Levin O’Connor – Levin began his improv career in Chicago studying at iO(Formerly ImprovOlympic) and The Second City. He has been fortunate enough to learn from some of the great minds in this craft and works hard to pass that along. Improv is more than a means to an end for Levin, it is a life philosophy. This Del Close Award winning “Coach of the Year” has lived in LA for the past four years and performs weekly at IoWest with USS Rock ‘N Roll and The iO Repertory Company.
Currently teaches Harold – Level 5
Teams: USS Rock n Roll
Shows: iO Rep Presents: Close Quarters
Marion Austin Oberle
Marion Oberle has been writing and performing for many a moon. After years of doing “straight” theatre she stumbled upon ImprovOlympic and has never gone back. In Chicago, she was lucky enough to perform with the house team Carl and The Passions every Wednesday night for 4 years. She is one of the founders of the critically acclaimed sketch group Brick that has performed over 9 original shows as well as headlined in the San Francisco Sketch Festival, The Chicago sketch festival, and the Chicago Improv Festival. Marion has also written two novels, a self-help book entitled “How Did My Ass Get So Big?” and a variety of articles in magazines you’ve never heard off. You can catch Marion on Comedy Central with the “B & D Squad”.
David Razowsky
David Razowsky is the respected teacher and former artistic director of the Second City Los Angeles. As an actor, David has written and performed in ten Second City Chicago revues. He directed Second City Chicago Mainstage’s No, Seriously, We’re All Gonna Die, Second City LA’s, Encino Evil, The Second City Untitled Project, The Second City Detroit’s acclaimed 19th Nervous Breakdown, and The Second City National Touring Company. David also directed two of Amsterdam’s Boom Chicago productions, and is credited with creating Boom Chicago’s signature live on-stage video production. David has worked with animators at Dreamworks, and has taught for Steppenwolf Theatre. He regularly performs at iO with Carrie Clifford in Razowsky & Clifford.
Currently teaches Level 3 – Heightening The Scene
Shows: Razowsky & Clifford, Monument 14 Book Release, The Cherry Pick
Brandon J. Sornberger
Brandon J. Sornberger is originally from serene Upstate New York. He has performed and taught improv in New York City, Boston, Chicago, and now Los Angeles. While at iO Chicago, he performed with the iO Muscial Featuring The Deltones, Bullet Lounge, and Let Them Ho’s Fight. He is happily married and has an affinity for cowboy boots.
Teams: Sweeterhouse
Shows: The Armando Show, Orpheus Roy, The Cherry Pick
Paul Vaillancourt
Paul Vaillancourt is the co-founder (with Charna Halpern) of the iO West and has been teaching and performing improv for over 20 years. In that time he has appeared all over the country including such notable venues as HBO’s Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Chicago’s iO (where he studied with the immortal Del Close), New York’s UCB Theater, and the iO West here in Los Angeles. As an actor Paul has appeared on such shows as “The Drew Carey Show”, the UPN sitcom “Half & Half”, and the Oxygen Network’s stand out “Girls Behaving Badly”. Paul has also had success as a writer and producer, co-creating and serving as supervising writer for the MTV hit “The Blame Game” as well as lending his writing and producing talents to a score of other shows for MTV, VH1, USA, Oxygen, Bravo and AMC. Paul currently lives in LA with his wife Lindsey and his two children.
Currently Teaching Level 1 – Beginning Scenework
Shows: The Improvised Movie, The Cherry Pick
Seth Weitberg
Seth Weitberg performed for three years with The Second City Touring Company and has been seen at iO Chicago in The Armando Diaz, Bullet Lounge, Family Tree House Boat Accident and Gravid Water, with the two-man powerhouse Nogoodnicks and he was the creator and co-host of The Late Night Late Show. He has written and performed three one-man shows, the john doe project, a 2004 Single File Festival selection, America Gives Itself A Hero’s Welcome, and Without Intermission, as well as the production, A Moment Alone, a collection of monologues, slam poetry and 60s-era soul ballads, which he also directed. He has performed at the Chicago Sketchfest with Family Freud and Hooray For Fun, as well as in the premiere casts of The Second City’s Barack Stars and Jewsical The Musical. He has written four original revues for Second City Theatricals in Boston, Cincinnati and two in Atlanta. Weitberg’s writing is published regularly by McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Chicago Tribune and TimeOut Chicago, and every single day at TheWeekinRebuke.com and TheWeekinDubuque.com. He was the creator of the improvised podcast, The Chicago Sessions, and he is the author of the current Level 1 curriculum for iO Chicago.
Shows: The Armando Show, Pascal