TIM ORR
Tim Orr has improvised since 1988 with many San Francisco-based groups, including BATS Improv, Rafe Chase’s groundbreaking long-form troupe Improv Theatre, the renowned True Fiction Magazine, and the acclaimed troupe 3 FOR ALL.
In 2009, he founded the Improv Playhouse of San Francisco with the goal of touring and teaching nationally and internationally in improv formats such as The Naked Stage (in the style of stage plays), Shakespeare, and others.
Tim 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 served for many years as the director of many BATS Improv long-form courses in San Francisco. He 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, Minneapolis, etc.) and internationally (Amsterdam, Beirut, Belgium, Helsinki, London, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Stockholm, and Tel Aviv).
Tim cried when the San Francisco Giants won the World Series in 2010, and many times afterward just thinking about it. He cried some more when the Giants, improbably, won another title in his lifetime in 2012.
BRIAN PALERMO
Brian Palermo leveraged his love of improv into a professional acting career with over 100 credits in TV and film. He has Guest Starred on such classics as Friends, Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and many more.
Brian spent nearly 25 years performing, directing, teaching, and creating shows at the world-renowned Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles. He is an original cast member of “The Crazy Uncle Joe Show” and performed over 1,000 shows in that format alone. He’s a veteran with three decades of improv experience and absolutely delights in sharing this stuff with performers of all levels. Brian’s grateful to have played with a Who’s Who of improv legends including Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Eddie Izzard, Rachel Dratch, and many others.
Brian’s an energetic teacher who has taught improv in several countries and across the USA. He is “encouragingly critical” and gives a lot of support while also helping you to increase your skills.
He uses the experiential learning techniques of improvisational theatre to facilitate trainings in the corporate sphere. And his niche is working with scientists and technologists to increase their interpersonal communication skills.
GREG TAVARES
Greg Tavares lives, works, plays, and teaches in Charleston, SC. He is one of the founders of Theatre 99 and The Have Nots comedy improv. Greg created the curriculum taught at Theatre 99’s training program and he wrote the book Improv for Everyone.
Greg is not famous, he has never worked at any of the big improv theaters, and he lives in a small town, but he has done over 5000 improv shows and taught more than a thousand improv workshops.
He travels to teach improv and it’s a really big deal that he created his own improv approach at a small out-of-the-way theater in Charleston that has gone viral.
DIANA BROWN
Diana was voted most valuable Mentor and Teacher in 2018 at the San Francisco Improv Festival.
Diana’s an improv artist, actor, voice actor, playwright, producer, and teaching artist. Diana is a teacher, director, and member of the leadership team at Leela in San Francisco. She leads the improv program at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s School of Theatre.
Independently, she’s a communications consultant & acting coach. She’s led Master Classes in San Francisco, Salt Lake City DuoFest, 2nd Best Comedy Fest, Camp Improv Utopia – West, New Orleans Improv Festival, Denver Improv Festival, 2020 Virtual Improv Festival, and with the Global Improv Project online.
Diana has studied with master teachers Jonathan Pitts, Jill Bernard, Brian James O’Connell (BOC), Joe Bill, Tracy Burns, Carla Cackowski, Tara De Francisco, Rance Rizzuto, Peter Rogers & Lindsey McGowen, Jane Morris, Dee Ryan, Jay Sukow, The Cast of Shrew: Improvised Shakespeare.
Diana studied acting with The Arizona Theatre Company Conservatory, and she performs as half of the nationally touring improv duo Bingewatch.
BETSE GREEN
Betse Green has been a very active member of the Portland Improv scene since 2002. Currently, she is an ensemble member and teacher at Curious Comedy Theater and ComedySportz Portland. She also performs regularly with the indie teams B&B, B.A.B.E., Broad Selection, and Unbreakable Chain.
Betse has directed festival ensembles at the San Diego Improv Festival, Impride Festival (San Diego), Laugh Riot Festival (Phoenix), and directed the first-ever festival ensemble at the San Francisco Improv Festival.
She currently teaches classes and performs using Zoom and has adapted her style of teaching and performing to accommodate this new medium.
Betse has studied with ComedySportz and IO Chicago. She has also been taught by Master Class instructors including Coco Galore, Jill Bernard, Susan Messing, Joe Bill, David Razowsky, and Tracy Burns. As a Certified Applied Improvisation Architect/Teacher Betse has created and facilitated applied improv curricula in classrooms and corporate business.
With more than two decades of improv experience, Betse Green knows a thing or two about yes-and, while still finding a way to address barriers both nervously personal and inherently societal. As a player & instructor, she has performed all over North America and Europe.
Betse focuses on creating strong, grounded characters, whose honest relationships form the heart of the scene. She likes to play for the “others” — people and situations that can otherwise be forgotten on the improv stage. This is apparent in her work with people possessing a wide range of abilities and experience.
Betse’s workshops explore a variety of topics-from improv basics, to guiding experienced players through complex territories such as race and gender, and how artists can incite and continue these conversations from the stage. Yet paramount to any ideology is FUN! Betse’s lust for life has made her a staple of the Oregon improv community and continues to propel her imagination and dedication to Portland’s improv stages and beyond.
JONATHAN PITTS
Jonathan Pitts is an award-winning international improv theatre artist from Chicago with over 30 years of experience. He’s a creator, director, improviser, producer, and teacher, and he’s also the Founder and Executive Director of Chicago Improv Productions.
Jonathan co-founded the Chicago Improv Festival and produced it for 20 years. He created and produced the College Improv Tournament for 10 years. He was Teen Comedy Fest’s executive producer for 7 years. He’s also the founder and producer of Chicago Podcast Festival for the past 2 years.
He has taught and performed internationally in 12 countries, as well as all over America. He’s performed in more than 1,250 improvised shows. He has created the improv shows, “The Make ‘Em Ups”, “The Oracle”, “The Silent Movie”, “Solo Plus One”, “Stopwatch”, and “Storybox Unscripted Theatre”.
Jonathan taught at The Second City for 16 years and he’s a contributing writer to their book on improvisation. He taught story-based improv at Piven Theatre Workshop. He’s also taught at 25+ American cities at regional improv fests and improv theatres.
For 3 consecutive years he was selected by New City magazine as one of “Chicago’s Top 50 Theatre Players” and he’s been interviewed about improvisation in books, newspapers, online posts, podcasts, radio, and TV.
ANDREW HEFLER
Andrew Hefler is a performer, director, and trainer working in theatre, music, film, and television for nearly thirty years. He was first introduced to Improvisational theatre at the age of 10 in Los Angeles, California. Since then he has worked with theatre groups in the US, Canada, Europe, and since 1994 in his home base of Budapest, Hungary.
Andrew was a founding member of the experimental impro trio Scalabouche and later he founded Grund Theatre in 2008 developing a company and training methods for actors and shows for performance. Grund Theatre has a strong mission for creating progressive relevant improvised theatre, television content, and skill-building courses for the public, as well as education for people in the entertainment industry, and applied improvisation for a wide range of clients from the professional, business, and socially conscious sectors.
Andrew, a versatile performer, has acted in the National Theatre of Hungary, appeared in numerous television episodes, commercials, and films, and provided voices for various cartoon characters. Additionally, he has designed and conducted acting, improv, and communication training for numerous companies, organizations, and educational institutions, while also being a loving father of three and a devoted husband.
MICHAEL GELLMAN
Michael J Gellman now resides in Ontario Canada and is Artistic Director of The Process Theatre. He teaches at Loyalist College as well as Master Workshops for Second City International and Artistic New Directions NYC.
Michael is an alumnus of the Second City mainstage and was a resident director for Second City in Canada and the USA for 25 years. He was Artistic Director of the Second City Toronto where his shows were nominated for 7 Dora Mavor Moore Awards including twice for Outstanding Direction, nominated for Best Director for Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award, and won a Chalmers Award for Best Director. Michael was a senior faculty and founding member of the Second City Training Center where he was a Program Head and also Director of the New York Training Center.
Michael was an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago teaching Acting For Directors in the Film Directing department and he designed and taught Improvisation and Acting III for the Comedy Studies department. In addition to Second City and Columbia College Michael has taught and designed classes and workshops in directing, acting, and improvisation since 1976 at such notable institutions as Actors Centre London, The Audition Centre, Victory Gardens Training Centre, Act One Conservatory and Loyola Law School, as well as master workshops for hundreds of Universities, festivals, theatre companies and improv groups around the world.
Michael is credited with originating long-form improvisation and his book “Process: An Improvisers Journey” (Northwestern University Press) co-authored with Mary Scruggs is a summary of his workshops on improvisational training.
JEFF MICHALSKI
Chicago-born Jeff Michalski is a legendary comic, improviser, director, and teacher!
Jeff first appeared on the Improvisation scene in 1974 and has mostly been involved in projects that synthesize the theatrical experience with Improvisation. He worked in comedy clubs across the USA with the Original Comedy Rangers.
He took part in the development of Chicago’s famed Zanies comedy club in Chicago before settling in with Chicago’s Second City in 1980.
During his years with the Second City Jeff studied with Paul Sills and his historic Story Theatre. While traveling the country with Second City’s National Touring Company he trained with Second City co-founder Sheldon Patinkin, and artistic directors Del Close, Fred Kaz, and Bernie Sahlins.
In 1984 Jeff Michalski co-founded The Second City etc! with Jane Morris, Bill Applebaum, and others. His directorial debut, etc’s premiere show Cows on Ice, made The Second City etc! an instant hit and he followed that with the even larger success of Mirrors at the Border.
Jeff’s achievements brought him to the Second City Toronto where he was nominated for a Dora Award for his direction of “Who’s Tory Now?” He continued as director and Artistic Director of The Second City etc! until 1988,when his success in Chicago led him to be chosen as director of the premiere production of The Second City in Santa Monica, also a critical success.
While still in Chicago with the Second City etc! Jeff co-developed the Second City Workshop Program, a comprehensive training program from which the next generation of Second City players are chosen. He also created the Second City Training Program in Santa Monica.
Jeff Michalski and Jane Morris founded the Upfront Comedy Showcase in 1990 and also headed the Upfront Comedy Showcase Workshop Program teaching people from all walks of life to improvise.
Jeff Michalski’s production credits include many Second City shows, Michael Moore’s TV Nation, and the feature film Family Values.
Jeff has also written for television shows including Helen Reddy, TV Nation, and Stephen Colbert’s Exit 57. He has also been a director at the Cats’ Laugh International Comedy Festival in Kilkenny, Ireland.
Jeff Michalski has taught all forms of improvisation for almost 50 years as well as developed his own long-form techniques. He has performed across the United States, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, and Poland and has directed Second City companies in Chicago, Los Angeles, Kilkenny, and Toronto.
As a producer, director, and performer, he has worked with Dan Castellaneta (Simpson’s), Chris Farley, Amy Sedaris, Mike Myers, Stephen Colbert, Ryan Stiles, David Pasquesi, and many more. As an actor, Jeff has played in close to 40 movies and worked with Robin Williams, Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, and many others.
Jeff is currently teaching people to improvise at the Fanatic Salon in Culver City, California, as well as traveling to international festivals to teach and perform with WePolak.
JANE MORRIS
Jane Morris is the Johnny Appleseed of comedy clubs, having opened the Chicago Comedy Showcase, the Second City ETC, Upfront Comedy, the Comedy Underground, and currently managing the FanaticSalon in Culver City. She has most recently been seen in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Shameless, I Am the Night, and opposite Meryl Streep in The Laundromat.
Jane teaches a writing-for-performance workshop at the FanticSalon every Wednesday evening and performs live at the venue on a very regular basis. She leads a workshop live called the WPA. Writer. Performer Artist
TOM TOLLENAERE
Tom Tollenaere was introduced to improv in 1997 and was instantly hooked.
Tom is the founder and artistic director of RIOT, the Royal Improphonic Orchestra & Theatre, specializing in musical long-form improv theatre, and now celebrating its 13th year. Prior to that, between 1999 and 2005 he was artistic director for The Lunatics, one of Belgium’s oldest short-form collectives. He also performed with them as an improv actor from 1997 until 2006.
Tom has been training and coaching improvisers since 1999. He likes to teach and theorize about narrative long-form and long- and short-form musical improv.
As an improv musician, Tom can sometimes be seen outside of his home country of Belgium, at festivals in Europe and North America. He loves to travel to teach, or to showcase his solo performance “Cookbook”.
Tom is a guest blogger for the Dutch improblog.nl, and several of his articles have appeared – in English & Spanish – in the international improv magazine “Status”. He is one of the producers of the “Improovelicious” international improv festival in Leuven, Belgium. Tom has been editing & maintaining ImprovEncylopedia.org, a reference site devoted to improv, since 1999, and he has been the Music Director of Vintage Improv since 2019.