Coup de Comedy | Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium 2021

Moriah Flagler is a teacher, theatre maker, and scholar who is now studying to be a clinical mental health counselor. Her research focuses on community-based devising, applied improvisation, and digital storytelling. Her recent scholarship examines how devising digital stories with middle school aged Spanish speakers foregrounded their community cultural wealth during moments of improvised sharing within a schooling system that often strips Latinx youth of their languages and cultures through subtractive assimilation. She is excited to be a part of the next applied improv volume! 

Flagler holds a Master of Fine Arts in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Education from The University of Arizona. She is currently artistic director of the Be the Street Discovery Theme project at The Ohio State University where she is exploring the intersections of place, identity, connection, story, and social justice... Read more

Oshima (Hideko Ohshima) is a Japanese improviser. She lives in Niigata, a quiet city in Japan, yet she is able to improvise with many people in many places online. Oshima has been studying and performing improv in and outside Japan since the mid-90s. She was lucky enough to have had opportunities to study improv with Keith Johnstone, Rebecca Stockley and other improv coaches from BATS Improv, The Loose Moose Theatre Company and Seattle's Unexpected Productions. Thanks again to the rapid technology growth, she has been in various kinds of online improv shows in Japanese and English.

CSz Portland, in its 29th season, has played over 5,000 ComedySportz shows and hasn't missed a weekend since May, 1993.  We are unique in the wonderful Portland improv scene in that our players are employees who are paid for every ComedySportz match as well as for teaching public and private workshops. CSz Portland was founded in early 1993 by Ruth Jenkins and Patrick Short, who serve as Club President and General Manager. Ruth and Patrick performed with and managed CSz San Jose for five years prior to moving to Oregon.

ComedySportz® was started in 1984 in Milwaukee, WI, by Dick Chudnow. Expa... Read more

Oluwadamilola Apotieri-Abdulai (NG) is the CEO of Playback Nigeria and a member of the board of Centre for Playback Theatre (USA). He is a confidence coach and communication skills trainer dedicated to bringing effective change to individuals and organizations through theatre and improv. He is Nigeria’s first Applied Drama practitioner and Playback Theatre practitioner and a member of the International Playback Theatre Network (USA), Drama for Life Africa Network, Applied Improvisation Network (USA) and an alumnus of the Centre for Playback Theatre (USA) where he trained in Playback Theatre core course and conducting. Damilola... Read more

Improv Revolution generates creativity, comedy, and community at and around UC Irvine.
Through a positive approach to improvisation, we construct opportunities for as many people as possible to engage in the creative process and to participate in community. We work on our own and develop partnerships in order to spread the good word of comedy and creativity. We strive to create smart, unifying comedy that is accessible by all.

Sara Beer (SE) is one of the artistic producers and a teacher at Improvisationsstudion. She was the editor of Improvisationsstudion Förlag which published the Swedish translations of Keith Johnstone´s classic Impro and Keith Johnstone: A Critical Biography by Teresa Robbins Dudeck in 2015. In »Hetero« she was part of the artistic production team, a show that developed the themes of gender relations and heteronormativity and "Welcome to Dystopia" a prescient improvised format about things to come. She now runs Improvisationsstudion´s on-line courses on playwriting for improvisers, actors and...

I am a professional improvisor and trainer since 1990. I studied several areas of the theatre and psychology and nowadays i am focusing on the use of theater and improvisationskills in human communication. As a performer, i recently do improv-shows in companies or solo shows in theaters.
(You can see a trailer at: https://youtu.be/pip-px26cS4 .)
I have been lucky to teach en play. I try to divide this half and half. Being the founding father of improv-theater and Theatresports in Holland, i initiated several grous, started the festival IMPRO-amsterdam and am currently artistic director of the RE... Read more

Sarajane Bradford is a graduating drama major at UCI and is elated to be spending a third year on Improv Revolution. Post graduation she hopes to travel Europe and explore the theatre scene in the many countries overseas. Eventually, she would love to form a traveling acting troupe that write, produce, and perform their own work around the world.

I compose and arrange music for theatre and film and teach Yoga .Living in Berlin Germany

Michael Buchanan is a member of BlackProv, with Jamie Montgomery and John Eaglin, Jr, creating improv in Portland, OR and beyond, through the lens of people of color. In The Barbershop, Jamie, John and Michael will meet in the neighborhood gathering place, where conversation creates characters and scenes.

Tracy Burns has been teaching and performing internationally for over 30 years. She has taught acting, performance analysis, and improv at many animation studios, gaming companies and production houses including Pixar, DreamWorks, Laika, Blue Sky Animation, The Sims, Cinesite, and The Third Floor. She is the Acting for Animators instructor at California College of the Arts.

She was named one of the top improv instructors in Los Angeles by Backstage magazine and was a founding member and co-artistic director of London Theatresports. She was a core member and instructor for the award-winning imp... Read more

Company member of Ripley Improv, Los Angeles.
Most recently, Doreen debuted her character, “Nana Topaz”, in Season 5 of the CW’s Riverdale. Other TV credits include This Is Us, All American, Animal Kingdom, The Big  Bang Theory, etc.. She’s also done national commercials and just wrapped a horror film with Tobin Bell (AKA "Jigsaw").
Originally from Chicago, she performed during the “Golden Era of Improv”, with ImprovOlympic, UCB (before it was UCB), Boom Chicago (in Amsterdam), and toured  with The Second City. She studied under such folks as John Favreau, Mick Napier and  yes... Read more

I love improv and hanging out with improvisors!
My favorite improv philosophy is "make your partner look good" and I apply it as much as possible personally and professionally.
As a communication coach I focus on power & status to help people become kinder and more powerful and to help them get more of what they want!
I'm obsessed with the color apple green. Can't explain, just makes me super happy!

Social Justice Arts Practitioner Producer

Founder, Director & Producer of 492 Korna Klub the UK's only weekly improvised radio drama exploring social issues amongst the black community Artistic Agitator Fellow Brixton House - connecting strangers & beginning difficult conversations in shared spaces about Brixton and its peopleCo-Founder & Curator of 81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance - a ground-breaking grass-roots project, built from the ground up with over 300 people giving their time and energy for free to make a radical reclaiming of heritage - to imagine, experiment and create new futur... Read more

Leo is the founder of Abound Innovation Inc. He's a people and heart-first entrepreneur who believes everyone can be an innovator. An innovator himself, with 55 US patents and over 20 years of experience, Leo has come alongside organizations like Chick-fil-A and guided them to unleash the innovative potential of their employees by transforming them into confident innovators. 

Leo’s friendly, joyful and enthusiastic demeanour makes the journey to innovation exciting and attainable. Leo’s also a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods trainer & facilitator who believes unlocking innovation takes new approaches... Read more

Both Business & Legal trackback + combined with a comedian experience =
explosive match ?
Fun is never a waste of time

Chloe-Jeanne Cuberly is ecstatic to join Improv Revolution at our annual Coup de Comedy for her final year. When not exerting every ounce of energy she has on stage (that commonly leads to injury), she is probably studying something Criminology related at UCI - or prepping up to never live the undergraduate life again. If none of the above applies, she is most definitely drowning in orders for her e-commerce entrepreneurial business.

Melissa Dinwiddie helps companies gain clarity and make sense of complex situations so they can act decisively, by making ideas visible. With an eclectic background (Silicon Valley native; Juilliard-trained; Masters in Cultural Studies; professional artist for 15 years), she brings a creative outsider’s perspective to the corporate setting.

I'm a lecturer in primary education at the University of Dundee, with a subject specialism in Drama. I'm currently studying an MEd in Teaching & Learning in the Performing Arts with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Really interested in improvisation in an education setting - both in the primary classroom and as a skills development tool in higher education.

Though working for years in mental health and education, Avi kept a background hand in Jewish ritual and midrash. Marriage ceremonies, Bibliodrama, interfaith davening—the usual stuff! One year, hearing another boring haftarah of Jonah, he said, “There has to be a better way to convey this story!” The resulting theatrical midrash became the synagogue's Haftara the following Yom Kippur, and went on to tour in four Limmuds in Canada and USA.  This year, Covid forced a rethinking of The Akeda, leading to an online "Isaac In A Bind" as part of the synagogue Rosh Hashanna, and will be part of...

Theresa Robbins Dudeck, PhD, is a theatre scholar-practitioner with expertise in improvisation and applied improvisation. She works globally, in both professional and academic settings, applying the power of impro to pedagogy, leadership, teamwork, collaborative creation, and social change. She was a recent US Fulbright Scholar in Brazil and is considered one of the foremost teachers of Keith Johnstone’s Impro System. Theresa wrote the critically acclaimed Keith Johnstone: A Critical Biography (2013) and is co-editor of two books on applied improvisation published by Methuen Drama: Applied... Read more

Hello! I've spent 20 years doing ComedySportz and now I support our global licensor, https://www.cszworldwide.com/, as Executive Director. I perform locally in Chicago with https://www.cszchicago.com/ and sometimes do Dramatic Improv with https://www.theatremomentum.com/.

You can also get to know me through my new company which offers a holistic approach to self- and team improvement: http://playpolarities.com/

Talk to me about listening, empathy, positive psychology, leadership development, diversity/equity/ inclusion, running, or tacos. Or anything else that list doesn't cover.

I work at the University of Oregon’s School of Law (but am an L.A. native!). My current curiosities infuse principles of improvisation into leadership development and equity & inclusion. I have a background in counseling psychology--aka professional listening.

Outside of work, I distract myself by running in scenic locales, eating my favorite comfort foods (tacos!), and occasionally participating in the world’s largest treasure hunt (geocaching... Read more

Born in Queens, NY in the U.S. on Munsee Lenape and Matinecock land, C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek (they/them/theirs) is working toward a future where creativity and care are part of our social fabric. They are a civically-engaged artist, theater maker, urban planner, and skilled facilitator who utilizes creative and healing-centered strategies to spark dialogue, evaluation, or reflection. They specialize in documentary theater, facilitate community-based story projects, and hold space for healing-centered dialogue.Meranda is an Adjunct Instructor with the Center for Communicating Science at Virg... Read more

Brad has been performing, teaching, and directing improv since 1996. He has a unique interdisciplinary MA that combines anthropology and improvised theater. He has authored 2 books on the anthropology of improv, as well as a chapter in the first volume of Applied Improvisation books.

Hello! I am a learning development and systems consultant focused on strength-based coaching. Since 1999, I have  been using modern-day neuroscience and psychology to enhance education, mental health, and corporate cultures.  I am looking to build activities, assessments, and research rooted in science.

I teach dance at local community colleges. I'm also a UCI Dance alumni.

Martin Geijer (SE) is the founder and Artistic Director of Improvisationsstudion. He is in many ways responsible for the introduction and expansion of improvisation in Sweden. From the beginning of his career when he worked at the Loose Moose Theatre with Keith Johnstone, to his position today as a top educators and directors, Martin is a vital driving force in Sweden´s dynamic improv community.

Madi Goff is an improviser, actress, & writer who brings heart to comedy and lightness to drama. She lives in Los Angeles & is a member of Ripley Improv, the Impro Theatre main company, and an alumna of the Groundlings Sunday Company. Madi plays Agent Millie Mayhem on SLAY, an improvised monster hunting show, & Dr. Hanna Brenn on HEARTBEATS, an improvised medical drama, both streamed on Ripley Improv's Twitch channel. Last year, her duo-improv show, The Madi Goff Show, ran for 28 episodes on OutPost13's Twitch channel. Madi is also an accomplished technical improviser and technical director... Read more

Here is what I love: Enabling teams to creativly solve problems.

I play improv in my group called KANONENFUTTER in Stuttgart Germany. We have monthly shows for more than 7 years now experimenting with various different formats.
Also I am Design Thinking Coach for a large company called Bosch (you probably know the IXO powerdrill, or the washing machines, but it's so much more). I train and coach people in creative lessons and I am looking for inspiration how I can even more combine the improv and Design thinking, as well as teambuiling and leadership.

Amy Gray is a professional puppeteer and improvisational comedian in Portland, OR. She has worked at her craft for over 20 years and have toured to schools across the West with Tears of Joy Theatre, and performed  in over a thousand shows with ComedySportz.

Ed Greenberg (USA) began improvising as an actor with San Francisco’s legendary improvisational review “The Committee.” In addition to working extensively with Viola Spolin and Paul Sills, with his mentor Del Close, Ed worked on the early experiments in long form improv (he was on the stage the day “Harold” was born). Ed succeeded Del as director at “The Second City” Chicago. Ed has taught acting at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, and improv and voice acting at UCLA. He is currently Executive Director of the non-profit Laughter for a Change (L4C) www.laughterforachange.org. Through L4C, Ed has worked with diverse communities such as post-genocide Rwandan youth, former gang members, and war vets dealing with post traumatic stress, to bring to these individuals and groups, through improv, the healing power of laughter and play. In addition to his work leading improvisation workshops around the world, Ed also leads L4C’s “Laugh and Think Tank” which explores, through improvisational play, current topics in cutting edge scientific research... Read more

Olivia Hartle is a theatre director, improviser, facilitator, and coach, and she is currently working on her PhD in Community Engagement at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to relocating to Pittsburgh, Olivia was active in the New York theatre scene, where she ran BIG Theatre Company, a creative collaboration lab for the ongoing development of original work and the artists who make it. Over the past decade, Olivia has designed and facilitated dozens of community-based workshops and classes, working with groups like the LGBTQ+ Center at Pace University; conducting conflict resolution... Read more

I've been working on changing the education system in Japan by applied improvisation.
and I am about to be appointed as a high school principal :)

I design and conduct hybrid courses on Creativity, Global Issues, Diversity and Inclusion, Performance Poetry and most recently EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) mainly in China as a visiting and remote trainer. I am interested in designing engaging and practical on-line courses and disseminating interactive on-line activities to teachers at all levels of education from KG-HE

Filmmaker/Film Major at the UNLV Honors College. I also act and compose scores for short films. I hope you enjoy my work!

Originally from Tacoma, Washington, Tyler Hunt is an actor, stage manager, improviser, and reading fiend. Since mid-2018 he has read 305 plays and 19 books. Tyler also loves coffee, animals, trips to Seattle, and watching TCM! This is Tyler's first GII Symposium, and first year as an improvisor!

An all-female improv collective that creates stories about real women who save the day, save the world, and save each other.Our mission: To awaken bravery, embrace weird, and cultivate play.

Paul Z Jackson is co-founder and long-serving President of AIN. His innovative workshops and writings continue to help pioneer this amazing, potentially world-changing profession of ours.

CSz Portland's Ruth Jenkins, MS, CCC-SLP uses improv techniques and skills in training for speech, language and cognitive treatments for both adults and youth.
She has over 34 years of improv performance and teaching experience, and over 25 years experience as a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, working with a variety of clientele.

Ruth has worked with both elders and teens (some times together) in scripted theatre and improv. She started theatre clubs at two assisted living facilities in Portland. She has worked with middle school students directing three plays and devising/writing/directing a fourth, "I Ain't Got No Home", which allowed students to meet with and interview elders who had lived through the Depression Era and bring to life their stories of moving from various states of the US, through California and into Oregon. She also directed a show comprised of one acts and poetry about gun violence with teens and adults... Read more

Passionate about people connections through excellent facilitation techniques.

Talk to me about: Cities and Climate, Facilitation for meaningful collaboration

David C. Jones has taught workshops across the country and throughout the province. He is creative coach for performers and public speakers. As a facilitator he has designed or adapted programs to cover a wide range of topics from self-esteem and empowerment to team building. He worked for several years with YMCA International creating role-plays and popular education activities. As a teacher he works in a variety of performing arts; acting, scene study, text analysis, and improvisation. His authentic character workshops and status and body language classes to awaken the creative spirit. He is... Read more

I use Improv in my Training work in India

Dr. Jeff Katzman received his BA at Stanford University, his MD at UC San and completed his psychiatry residency at UCLA where he was on faculty for four years before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine where he is Vice Chair for Clinical Services and Academic Affairs. Prior to this, he was the Director of Behavioral Health Care at the New Mexico VA Medical Center specializing in treating veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr. Katzman has taught human attachment and psychodynamic psychotherapy for twenty... Read more

Nathan Keates (UK) Nathan is a qualified teacher and has taught all ages and abilities over the years. He began in special educational needs schools in 2009. After his experience of delivering improvisation and comedy to young autistic people in 2007, he knew he would continue developing this career path. He has worked as a freelance facilitator with his own teaching, outside of a school setting, since 2008. Nathan is currently pursuing a PhD in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the University of Kent with a focus on conducting improv comedy classes with autistic adults. His supervisors... Read more

Yuri has also been a professional actor over 30 years and improviser for 26 years. She began her career as a theatre actress in Tokyo and then began improvisation theatre, while at the same time moving into film and TV.  Performance and teaching experience of Improvisation: USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Colombia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. She’s been the art director of Impro Works Ltd. http://www.impro-works.info/ since 1995. She is a member of Orcas Island Project (International impro group). She is also an Asia represen... Read more

Bettina Koelle joined the Climate Centre in 2013 and is the Southern Africa focal point.
She has worked with stakeholder groups from small-scale farmers in the South African dry lands to policy-makers and business representatives.
A geographer by training with an MSc from the Free University of Berlin, she is passionate about exploring linkages within complex systems and helping people navigate challenges through learning and dialogue. Bettina’s roots lie in community development and adaptation work in Southern Africa, and her ambition is to link grass-roots insights and ambitions to global p... Read more

Kat Koppett (USA) is the Co-director of the Mopco Improv Theatre and the Eponymous Founder of Koppett  a consultancy specializing in the use of improv to enhance individual and organizational performance. She is the author of Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership and Learning. Kat’s clients include Apple, NASA, Prezi, the Clinton Global Initiative, GE, St. Peters Hospital, JPMorgan, RPI, and Havas Health. Kat is a founding and board member of the Applied Improvisation Network and a previous member of BATS Improv and Fre... Read more

I teach creative writing and performance studies, and I'm a facilitator with Mindfulness Africa.

Aloha. First timer. I use improv about 20% in my work and want to take it to the next level. Talk to me about improv and:
Psychological safety
Emotional Intelligence
Leadership Development
Sales
Loving relationships
Maui

Patricia Ryan Madson is the author of  IMPROV WISDOM: DON’T PREPARE, JUST SHOW UP.(Bell Tower, 2005) and a professor Emerita from Stanford University where she taught since 1977. In their Drama Department she served as the head of the undergraduate acting program and developed the improvisation program. In 1998 she was the winner of the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Outstanding Innovation in Undergraduate Education at Stanford. She founded and coached the Stanford Improvisors and taught beginning and advanced level courses in Improvisation for undergraduate as well as adults in Stanford’s

... Read more

I am a leadership coach and virtual event producer, and I'm fascinated by the intersection of improv, coaching, and systems change. I am interested in the design and facilitation of events that are fun, inclusive, creative, and created to allow space for unexpected collaborations, insights, and realizations among participants. I am on the Board of the Applied Improvisation Network and I own my own business in online event design and production and everyone on my team is also an improvisational teacher and/or performer.

Philosopy: We don't look like our stories because we are greater then our story which is still being written.
Improv changed my life. I lead my team with acceptance & inclusion and ask them to discover character and relationships grounded in truth and trust. Never is not an option. Hate is not anoption.

Professional Bio:
Jen Matthews (She/Her) is the Artistic Director for the Black Box Theatre, and UP North Improv Comedy, as well as an Associate Professor of Drama, Humanities at Edmonds College. She brings 30 years of experience as an actor, educator, improvisor, director, production stage manager, and producer to Edmonds College. She holds an MFA in Theatre from University of California, Irvine (2005) and is a member of Actors Equity Association. Ms. Matthews has directed A Midsummer Night's Dream (2020 Edinburgh Fringe Festival Nomination), Little Shop of Horrors, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling... Read more

As a Rambert trained choreographer and theatre-maker, Pauline has performed and taught for contemporary dance companies across the UK with a career span of over 25 years. Now integrating theatre and dance, Pauline's recent work, What If I Told You, toured nationally to critical acclaim and is a shortlisted nominee for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award 2017. Pauline is Associate Artist at Leeds Playhouse and Creative Associate at the Geraldine Conner Foundation,

Regina Mendes (UK) ‘I am a body filled with dreams and a heart just like all of us. I am also a mother and an artist. I close my eyes, sleep and dream. I see the world.’ Regina Mendes created the community art work for peace Dreams and a Heart and have been running it since 2011. She is a theatre-dance deviser, performer and director, a visual artist including photography and painting and a psychologist specialised in play therapy. Some of her shows travelled abroad and received some prizes. She had worked with children for over ten years and for the last thirty years she has been working...

Gabe is the founder of SPIT and is the president of Third World Improv. SPIT has performed to critical acclaim in improv festivals in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Bogota and Amsterdam. He is the producer of the Manila Improv Festival.

Gabe learned improv under Paul Sills, Keith Johnstone and Charna Halpern among other notable teachers. He was also a board member of the Applied Improvisation Network and has designed and facilitated workshops in Applied Improvisation in Singapore, Austin, Amsterdam, Berlin and Oxford. He brings over 30 years of professional theater, television, movie and music experience to the improv stage and classroom... Read more

ESL Teacher and Improvisor of Bilingual Improv Troupe

A lifelong Alaskan, Morgan Mitchell is more than happy to expound upon all things outdoors: glaciers, ice worms, bears - don't get her started! When she's not waxing poetic about the 49th state, Morgan can be found performing, directing, scenic designing, co-hosting cryptid podcast "Legend Has It...", and children's book-illustrating her way around both the Portland area, and back home in the frozen North.

Jamie Montgomery is a member of BlackProv, with John Eaglin, Jr and Michael Buchanon, creating improv in Portland, OR and beyond, through the lens of people of color. In The Barbershop, Jamie, John and Michael will meet in the neighborhood gathering place, where conversation creates characters and scenes.

I've released over 140 episodes of the Improv London Podcast, which aims to document and develop the improv scene in London and beyond. In each episode I speak to an improviser about their origin story, what delights them on stage and what their signature move is.