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Rich Baker
Author of Improv Made Easier and founder of Dare to Fail Improv, Rich Baker has performed and taught improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy all over the country with The Second City, ComedySportz Chicago, Mission Improvable, and his festival headlining duo with Rolland Lopez, Rollin’ In Riches. A prolific content creator, Rich co-wrote and produced the Amazon Prime series Third Shift and wrote for the incredibly popular Epic Rap Battles of History
Mary Hynes
Mary is an actor, improviser, stage manager, educator, and emcee. She has taught and performed in NYC, Chicago, and LA with The Second City, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Loyola University, Butler University, Gotham City Improv, Artistic New Directions, and was a founding member of Improvisation News. She’s passionate about helping students discover their creative voices through the power of “yes, and.” Mary creates supportive spaces where presence, courage, and play thrive. Her classes empower students to grow in confidence, connect with others, and unlock their full creative potential.
Alex Russell
In Improv, everyone is invited to be their true and authentic self. This promise of inclusion is the driving principle that makes Alex passionate about teaching improvisation. Located in the West Tennessee area, he is currently a part of Third Coast Comedy Club in Nashville and a frequent performer for his home team Hub City Improv in Jackson, TN, where he is best known for his charismatic approach to the art form. Trained in long form from the iO Theater in Chicago, he has an appreciation for the way improv creates a compelling (and comedic) story just by trusting yourself and the person standing right next to you.
David Shapiro
A“Journeyman” Chicago based improviser who has gone through most of the Chicago based training programs. Players Workshop, Second City, IO (Improv and Musical Improv), Comedy Sports, and the Home Theater. During Covid, David switched to Zoom Improv and joined “Intercity Improv” which was created to run an weekly improv zoom Jam. This is where he was introduced to improvisers from all over the country and world, including Rich Baker. He has taken many classes with Rich and teachers on Zoom. David also is also a regular attendee at Camp Improv Utopia as well as attended The Improv Retreat. Some of David’s other teachers: Liz Allen, Paul Grondy, Peter Gwinn, Bill Arnett, Noah Gregeropolous, Chris Alvarado, Jason Chin, Susan Messing.
Besides improv, David is a big fan of Jam Bands including Phish, The Grateful Dead, Goose, as well as most classic rock. David travels to see concerts with his friends.
David is single and has two orange tabby cats: Mac and Cheese.
Margot Escott
Margot Escott LCSW has been teaching improv in person and online for 15 years. She received her Masters in Social work at NYU, NYC in 1983 and has practiced in Naples, Fl for over 40 years. She has studied with many masters of improv including Aretha Sills, Laura Hall, Gary Schwartz, Rich Baker, Jay Sukow and Deana Cries. She is a certified Rehearsal for Growth teacher and trainer, where she teaches therapists to apply improvisational methods to Psychotherapy.
She has held many Improv Jams with the character Madame Magnifico, the greatest improv teacher in the world!
She is a member of The Sketch School with Marc Warzecha and you can see her sketches on her website.
Some of her classes include: Improv for Anxiety, Improv for Therapists, and Improv for neurodivergent children and teens.
She is a recipient of Arts4Florida grants to bring improv to the public schools in her community and especially loves working with kindergarteners.
She has been teaching Improv for people with Parkinson’s Disease for close to 10 years and has a weekly online group Improv for PD. Her troupe is PIPPI (Parkinson’s Inspired People Playing Improv) and they have had several virtual shows including Film Noir.
Holly Brown
Holly is a seasoned improv performer and educator with over 25 years of stage experience and 15 years of teaching both adults and children. Her performance history includes the Westside Comedy Theater, ComedySportz Los Angeles, The Pack, The Glendale Room, Second City, iO West, and more. Drawing on her background as a learning specialist and instructional designer, Holly creates engaging, inclusive improv environments that help individuals and teams grow in confidence, creativity, and collaboration. Her teaching style blends structured learning with joyful exploration, making her classes welcoming to beginners and energizing for experienced players alike.
Fiona Howat
Fiona is a UK improviser, actual play performer and professional gamemaster (GM) with a love of genre, long-form improvisation, tabletop roleplaying and podcasting.
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