Ensemble

David Sinker graduated from Marquette University with a degree in Broadcast Communications. Dave is the Emmy Award winning founder and Artistic Director of THE COMEDY SHRINE THEATER, and is also the founder and producer/director of the SINKERSWIM COMEDY TROUPE. This troupe performs custom-made comedy skits for corporations. Dave is currently the voice and comedy writer for several video productions: STINKY SHOE, COACH LAROO, and Sun Microsystem’s INSIDE JACK series. Dave has written comedy for several television shows: M.S.I. SCIENCE ZONE, THE JENNY JONES SHOW, TOTALLY HIDDEN VIDEO and HAYWIRE. He served as Creative Consultant for the animated television show CREEPY CRAWLERS, co-wrote the feature film CAMP TANGLEFOOT, and developed several other projects: CAMP CANDY, LITTLE SHOP, SCORCH! and THE BALLOONATIKS. Dave is especially proud to have written for the GOOD VIBES theater troupe and its executive director BEN VEREEN. He has written several plays, INSIDE THE GOLDFISH BOWL, FOOD,FUN & DEAD RELATIVES, and THE BLOB-THE MUSICAL, and was Executive Producer of MUSICAL-THE MUSICAL. He was an actor with THE NATIONAL TOURING COMPANY OF THE SECOND CITY,  the Associate Artistic Director for the CHICAGO PLAYWRIGHTS CENTER, and is formerly the director of THE SECOND CITY CHILDREN’S THEATER.

Mary Olivieri Actor’s Equity Candidate, Director of Marketing, has taught improv and induced professional hilarity from New York (as an ensemble member in It’s Knot Theater at The Knitting Factory) to Chicago. Credits: Molly/Peggy in Damage Control, Tina Baritone/Janie in The Baritones, Scarey Bradshaw in Sex in the Suburbs, Marion Hollander in Don’t Drink The Water – all with Noble Fool, Cast on a Hot Tin Roof at Royal George, As We Like It, B.S.(hit spoof of E.R.) and many others – with The Free Associates, and Mock The Vote at Theater Building Chicago. Look for her as Susan the Therapist in the movie Stash, directed by NY Times best-selling author Jay Bonansinga, premiering in 2007. .

Mike Shreeman (SAG/AFTRA/AEA) Originally from Detroit, Mike has been in Chicago for the last fifteen years performing on and off with the owner of this illustrious theater for most of them. For The Second City, Mike has performed on the Norwegian cruise line, in the national tour of “Sex and the Second City”, “Jewsical, the Musical”, the “Music Improv House Ensemble” and is a faculty member of the training center. At ImprovOlympic , he was a founding member of “Frank Booth” and directed “Baby wants Candy”. Some other roles Mike has enjoyed are Steve in “The Blob! the Musical”, Corey in “Roasting Chestnuts”, Fred Gayley in the national tour of the musical “Miracle on 34th Street”, an ensemble member of all three mountings of “Musical! the Musical”, “Ronald McDonald”, spokesman for the Dusseldorf tourism bureau and improvising for Brave New Workshop on the Disney cruise line. In addition to on-camera and voice-over talent in films and commercials, he is also the founder and Director of “Novel Ideas”, an educational theater troupe that tours across the Midwest.

Scott Levy arrived in Chicago in 2001, after having logged in years of sketch comedy with the Monkeytime Comedy Troupe.  Monkeytime toured regionally, and was syndicated on N.P.R.  Various Chi-town comedy pursuits have included Second City Unhinged, I.O. (formerly ImprovOlympic), the critically acclaimed Free For All (as a member of the improv group Hair Club For Men) and the even more critically acclaimed satire, The Best Church Of God.  A veteran of many commercials, industrial films and radio, Scott is happy to perform at The Comedy Shrine, were the massive amount of comedy memorabila helps him pretend he has many friends.

Vincent Kracht began his career in the Detroit area, culminating in his critically acclaimed portrayal of John Merrick in The Elephant Man. For over three years, Vincent toured the country as the solo actor/writer for the NEA-funded educational theatre, The MadHatters. In Chicago, his varied experience has included work with ComedySportz, The Bailiwick Theatre, The Free Associates, and About Face Theatre. He portrayed Yvan in the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble production of ART and George Schneider in Chapter Two at Triton College. In the past year, he originated the roles of Josef in Memento Polonia and The Phantom of Ikea in Retail: The Music of the Malls. Vincent was an original member of the completely improvised play, Cast on a Hot Tin Roof, in which he has performed in its many incarnations since the show was conceived by The Free Associates fifteen years ago.

Randy G. Craig (SAG/AFTRA) has appeared as Sheriff Marty Holt in the horror film “Carnivore” and on Chicago stages in Cast on a Hot tin Roof at the Royal George, Damage Control at the Noble Fool, the Mayor in The Government Inspector, Bruce in Beyond Therapy, Rev. Toop in See How They Run, Major Powell in Corpse!, with the country’s first 2 act completely improvised Broadway style musical, MUSICAL! the musical, with the long form improv troupe The Free Associates in Cast…Roof, BS, Blithering Heights, The Greatest Story Never Told, The Real Darren Stephens, toured nationally with Call To Action and Novel Ideas Children’s Theatre, and has written and appeared in numerous industrial films, voiceovers, and TV commercials. Randy also is an accomplished guitarist, songwriter, and has occasionally acted as Musical Director for MUSICAL! the musical. He is a graduate from The Second City Training Center, Players Workshop (where he also taught), and has a BA in Music Theory from Trinity College in Deerfield, IL (Trinity International University). http://www.randygcraig.blogspot.com/

Jack Bronis (SAG/AFTRA/AEA) most recently directed Brain Humor at Second City’s Donny’s Skybox. Jack is a proud to be a founder of the Noble Fool Theater. As an actor, he portrayed Klinglehoff in Noble Fool’s productions of Steve Martin’s adaptation of The Underpants , both downtown and at Pheasant Run. He has worked with many improv and theater troupes, including the Character Assassins, the Improv Institute, the Free Associates, and Steppenwolf Theater. He originated the role of moody mob boss Tony Baritone in Noble Fool’s improvised HBO spoof The Baritones . He conceived and is the original director as well as a co-writer and original cast member of the long-running Flanagan’s Wake . Jack wrote book and lyrics for Noble Fool’s award-winning world premiere, Vikings! A Musical in Two Axe . Other directing credits include the improvised corporate spoof Corporation, Inc, Nolen & Nolen in The Science of Love , and Rick Almada’s one-man tour de farce, The Paradox of Insanity… I Mean, Humanity , which was critically acclaimed in Chicago and at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Jack has also directed Flanagan’s Wake in Minneapolis and Rochester, New York. He has had various film and television roles, including that of Vucko in the recently-released indie film Dirty Work . Jack has taught at the Second City Training Center and The Audition Studio since the last millennium.

Lynda Shadrake is thrilled to be working with the talented crew of Whose Line. Free Associates (co-founder): Cast on a Hot Tin Roof, As We Like It: Shakespeare in Your Face, Blithering Height, B.S, and Pick-a-Dick. Other improvisation: ComedySportz, The Improv Institute, Zeitgeist Theater, and the Chicago Improv Festival. Noble Fool Theater: Don’t Drink the Water, Cast on a Hot Tin Roof, Flanagan’s Wake, Roasting Chestnuts, The Baritones, Psychic Cafe. Other: Late Nite Catechism, Put the Nuns in Charge. TV credits: Trading Spaces: Home Improv, a special “prank” episode playing a homeowner secretly pulling a fast one on the deigners.

Erica Elam has studied improvisation at The Second City, Annoyance Theatre, and Comedy Sportz Chicago and currently teaches at The Second City Training Center. She is an ensemble member of the critically acclaimed musical improv group, Baby Wants Candy, and also performs with The Second City’s Musical Improv House Ensemble. When not improvising, she has performed at Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight, Apple Tree, Piven, Remy Bumppo, About Face and The Noble Fool.

Mark Czoske .

Dave Urlakis has recently appeared in The Diviners with Speaking Ring Theatre Company, Eat the Runt at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, King Lear at Vitalist Theatre and Twelfth Night at Chase Park Theatre. Dave has also improvised with Swoon and Skeleton Attack at the iO Theater (formerly ImprovOlympic) as well as performances with Theatre Momentum and Noble Fool. Dave is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and the iO Training Center and can also currently be seen improvising with Battle-Prov at ComedySportz Chicago and with his three-person long form group Batterymouth www.batterymouth.com.

Rich Baker began performing improv in 2002 when he co-founded TCU’s first improv troupe Senseless Acts of Comedy. Rich performed all around Dallas/Fort Worth in stand up clubs, improv theatres, and independent films. Having never lived anywhere outside of Fort Worth, Rich packed up his life and moved to Chicago in June of 2005. Since then, Rich has performed in many shows such as Genre (James Honey’s Second City Director’s Project), Cutlass Supreme (a Harold team at the iO theatre), Alpha Dog Omega (the indy troupe that invented fratprov), and WNEP’s Dream A Little Dream at the Rhino Festival. Rich can also be seen giving tours of Chicago’s 1920′s hotspots on the Untouchable Gangster Tour Bus and performing at ComedySportz Chicago (where he also teaches), and, of course, at The Comedy Shrine, where he is proud to be a member and teacher. He would like to thank his mom and dad and friends for their amazing support. www.richbakeractor.com

Katie Brisick’s previous improvisation experience includes performing with Lewis University’s improv troupe, The Mindless Chimps, and appearing as Sister Terry in Tony ‘n’ Tina’s wedding for Entertainment Events Inc. Katie is currently enrolled in the improvisation classes at The Comedy Shrine and works lights during most shows. Katie is happy to join The Comedy Shrine Ensemble.

Melvin Kim is privileged to be a part of the Comedy Shrine. He graduated from the Second City Conservatory program where he got the opportunity to study under the likes of Michael Gellman, Norm Holly, Keegan-Michael Key, and the Timothy O’Malley. He has also received training from Victory Gardens Theater and The Annoyance Productions. He helped found and direct Constant Wedgie, a high school improv troupe out of Oak Brook, IL. Other performances include “Enter the Wang” at the Second City etc. and various shows with Stir-Friday Night!, Chicago’s premiere Asian American sketch comedy troupe. He would like thank his two favorite people, Kimberly and Julian, for their support.

Luciana Bonifazi started her improv career with the premiere and longest-running improv group at Washington University (in St. Louis): Mama’s Pot Roast. She graduated from Wash U in May of 2007 and headed back home to Chicago to start making her way in the Chicagoland improv scene. Outside of the wonderful Comedy Shrine, she has performed with the Infinite Sundaes (Second City’s Musical Improv House Ensemble), Genre (a Second City Director’s Project), Battle-Prov at ComedySportz, ImprovAcadia in Bar Harbor, Maine, and many more, and is finishing up her Master’s Degree in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management at Columbia College Chicago. She would like to thank her family and friends for their love and support.

Mary Fahey Hughes is thrilled to be appearing in The Spew here at The Comedy Shrine. She most recently appeared in Starship Improvise at Donny’s Skybox Theater at The Second City. She appeared in and directed Cast on a Hot Tin Roof in Chicago and Milwaukee and previously appeared in Cast in New Orleans and Toronto . Mary was a member of The Noble Fool and The Free Associates Theater Companies. She appeared in The Noble Fool productions of Flanagan’s Wake, The Baritones, Sex in the Suburbs and Roasting Chestnuts and The Free Associates productions of Cast on a Hot Tin Roof, As We Like It: Shakespeare in Your Face, Blithering Heights, B.S., The Greatest Story Never Told and Pick-a-Dick. She also appeared in Sive and The Patrick Pearse Motel with the Irish American Heritage Center and The Importance of Being Ernest with The Irish Theater Guild. Mary has a B.A. in Theater from Southern Illinois University and has taught improvisation and theater workshops with The Noble Fool, The Second City Training Center, The Free Associates and The Art Institute of Chicago’s Young Artists Studios.

Jeffrey L. Shivar (music) has been with The Comedy Shrine since July 2006. He has accompanied improv theater in Chicago since 1988. This includes working with The Second City Touring Company and Second City Conservatory, IO (formallyThe ImprovOlympics), Noble Fool, “Musical, The Musical”, and The Annoyance Theater. He was with ComedySportz Chicago from 1993 – 2006, acting as Musical Director for 1996 – 2005. He has worked with various production companies, including Dave & Co., Caribeaner and Live Marketing. Mr Shivar is currently the Composer-in-Residence for WNEP Theater, creating scores for many productions including The Armageddon Radio Hour, the musical The Wicked and The Sexed, and Cross Current. He also works with children’s theaters including The Addison Children’s Theatre, Gaia Theatre and Emerald City Theatre Company. Mr. Shivar comes from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied both theater and music.

Jeff Kier (music) In addition to being a music director at the Comedy Shrine, Jeff is currently a jazz pianist, composer and arranger for the Grilly Brothers Quintet who perform concerts mainly inthe U.S.  Jeff has also led his own band – The Jeff Kier Quartet featuring Mike Hershenson.  The group has been featured in many local clubs over the years such as Oz, Orphans and The Bulls.  Jeff is also co-owner of Orchestra Hall Recording Studio, which serves the classical, jazz and acoustic musical markets.  Jeff  earned his B.A. degree as a Liberal Arts music major at the University of Illinois.

Michael Descoteaux (music) is the head of the Music Program at The Second City where he has music directed and/or created original material for a national touring company, Sex and the Second City, The Romeo and Juliet Musical at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and the NCL Jewel’s The Best of The Second City. Mike has had the privilege of working with Tony Award-winning artists such as Jason Robert Brown, William Finn, Mark Hollmann, and James LaPine. He has “composed” and “conducted” over 500 completely improvised musicals with Musical! The Musical, Baby Wants Candy (head music director), Diva (director) and Jazz Hands Across America (artistic director). With Jazz Hands, Mike composed and directed the scripted musical, Warfield, USA, which received its critically acclaimed New York premiere at the SoHo Playhouse. His other original musicals (The Fundamental Skip and This Time), music direction, and playing have been heard at venues including: The Goodman, American Theatre Company, The Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, The Bailiwick, The Theatre Building, Improv Olympic, The Strawdog Theatre, Davenport’s Cabaret, and Gentry’s. He has been seen on NBC, A&E, and WGN. Mike, a Northwestern grad, has received an After Dark Award, a Paynter Award, and has been named one of the best young songwriters in the country by The Johnny Mercer Foundation and The American Music Theater Project.

Phil Nohl (music) was a music director at Second City before coming to the Comedy Shrine. A graduate of the Second City conservatory, he got sucked into a music directing internship where he ended up working with Writing 5 classes and other groups performing in Donny’s Skybox. He has written over 300 songs of every style, some of which he combines with his improv skills into a one man musical show about love and stupid people. He has been in over 25 plays and has a degree in Music and in theatre. For more info on Phil and to listen to some of his songs go to www.philnohl.com

Shane Shariffskul (music) is thrilled to be a part of the Comedy Shrine! Born and raised in Houston, TX, he came to Chicago in 2001 after getting his undergraduate degree from Yale University. He now works in advertising during the day, attends graduate school at Northwestern University, and composes/performs with various comedy groups around Chicago during the evenings and weekends.

 Allison Black is originally from South Florida and is here in Chicago, via Nashville, TN.  She studied improvisation at The Annoyance Theatre, The Second City, Comedy Sportz Chicago and is quite proud to have studied with Keith Johnstone in San Francisco at the Bay Area Theatre Sports.  She is also an Improvisation teaching artist in Oak Park at the Village Players Theatre. She is an ensemble member at The Annoyance Theatre as well as an extended ensemble member at Comedy Sportz Chicago.  Outside of improvisation, Allison is a commercial actress as well as voice over talent.

 Annie Rijks has studied improvisation at The Second City Conservatory, The Second City Musical Improv Conservatory, IO, and Comedy Sportz Chicago. She is currently performing with Battleprov at ComedySportz and Master Sancho at The Playground Theatre.  When not performing around town she is making short videos with Cornman Productions.  You can see the videos (and her dog) at http://www.cornmanproductions.com/
Annie is thrilled to be performing at The Comedy Shrine.

 Gillian Bellinger is an experienced SAG actor and improviser. She currently performs with Laugh Out Loud Theater, Twisty: The Second TC House Ensemble, Infinite Sundaes: The Second City TC Musical House Ensemble, at Zanies and various stand-up showcases, and at Improv Acadia in Maine. She is a principal actor in commercials for Harris Bank, Time Warner, NorthShore Healthcare, and Unitrin Auto Insurance. So if you’re watching TV late at night and think, “Was that…?” Probably.  www.gillianbellinger.com

Susan Steinke is delighted to perform on the Comedy Shrine stage. She hails from South Carolina where she received a B.A in theatre from Winthrop University. Ever since moving to Chicago (nearly four years ago) she has performed and studied improv. She is a recent graduate of The Second City Conservatory and has also studied at I.O. Susan  became and Equity Membership Candidate while apprenticing at Flat Rock Playhouse, the state theatre of North Carolina. She has appeared in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, Shakesploitation, Jigsaw, Myth, Detention, and Death Toll in Chicago and besides improv, especially loves doing musicals and Shakespeare. Susan is a founding member of Play Mechanics, hitting the streets in May of 2010! She thanks her family, friends, and Frank for love and support-Cheesy? Yes. She is OK with that!!

 Tahnee Lacey has studied improvisation at ImprovAsylum (Boston), iO and The Second City Conservatory. She can currently be seen around Chicago with the iO team FireCup as well as her two woman sketch group, Fon-Deux. She has previously performed throughout Chicago at theaters including The Annoyance, Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, Donny’s Skybox and The Playground. When not improvising she writes and performs with her talented friends at Cornman Productions (http://www.cornmanproductions.com/).  She would like to thank her friends and family (and cats) for their continuous support and hugs. http://www.TahneeLacey.com.

Tierza Scaccia Hi, I’m Tierza. Nice to meet you, thank you for coming out to see ourshow. I am originally a NYer..your jealous now I can tell, well don’t be. Why because I also lived in Boca Raton and Denver, feel better now? Now I reside here in Chicago. I perform at i.o. and laugh out loud as well. I like puppies and kittens but because of my schedule could probably only care for a ferret.  Please come back and see more theater, after all I do hail from the greatest city on earth.

 Kate Brown is an actor, director and former folk singer hailing from southeast Iowa.   Kate is thrilled to be back at the Comedy Shrine!  She was last seen here as a part time player with the ladies of The Spew.   A graduate of the School at Steppenwolf Kate has worked with Wild Claw Theatre, Apple Tree, Northlight, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre Building Chicago, Drury Lane, Noble Fool Theatricals and many others great company’s in and around Chicago.  Currently Kate can be found in The Chicago Kids Company production of the Three Little Pigs or teaching one of the fantastic classes at Black Box Acting Studio blackboxacting.com.  In May, she will perform in Musical of Musicals the Musical with Pegasus Player Theatre.  Many thanks to Mary O, the good peeps here at the Comedy Shrine and all these fantastic women for so much fun!