She has studied improv at The Magnet Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade and The People’s Improv Theater. And studied acting at The Barrow Group.
Shacottha has a one-person improv show called 1 Deep currently touring improv festivals around the country.
Don’t follow your dreams, lead them.
He co-writes and co-stars in the web series “Six Story Walk-Up.” He performed in the 2015 NY Sketch Festival and has a one-man improv act called “Hold My Drank.” Johnathan is a friendly soul who loves to talk about TV and video games including (but not limited to) “Mr. Robot,” “Walking Dead,” “Westworld,” “Atlanta,” “Destiny 2,” “TitanFall2,” and “WatchDogs2.”
Shem Pennant is a writer/performer from London. He’s also a capoeira professor, Brazilian dance instructor and trained bujinkan ninjutsu in the Japanese mountains for two years. None of this is relevant to scenework, but it is fun to talk about. He’s done a lot of improv all over the world with teachers from all over and has the odd note that might be helpful.
He has trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York and has studied in London with Jim Woods, Abra Taybak, Mike OT (iO/Boom Chicago), Neil Casey, Shannon O’Neil and more. As part of C3Something, he runs a regular improv jam at the Nursery Theatre as well as the Harold night “Beats by Del.” Catch him performing with Anne & Frank, Genre Claude Van Damme, The Rebranding and any team that will take him.
Rick Andrews is a teacher and performer at The Magnet Theater, and has been studying, performing, and teaching improvisation since 1999. He began improvising with Improv Boston, and continued with a stint in St. Louis. He has been fortunate to learn from many improv greats, including Armando Diaz, Ed Herbstman, Joe Bill, Mark Sutton, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Will Luera, Jill Bernard, and more.
Rick has taught workshops at improv festivals across the country, including the Boston Improv Festival, Baltimore Improv Festival, Black Box Atlanta, and many more. He co-produces Duofest, an annual festival of improv duos in Philadelphia. He has taught improvisation to people as old as 75 and as young as 6, and has done workshops for production companies and zoos alike.
He enjoys running, putting words on pages, thinking about the brain, and he loves improv more than anything.
Rebecca loves performing and hanging out with her boyfriend and texting her Uncle Carlos and day-dreaming of Halloween and going to county fairs with buds.
Rebecca has studied improv for a long-ish time, but no one cares. She is the host of “The Rebecca Robles Show,” which can best be described as a late-night kids’ show for adults & snakes. It is heavily influenced by David Letterman and the lounge acts of every Lake Tahoe casino, baby.
Have a nice day, and also I speak fluent Spanish.
Peter McNerney is a performer and head of the Conservatory Program at the Magnet Theater in New York City and currently performers with Nick Kanellis in the improv duo Trike, which The New York Times call “reliably one of the best improv performances in the city.”
As an actor, Peter can be seen as a series regular in the Science Channel scripted comedy “Stuff You Should Know,” HBO’s “High Maintenance,” as well as a bunch of commercials.
Peter also serves as the Associate Artistic Director and Casting Director for the nationally respected education and media company The Story Pirates with whom he co-hosts the Story Pirates Podcast.
Peter is the co-writer and director of theater/sketch comedy fusioneers Sax & Dixon, who have been featured at Ars Nova NYC and Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival.
He is from Winnetka, Illinois, graduated from Northwestern University and currently lives in the ’burbs with his beautiful and hilarious wife Beth Newell and two loud toddlers.
Nolan began studying at the Magnet Theater in 2011 and has learned from improv luminaries such as Rick Andrews, Louis Kornfeld, Peter McNerney, Elana Fishbein, Megan Gray, Russ Armstrong, and Nick Kanellis.
Nolan is a native New Yorker, avid basketball fan, and graphic designer. You can see some of his pieces around the Magnet lobby and online at heynolan.com. He also has an Instagram you should follow. He directed a show called FIGURES! (Ask him why you’ll enjoy it.)
Megan is the Artistic Director of the Magnet Theater, a writer, performer and native New Yorker. She has performed with Second City aboard the NCL Gem and is a member of Magnet’s resident team Junior Varsity. She can be seen in such notable shows as The Armando Diaz Experience and The Cast. Megan also produces and hosts the monthly female improv show We Might Just Kiss.
In addition to teaching Level One, Level Four: Busy Town and the Lady Party class, Megan has taught improvisation at C.W. Post University, Brookdale Community College, Fairfield University, Columbia Business School and festivals around the country. She has studied improv at the Magnet and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater with Armando Diaz, Kevin Dorff, Christina Gausas, Dave Pasquesi, TJ Jagodowski, Jean Villepique, Joe Bill, Dave Razowsky and many others.
Megan graduated with a degree in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and has written for MTV2 and Comedy Central online. She has appeared on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Show with David Letterman.” In her spare time, she travels the country performing improv with Magnet Theater’s Touring Company. In conclusion, Megan wishes you’d call her more.
Louis Kornfeld began improvising way back in 2003, when both his phone and online presence were at the forefront of millennium culture. He’s been a proud member of the Magnet Theater since it opened its doors, having logged countless hours as a performer, intern, house manager, member of The Boss, Megawatt director, and (for the past 12 years) teacher of improvisation. What can he say? He loves it.
In addition to improv, Louis is also an award-winning writer and actor whose work is routinely featured on “The Truth” podcast. Check it out, why don’t you?
You can see him performing every Sunday night with the great Rick Andrews as part of Kornfeld & Andrews. They have some short videos online you might enjoy. He thinks you’re doing great.
Kevin is an actor and writer based in New York City. He performs improv weekly as a member of Magnet Theater house team The Music Industry, and he is the director of the sketch team The Executives.
He has performed sketch comedy all over New York and at the San Francisco, Chicago and Montreal Sketch Festivals. Kevin has appeared in commercials, and his writing credits include the BAFTA-award-winning Sesame Street Kinect TV. He has also voiced characters for Sesame Street video games, most notably Stanley the Southern Pig. Kevin is proud to have performed sketch and improv comedy with The Second City aboard Norwegian cruise ships.
Kevin currently writes and performs sketch comedy with his high school chum Jimmy O’Connell. They have a web series called “Kevin and Jimmy’s Guide to New York City.” It’s dumb and fun. The two of them can also be seen all over the city playing with their country band The Great American Country Drifters. The band plays original hits which include 7 Day Weekend, Victory Lap, I Love My Gay Son and many, many more.
Kevin hails from Atlanta, where his family runs a barbecue restaurant together. So he’s kind of a walking Southern stereotype at this point, ain’t he?
