I have always been fascinated by theater, and in high school I did my share of tech work, but it’s only recently that I’ve found myself more at home on the stage.
My performing career (tiny and volunteer as it is) started in earnest when I moved to Los Angeles. I had seen quite a bit of theater living in Chicago (and I did volunteer with the excellent Neo-Futurists company while there), but I never really participated myself. In LA, however, I found myself in a new city without much to do, so I decided to take classes at IO West (which, sadly, is now defunct).
I almost walked out of the first improv class I ever took (the teacher tossed us into the deep end with a “hot spot” warmup, where you have to jump into the middle of a circle of people and sing, and that was almost too much for me), but when I realized that improv could be more about group storytelling than just acting, I decided to stay, and eventually graduated from IO West’s program a year or so later.
During classes, I performed with a few different ad-hoc teams (called Motel TV and Wiffle Waffle), and after graduating, I got put on the IO house team called Teen Police (we performed every Friday in the back theater right near Hollywood and Vine). I later also joined a team called Drunkards and Dragons, and together we put on some of the best D&D-inspired improv I’ve ever seen — that team was so much fun to be around and perform with. We even held the Friday night mainstage slot at IO for quite a while, performing right before the legendary Opening Night musical show for a good year or two.
I also performed at a few different indie theaters in LA (as everyone does), and Teen Police did have the honor of performing once at UCB NY during the Del Close Marathon (and it went great, I’m happy to say).
When I moved down to Carlsbad for EEDAR, I found a new improv home at San Diego’s Finest City Improv. I first performed there with a team called Silent Majority, and then performed with a few other groups and teams. Honestly, I’ll perform improv with anyone who asks me to — I regularly do a show called Schramm And where I choose a random audience member to come up and perform an improv scene with me.
At FCI, I also helped put together and perform the very popular Friday night show The World According To.. (an Armando-style show featuring personalities from around San Diego). Lately, I have been performing once a month at FCI with a show called Single Lady, a show where we interview someone who’s single about why they’re single (and get them married to a fictional character by the end of the hour).
I have also taught improv and will happily run improv workshops, and I’ve been a fixture at festivals and camps like Improv Utopia. I believe the core of the art is about connecting with anyone, anywhere, and I try to put that into practice everywhere I possibly can.
Even more recently, I’ve also started performing in musicals and scripted shows with some community theater programs here in North County San Diego. I was the Baker in Carlsbad Community Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast in late 2017, and right after that I was an ensemble member of The Addams Family for Oceanside’s great Star Theater Company. In early 2018, I also performed in Catch Me if You Can at the Star (as Agent Cod), and later in the year, I played Lieutenant Brannigan in the classic Guys and Dolls, also at the Star Theater.
In 2018-2019, I was also a regular performer in the show Single Lady at Finest City Improv — it was an improvised show where we tried to find love for a special guest through Armando-style interviews and scenes.
As of 2022, I am back performing every other Thursday night with Drunkards and Dragons at the Pack Theater in Hollywood. Come out and see us if you’re in town — we roll a 20-sided die to let the audience decide how our scenes will go. It’s great fun.
When I have other appearance dates, I will post them here!