Rance Rizzutto
Rance Rizzutto (2014-current) has performed, coached, and taught improv for years at iO Chicago, ComedySportz, Second City Theatricals, Baby Wants Candy, and now The Nest Theatre. He is most known from the globally touring "HERE the (Improvised) Musical". Rance is Training Center Director at The Nest Theatre in Columbus, OH, and Coordinator of TIR.
Andel Sudik
Andel Sudik moved to Chicago right after high school. She has performed all over the US with the Second City touring co. and all over Europe with Boom Chicago. She lived in Amsterdam for two years and Arizona for two months among other random places. She has been performing and teaching sketch comedy and improvisation for the last 10 years.
Tara DeFrancisco
Tara DeFrancisco (founder - current) is a world-renowned performer and producer, and co-founder of The Nest Theatre. You may know her from her work on the stages of iO Chicago, Second City, and ComedySportz, and her ongoing global touring work in "HERE the (improvised) Musical" in 24 countries/80+ cities. Currently, Tara works hard to instill codes of ethics and conduct in worldwide spaces and serves as Artistic Director at The Nest, in addition to television and commercial work (LOGOtv, ABC Family), voiceovers and more. She believes in the power of this work on a cellular level.
Patrick Rowland
Patrick Rowland (2016-current) Patrick Rowland, a writer for The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock/NBC, was widely known beforehand for his playful improvisation in 3Peat, Deltones, and his own late night project Barack All Night.
Matt Higbee
Matt Higbee is an actor, storyteller, director, and educator living in Chicago. He is a proud member of the iO Theater, where he performs, coaches, and teaches improvisation. Matt spent several years as a working actor before turning his knowledge of improv to the world of corporate training.
Nnamdi Ngwe
Nnamdi Ngwe (2014-current) A sought-out improviser and writer, Nnamdi Ngwe is known for his work on several illustrious Chicago + LA teams (3Peat, Chaos Theory, Deltones), has over 200k followers on TikTok, and writes for The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock!
David Schmoll
David Schmoll has been specializing in music for comedy since 1996. His credits include musical direction for Something Dada, The Second City, Boom Chicago, and "HERE the (improvised) Musical" at the Nest Theatre, as well as music production for Broadway Video, The Learning Channel, and NBC/Universal Television. He now composes music for The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock and launched his own project, DAS Ambient.
Jill Bernard
Jill Bernard (2014-current) Jill is the epitome of joy and inclusion. She helps run HUGE Theater in Minneapolis, MN, plays in multiple projects at that home, and has been a cast member of ComedySportz Twin Cities for almost 30 years. She travels globally to teach, and tours her one-person improvised project Drum Machine.
Lyndsay Hailey
Lyndsay Hailey is a multi-talented actress and comedian who recently located from Chicago to Los Angeles. In Chicago, she performed with The Deltones and Chaos Theory at the legendary iO Chicago where she was also a beloved improv teacher. She also worked for The Second City and performs her own show, The Lyndsay Hailey Variety Hour.
Janna Sobel
Janna Sobel is a performer, facilitator and storyteller, and she teaches these things at the Second City Training Center, Chicago Dramatists, iO, and the University of Chicago Lab School and she leads workshops across the U.S.. She also created Intuitive Treasure Hunter, a life-sized, off-stage game to strengthen creative intuition. Playing fosters self-trust, group support, big joy, and maybe magic.