Kickstand Comedy's MONDO
Kickstand Comedy is a comedy space and training center located in Portland, Oregon. Our mission is to supply Portland’s comedy scene with a performer-run space and scene hub to experiment, collaborate, perform, and practice.
Kickstand Comedy’s MONDO brings together live music and improv comedy. Each month, Kickstand invites a musician to play their original songs. Kickstand improvisers listen to the music, ask the artists questions, and pull themes and premises from the songs to inspire original comedic scenes (much in the same way we would from a monologist in the Armando format).
FEATURING:
Aaron Keuter
Kara Moore
Michael Knackstedt
Craig McCarty
Natalie Haddad
Garrett Palm
Patrick Polsin
Drew Eiden
WCT Ensemble Troupe
The Westside Comedy Festival Ensemble is a group of individuals from all over the country who will be brought together at the festival to perform “Close Quarters” for the first and only time. This year’s festival ensemble is directed by Carla Cackowski.
FEATURING:
Casey Calderiso (Providence, RI)
Greg Calderiso (Providence, RI)
Jaclynn Cherry (Detroit, MI)
Betse Green (Portland, OR)
Sarah Martellaro (Los Angeles, CA)
DK Reinemer (Portland, OR)
SJ Santa Cruz (Portland, OR)
Amy Louise Sebelius (Orange County, CA)
Mithra Vankipuram (San Francisco, CA)
ENSEMBLE BIOS
Casey Calderiso is an improviser from Pawtucket, RI. She co-founded Wage House Comedy Theater in 2017 with Kate Teichman and performs and teaches there regularly. She loves owning a comedy theater because it gives her a chance to try fun new forms and also run raffles as often as she pleases, which is VERY often.
Greg Calderiso lives and improvises in Pawtucket Rhode Island out of Wage House Comedy Theater. He's part of the ensemble Up In The Attic, which as you guessed it rehearses in his finished attic and is part of the duo Must Love Improv with his wife Casey. He started improv over five years ago to get better at public speaking but fell in love with the art form and has been doing it relentlessly, learning and performing ever since!
Jaclynn Cherry is from Detroit, MI and is so excited to be part of this ensemble! Currently, she improvises with her duo Natural Born Killaz and as part of the Planet Ant Farm Team. She's also a producer of the Detroit Improv Festival and performs in scripted shows with theaters throughout Detroit. When not performing, Jaclynn can be found doing taxes (she’s a CPA), skiing, and watching Chopped marathons.
Betse Green is an improvisor, director and teacher in Portland, Oregon who performs at ComedySportz (CSz), The Brody and Curious Comedy Theater. She has traveled all over North America and the UK performing with her duo partner Bill in B&B. She enjoys her roles as co-owner of CSz Boston and new grandmother to her granddaughter, Nyeima.
Sarah Martellaro discovered her love of forcing people to watch her do things at a young age so, naturally, she turned to theater. After years of theater camp, Sarah decided to make something of her life and graduated from Occidental College with a dual degree English Literature and Theater. She is also a graduate of Second City, Hollywood, and UCB. Her original comedic musical, “Look Out, Hollywood, I’m a Star!” was recently produced on the UCB mainstage, and her other original work has been featured in the Women in Comedy Festival, as well as on WhoHaha.com. Catch her perform with Second City's house improv team, “Mom’s Favorite!” Or don't!
DK Reinemer was raised by hippies in the Pacific Northwest, which of course led him to pursue a life of comedy. In 2004 he helped start the wildly successful Upfront Theatre in Bellingham WA where he performed and taught improv regularly. Since then he's done a bunch of cool stuff: moved to LA and performed on a house sketch team at the Pack theater, wrote and toured three original solo shows across North America, performed at numerous sketch and improv festivals, and just started brewing his own Kombucha! DK currently resides in Portland OR where he coaches, teaches, and performs improv regularly. He drives a Subaru Forester.
SJ Santa Cruz is a transplant from Boise, Idaho moving to Portland in 2016. Soon after, SJ began her improv journey through Curious Comedy Theater, completed their entire Performance Mastery Program, and absolutely fell in love with the art form. SJ has taken advantage of all what Portland has to offer and has performed all over the area as well as the Downtown Vegas Improv Festival. When SJ isn't improvising, she performs in Portland's premier drag king group, XXXY.
Amy Louise Sebelius is an actor, teacher and improviser from Long Beach, Ca. She is currently the Director of Drama and Improv at Lakewood High School and enjoys performing as much as she can. This year, she has been onstage at the San Diego Improv Festival, Orange County Improv Festival, Detroit Improv Festival, Red Rocks Improv Festival and Westside Improv Festival.
Mithra Vankipuram works and performs improvised theater, in the tech maze of the Silicon Valley; a place she is also happy to call home. Her improvised practice stems from a persistent curiosity to understand the people and the world around her. She values physicality and authenticity of emotion in her work and loves improvisation because she gets to meet and embody different characters on stage.
THIS SHOW IS 21 AND OVER. PLEASE BRING A VALID I.D.
LINE-UP SUBJECT TO CHANGE. IF YOU ARE NOT PHYSICALLY HERE TO CLAIM YOUR TICKETS THEY WILL BECOME VOID 15 MINUTES AFTER SHOW START TIME.
NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES – THERE ARE NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES FOR TICKETS, MERCHANDISE OR CLASSES PURCHASED. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.
