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THEY are some of New England's best performers, presenting corporate and private shows for some of the biggest companies in the area.

Each has years of professional experience performing live in front of audiences, but who are THEY improv New England?

Michelle Barbera

Michelle is our resident powerhouse. In addition to her work with THEY improv, Michelle is also a main stage cast member at ImprovBoston in Cambridge, and was a founding member and Executive Artistic Director of The Tribe. She co-produced and acted in The Tribe's Space Mission 5000 and DVD Commentary, which was performed at the Toronto Improv Festival in 2004. She has performed with Skitches (sketch comedy), ImprovBoston's Project D, Grimmprov, and George and Martha, The Tribe's Mr. and Mrs. Phelps, Big in Japan as well as Faces for Radio, My Dinner with Harry, Micah Sherman & Michelle Barbera, and Stand Uprov. She directed The Sosny's, Sister Brother and Brescia & Swaim, and alternately directed and appeared in The Aside Project. She is currently directing a sketch comedy show Tales from the Script, which will be performed throughout January 2007 at ImprovBoston.

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Maria Ciampa

Maria is our resident stand-up comedienne. An alumna of the Improv Asylum’s Mainstage, she has been writing, performing, and directing comedy since 2001. She does stand-up, sketch, and improv in clubs and theaters all over the Northeast. She also provides emcee services for corporate events and is sought after by comedy clubs. Maria performed her self-produced solo show, Family Shmamily, for audiences in Boston and New York. Besides being a top-notch improv comedienne, she also performs in our murder mystery shows. Her show schedule and videos are on her website, which you can see by clicking here.

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Patrick French

Patrick is our resident Buckeye. Originally hailing from Akron, Ohio (formerly the Rubber Capital of the World), Patrick French has been performing as an actor and improviser throughout the Boston area since 2002. He came to ImprovBoston in July 2005 as a member of UnNatural Selection, and is currently performing with the amazingly talented (and loud) cast of TheatreSports. Prior to joining ImprovBoston he enjoyed performing stints with the Improv Asylum's NXT cast and The Tribe. He was also recently named ImprovBoston's 2005 Rookie of the Year. Some of his other credits include the role of Darius in ImprovBoston's GoreFest III: The Gruesome Tale of Penny Dreadful, Donald Rumsfeld in Voice of the White House, PigPen in The Sixth Annual ImprovBoston Spectacular: What The Dickens?! and Walker Harris in the SouthCity Theatre's production of Two Rooms. He also once threw a snowball at a moving police car to impress a girl - proving he'll do anything to make you love him.

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Marc Hirsh

Marc is our resident improv vagabond. He has performed professionally as an improviser across the globe including the Southwest, Midwest, New England and even New Zealand. He has performed for several productions at ImprovBoston including Unnatural Selection, TheatreSports, Radio Hour, GoreFest and Micetro. He has also performed in ComedySportz in both Houston and Indianapolis. He has a broad range of experience in interactive shows including murder mysteries with the Mystery Cafe and playing Mickey Finn at Flanagan's Wake.

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Will Luera

Will is our resident improv God. There is almost not an area of improv in New England that has not felt the touch of Will Luera. He is the Artistic Director of ImprovBoston, Artistic Director of the Lowell Comedy Festival, Mainstage Director at ImprovAsylum, and Artistic Associate of the Chicago Improv Festival. He helped to start the Boston franchise of Sitcom. He has appeared in numerous improv festivals around the world and has studied improvisation with ImprovOlympic, The Second City, The Annoyance Theater, The Upright Citizens Brigade, and Keith Johnstone. He has taught improvisation classes for the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), the National Fire Prevention Association, Northeastern University, and Boston College. He has directed shows for the ImprovAsylum, The Tribe Theater, Another Country Productions, and The Alarm Clock Theater. He has also directed short films for the 48-hour film festival and Filmerica, both of which were considered highlights of the festival. If that weren't enough, in 2004, Will was the Boston and national winner of PAX-TVs World Cup Comedy.

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Todd Rice (Director)

Todd is our resident Know It All and has done just about everything in and out of improv. He is a 2 in the Kevin Bacon game, having had a brief but uncredited appearance in The Fugitive with Harrison Ford. He worked for the Speaker of the House in Washington, DC, did cost-benefit analysis for the FAA, and worked on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Todd works in the IT world helping companies get their sites online. He performed with Improv Olympic in Chicago (now called IO), Cirque de so Lame, Laughing Gas, Comics Anonymous, The One Nighters, and THEY improv in South Florida. He trained at the Second City, Improv Olympic, Blue Velveeta and Laughing Gas. He trained with improv luminaries and gurus Del Close, Martin de Maat, Don de Pollo, Jay Leggett, Ron West, Charna Halpern, and Michael Gelman.

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Zach Sherwin

Zach is our resident tall guy. Zach has honed his comedy chops over the last six years performing with sketch comedy group The Late Night Players, a nationally-touring company based in Cambridge and Somerville. He has performed at such Boston-area comedy venues as ImprovBoston, Improv Asylum, the Comedy Studio, and Jimmy Tingle’s Off-Broadway Theater. His many festival credits include the Philadelphia Fringe, the D.C. Comedy Fest, and the Charleston (SC) Comedy Festival. Currently Zach continues touring with The Late Night Players and is one-half of indie hip-hop duo Headspace, recording as his alter ego MC Mr. Napkins.

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Robert Woo

Robert is our resident improv braniac. Having attended workshops with various improv gurus including Armando Diaz, Asaf Ronen, Susan Messing, and Joe Bill, he brings his talents to the creation and directing of various troupes and shows throughout the area. He has been a mainstay at Improv Boston, The Tribe and many other local troupes. He has performed in showcases such as the Family Show, Wrong Kind of Funny, Sister/Brother, The Rumble, The Woo Crew, Botched, The Mainstage Tribe Players, and as producer/assistant director of Sea Mission. Currently, he performs as a member of IB's TheatreSports. He is the director of a Boston-based short form improv group Flaming Awesome, and will be teaching improv for the YesAnd practice groups, as well as at the Boston Center for Adult Education. He is also busy writing, filming, and acting in video sketches with his production company Hard Left Productions.

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Headshots of Todd Rice appear courtesy of Bob Lasky.

To communicate with us in regards to potential bookings for corporate or private events, improv classes or other purposes, you can contact us at info@THEYimprov.com or call the THEY improv New England hotline at (866) 219-4FUN (219-4386) or (305) 948-7750.

If you would like us to update you on future public shows or charity events, please contact us and ask to be part of our mailing list. You'll start receiving emails about our upcoming performances along with discounts on tickets. Simply email info@THEYimprov.com.

We hope to hear from you soon and see you at a show.