PEOPLES IMPROV THEATER - Key Persons
Ali Reza Farahnakian was born in Esfahan, Iran in the fall of ‘68. He came to America in the summer of ‘69. He is an immigrant. He is not eligible to seek the office of the presidency in America and is therefore a second class citizen in this country. Maybe that's why he got into "comedy". His teachers include Michael McCarthy, Charna Halpern, Del Close, Maryanne Thebus and Wynn Handman. He is an alumnus of ImprovOlympic, The Second City Chicago and SNL. He was a founding member of UCB and The PIT. He has acted at The Steppenwolf, BAM, and Playwrights Horizon. He has been in numerous TV shows, commercials, films and voiceovers. He has been doing this work for over three decades because he loves it and because it doesn't seem like work. We started The PIT in 2002 in New York City.
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Writer and Creative Producer
Andrea Romano is a comedy writer and creative producer. She has written and produced content at a number of media outlets like Travel + Leisure, Bustle, Mashable, Cracked, USA Today, Little Old Lady Comedy, Oregano.com, and more.
A former student of both UCB and the People's Improv Theater, Andrea has written and performed on shows such as Sketch Cram! at UCSB, Old School Sketch Show, This Live Show, and Group Kid, as well as being a former house team player on Steve's Hard Milk and team director for Scoot Scoot on Super Sketch Tuesday.
She currently produces College Radio at the PIT.
Job Titles:
- Director of Education
- Theater Director
Anthony Allocca is Theater Director + Educator, from Madison, NJ. After receiving his BFA in Theater Education, and a minor in Business Studies from Emerson College, he's truly so excited to work at The PIT as Director of Education. You can catch some of his work on stage here at The PIT, as the founder of A SHARP Theater Collective. With A SHARP, Anthony produces pieces of theater, comedy, and more that strive to reimagine the theater-going experience.
Previously, Anthony taught Musical Theater (Song Interpretation + Audition Technique), and Improv at The Neighborhood Playhouse's Junior School for students ages 8-17. He's also worked in schools in the Boston Area as a Theater teacher + Administrator. There, he founded his own Musical Theater organization at Emerson College for students across the greater Boston area, known as Musical Theater Against the Grain (MTAG), where he served as Artistic Director for 3 years, directed 5 musicals, and worked on over 8 more productions serving as Assistant Director, Producer, Scenic Designer, and more in his time at Emerson and in Boston at large.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Education
- Writer
Ava Whiteley is a comedy writer and performer originally from Peachtree City, Georgia. She graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Media Arts Production and a minor in Comedic Writing and Performance. During her time at Emerson, she was heavily involved with on campus comedy organizations and developed a passion for advocating for increased accessibility for underrepresented communities in the comedic landscape. See her current PIT shows The Stacey Little Variety Hour, Live From Studio P, and Musical Match Game, and her essays in the online zine BedwettersMag. She is beyond thrilled to be joining the PIT team and continuing her journey in providing access to comedic arts education!
Chris was a regular host for TV Land's "Prime Movies" and has made appearances on NBC's "Blacklist", Bravo, IFC, E Television, Hulu, Netflix, Starz and The Discovery Channel. He also was selected to represent New York on the TV show "World Cup Comedy" produced by Kelsey Grammar.
Chris has been featured in the feature films "The Co-Exist Comedy tour," "Twenty Million People" "The Best Man" and "Generation Iron 2".
He's a regular standup around New York and you can catch him on Saturday nights at 8pm with the Pit's longest running house team The Baldwins.
Job Titles:
- House Team Member, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Fletcher is thrilled to join the PIT as the theater's new General Manager. Prior to the PIT, Fletcher served as the Managing Director of Shop Studios, a TV/Film soundstage located in Hell's Kitchen. Having loved his experience as a PIT improv student, he is excited to continue advancing the PIT's goals alongside the staff and administrative team. Fletcher grew up in Rhode Island and has been writing and acting in New York City since 2018.
Job Titles:
- House Team Member, Improv Student, the Grace Helbig Show
Job Titles:
- Sketch Writing Student, Broad City
James Navan is a pianist, singer, actor and improviser. As a musician, James holds an M.M. in jazz piano from Queens College, has toured the world with groups such as The Glenn Miller Orchestra, and also has performed at many of NYC's finest jazz clubs.
As you may have heard though, musicians tend to take things way too darn seriously, so he's really glad to have gotten into improv over the past few years. And now, he's finding it hard to not take improv too seriously. Stop it, James! In particular, James really gets a kick out of musical improv, both as a pianist and improviser, and you can usually catch him accompanying the PIT's musical improv jam every Monday night.
From Texas, not of Texas (yes, there's a difference), Jason Tyus Smith is here to do his absolute best to not do his absolute worst. Catch him at a constant 11 in the PIT office, his sketch team the Bjjörks or in Brooklyn buying Hal's Lemon Flavored Seltzer water.
Job Titles:
- Tech Whisperer & Community Leader
John is an award-winning actor, award-winning software engineer, award-winning mathlete, award-winning little-leaguer, and award-winning participant in numerous summer camp activities. His life philosophy is Paragon from the Mass Effect video game trilogy. He is perhaps best known for singing the Tiny Tunes theme from the special summer episode live on Z100 before putting on his suit for his job at a corporate bank one morning.
Job Titles:
- House Team Member, Bob 's Burgers
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Member of Centralia
Matt Higgins is an original member of Centralia, The Idiot Kings, and Burn Manhattan. His improvisation bears the indelible influence of director Shira Piven, and teachers Ralph Buckley, Paul Lazar, Josh Broder, and Paul Sills. Matt is an Andy Kaufman Award Finalist and his stand-up comedy has appeared on Comedy Central. T.V. Credits include: The Jim Gaffigan Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Law and Order. Films include: Shadowboxer a Lee Daniels film. Under the tutelage of Seth Barrish, Matt developed his solo comedy JAM MAN STABLES. Recently, Matt and director Ed Malone are developed his newest solo venture, MATT HIGGINS IS GARY FLATLEY, which will played at The PIT April 28th and 29th. Matt's taught improvisation for Second City (NYC), and led improv workshops at Yale School of Drama, Hampshire College, CUNY, and Temple University. He's a founding member of UP Theater Company, and his credits with UP include: BROAD CHANNEL by James Bosley, K COMMA JOSEPH, by Kirby Fields, and ALL THE BEST INGREDIENTS, by James Bosley.
Job Titles:
- Artistic Director
- Instructor
Sean Christian Taylor @schristiantaylor started producing original work with the renowned narrative theater group Voices of the South in Memphis, TN.
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Instructor, Resident Photographer
Steph began her improv and sketch comedy journey in 2009 in Chicago, where she trained at The Second City, iO, and The Annoyance and performed all over the city with various improv teams. She moved to NYC in 2022 and began classes at The PIT, where she met her current improv teammates. When not hosting the Acting Out improv jam or performing in shows, she can also be found taking photos or in the tech booth for other shows at The PIT. She is a member of the all-female improv team B-side and the producer of Inspired By: A Variety Show. Instagram: @stephahahaha_
Job Titles:
- Assistant General Manager & Marketing Associate
Susan, Suzie, Suzer, Duder, Suz proudly hails from the hills of Upstate NY and the slopes of South Central Pennsylvania. (Garbage Plates and Dill Pickles. Name a more iconic duo, she'll wait.) After attending Finger Lakes Community College and Binghamton University, she had a venerable career in museum retail. But, wanting to make use of her BA in English: Global Culture, she made the jump to a supporting role in comedy. She is excited to join the team at The PIT in this behind-the-scenes role, as she's the least funny, but most anxious, person who's employed here. Last, but not least, she is an enthusiastic devotee of craft beer, occasional purveyor of handmade novelty earrings, and perpetual absentee dog-mom to the sweetest basset hound, Lady Bug.
Job Titles:
- Director, Business Partnerships
Tisza comes to the PIT with over 15 years experience in improvisational instruction, language instruction, script writing, event management / event production for Renaissance Entertainment Productions, Preferred Brands International, and Mid-Atlantic Promotions. She is also a Co-Founder and Artistic Director for Megara Media & Entertainment.