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Rebecca De Unamuno

Rebecca is a regular on Australian television and radio. Her television credits include The Glass House, The Chaser’s War on Everything, Kath and Kim and Comedy Inc - The Late Shift. Film roles include the feature film Dags and four Tropfest finalists. short films Muffled Love (2001 Tropfest Finalist), Tragic Love (2nd place, 2002 Tropfest), Garbage Man (2005 Tropfest Finalist) and The Code (2008 Tropfest Finalist, Winner of Best Short Film at the 2009 World Comedy Film Awards). Stage credits include The Umbilical Brothers – The Rehearsal, Pulp, Spontaneous Broadway Jason Alexamder’s Comedy Spectacular with festival appearances in Edinburgh, Melbourne, Adelaide and the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, where Rebecca was a member of the Australian team which won the Improv World Cup.
Rebecca has been an improviser for over 13 years and has performed regularly at Belvoir St Theatre and Enmore Theatre. She has directed the past four Theatresports National Championships as part of The Sydney Comedy Festival and is excited to be directing and hosting again this year.

Cale Bain

A rare Canadian on the Aussie impro scene, Cale Bain started at Harbourfront Theatresports in Toronto, Canada at the ripe age of 13 years old. He has honed his chops by playing and workshopping around North America, training at the world famous Second City and instructing at the Impatience Theatre. Since arriving in Sydney four years ago, he's become one of the country's most prominent improvisors, performing and teaching all over the nation, winning the National Improv Challenge in Canberra. He has produced the Theatresports National Championships four years in a row and has his fingers in every other improv pie in Sydney, most especially his beloved Tuesday show, FULL BODY CONTACT NO LOVE TENNIS.

Benny Davis

Since joining the world of Theatresports in 2004, Benny Davis has performed regularly as musician in almost every improvised show in Sydney, including The Cranston Cup, Scared Scriptless, Blank! The Musical, and the venerated long-form Full Body Contact No Love Tennis. As an original member of the comedy trio The Axis of Awesome, Benny has performed at festivals around Australia and internationally, most recently having returned from a sold out season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and with them regularly headlines comedy venues throughout his hometown Sydney. With many TV and radio spots to his credit and another busy year of touring ahead, Benny is one musician not to be overlooked. Though it's easy to do, he's only 5'2".

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NEW SOUTH WALES

The Tom Selleck Experience

Cast:

Brent Hill

Prior to WAAPA, Brent attained a BA (Performing Arts) at Curtin’s Hayman Theatre, and received the Actors Equity Guild Award for Best Newcomer in 2005 for playing a chipmonk.
At WAAPA he played such roles as Gayev (Three Sisters), Squeeler (Animal Farm), Tybalt (Romeo & Juliet), Melchior (Spring Awakening), Lloyd Dallas (Noises Off!) and Lester Lamb (Cloudstreet).

An able commedian, Brent has performed improv with The Big HooHaa for several years, filled various stand-up headline spots, and composes music. His first musical composing endeavour was Risky Lunar Love (Milton, in 2002) which has recently been directed by John Sheedy at the Carriageworks in Sydney.

Since 2009, Brent composed music for The Herbal Bed (New Theatre), has performed in The Distance From Here (dir. John Sheedy) with the Griffin Theatre, Summerfolk (dir. Eamon Flack @ Belvoir), Julius Caesar (CryHavoc) and won the 2009 Theatresports National Championship and The Cranston Cup Finals.

In 2010, Brent will be touring Australia with Tweltfth Night directed by Lee Lewis for The BellShakespeare Company.

Lisa Ricketts

Lisa is one of Australia’s top comedic improvisers winning many accolades including the Cranston Cup Championship in both 2003 and 2009. She was a regular cast member of the improvised comedy shows ‘Improzac’, ‘Officejerks’ and ‘A Regular One Night Stand’ and a finalist in the ‘Comic of the Year’ stand-up comedy competition run by the Harold Park Hotel.
In 2006 she co-hosted the Theatresports National Championships and from 2006 to 2008 was a core cast member of ‘Scrabble Unscripted’, which had sellout shows at both the Sydney and Melbourne Comedy Festivals. In 2010 she will be hitting the festival circuit once again with the Scrabble team in ‘The Ultimate Board Game Unscripted’.
Her television credits include ‘Stand Up Australia’ (The Comedy Channel), ‘Joker Poker’ Series 1 & 2 (Channel Ten) and ‘Not Just for Christmas’ (The Comedy Channel).

Steve Lynch

Steve Lynch has been an improviser for over 10 years. In that time, he has been a 6-time Cranston Cup Grand Finalist, performed across Australia and New Zealand, and has performed regularly at the Belvoir St Theatre & Enmore Theatre. As a member of the impro comedy team Doubledog, Steve performed in and co-directed the hit show SCRABBLE Unscripted for the Sydney & Melbourne Comedy Festivals 2006-2008, and in 2010 can be seen in the follow up, The Ultimate Board Game - Unscripted. As an MC, he performed half time entertainment for the Sydney Swans 2005-2008. As an actor, his biggest role was appearing alongside Claudia Karvan on the cutting room floor of Star Wars Episode II.

Scott Hall

Scott eats cheese. Not all the time, but enough to warrant a mention here.
Having discovered Theatresports behind the couch in 1997, he has often looked back as well as forwards. But that is what impro is all about.
Acting professionally for 18 years, as well as holding down a “normal” job and raising two kids, getting  married, a mortgage and two cats, Scott loves the opportunity to make stuff up. Becoming a Primary School teacher recently, and as a parent, and an impro performer, Scott can’t remember what real life is like as he is now improvising 24 hours a day. Having made the Cranston Cup final for several years, Scott was lucky enough to attach to a few champions and steal the Cranston trophy in 2009 with his team mates in The Tom Selleck Experience. Also having performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Sydney Cracker Comedy festival, Scott is looking forward to his first Nationals. Although he is worried about the dress code… is there a dress code?

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VICTORIA

El Diablo

Jason Geary

Jason Geary has been involved with Australia’s premiere Improvisation
Company, Impro Melbourne, as performer, director and co-creator in many of the company’s productions for ten years, including sell out comedy festival shows, Late Night Impro and Celebrity Theatresports™.

Jason is a well-known for character comedy. Recently he's seen on Channel
Ten’s Thank God You’re Here, he was part of the ensemble writing/performing
team on SkitHouse. He has worked with Shaun Micallef in Micallef Tonight
(Nine), Welcher and Welcher (ABC), and three series of the Logie award winning Micallef Programme. Jason co-hosted the Australian tour of the musical comedy Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision.

He's a regular on the Melbourne comedy scene with regular appearances on stage including original shows in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Michelle Nussey

As both an actor and improviser, Michelle’s endless enthusiasm for performance saw her become a regular face in her native Perth’s entertainment industry. A senior player in Perth’s only improvised comedy group, The Big Hoo Haa, she was also constantly seen in short films, TVCs and on stage in shows such as A Christmas Carol, Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, Edward II and the national tour of His Majesty’s New Clothes.

Craving more of a challenge, Michelle recently moved to Melbourne and hit the ground running. She wrote, produced and starred in a show at the 2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, has recently been invited into Impro Melbourne’s Ensemble cast and now has Melbourne based short films and TVCs under her belt.

Michelle studied performance, theatre and film at Hayman Theatre in Perth, and is a graduate of Curtin University. Before this she trained in ballet, modern, jazz and tap at West End Academy for 17 years, and has since gained her Diploma of Education. As well as this, throughout her professional career she has gained experience as a director, writer, producer, stage manager, choreographer, publicist, acting teacher and workshop leader.

Mike Bryant

Mike has been involved with improvisation for 9 years now, originally coming across the Theatresports™ format through the inter-house Theatresports™ competition at Melbourne High School, whom he also represented in several inter-school competitions, being named MVP of the school team in his final year.

After beginning to train with the company in mid-2002, he was admitted to the ensemble at the end of 2003 and has performed in a variety of formats with Impro Melbourne including: Gorilla Theatre, More or Less, You've got the Part, Mortal Coil, Late Nite Impro, The Impro Cave and others.

Earlier this year Mike represented the company overseas at shows in Seattle, Washington (2008 Festival of Improv) and Austin, Texas (Micetro, 1813 Drake). Outside of Impro, Mike has had various experience in other areas of arts and media, acting in several plays and short films, including winning Melbourne Uni’s Ufilm-Fest in ’03 and ‘04. In addition he has done voice-work for various ads over the years and has hosted a radio show here and there. He was seen most recently last year on the second season of Channel 31’s Theatre Games Live.

Patti Stiles

Patti served her theatre apprenticeship at Loose Moose Theatre Company,
birthplace of Theatresports™, under the playful, eagle eye of its inventor, Keith Johnstone. She is an actor, improviser, director, instructor and playwright.

Patti has been Artistic Director of two Theatresports™ companies in Canada, Dream Kitchen Theatre and Rapid Fire Theatre, and is currently the Artistic Director of Impro Melbourne. She is core company member (in absentia) of Die Nasty – the live improvised soap opera, and was behind the inspiration for the birth of London’s Spontaneity Shop. Patti also holds the unofficial record for being the first female to improvise for 53 hours in a row.

She is in demand worldwide as an improvisation performer and teacher, and as one of the finest exponents of Johnstonian improvisation in the world. She has had the pleasure of working in Canada, the USA, England, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Norway, France, New Zealand, Thailand and Australia.

Television and theatre appearances include: Neighbours (AU), Stingers (AU), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, The Reluctant Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes, Mutiny On The Bounty, Henry IV part 1, The Land The Animals, Much Ado About Nothing, King of The Surf.

Patti also is a regular co-host on ABC - Evenings with Derek Guille.
Impro shows include: Die Nasty – the live improvised soap opera (CA),
Theatresports™ (CA, US, AU, NO), Maestro™ (CA, AU, BE, NO), Gorilla
Theatre™ (CA, AU, NO), Lifegame™ (CA), Mortal Coil (AU, DE), Chimp Prov
(CA), Late Nite Impro (AU), Celebrity Theatresports™ (AU), Harold, City Life, Smells Like A Song (CA), Spontaneous Broadway (AU), Scriptease (UK), Dream Date (NZ), Rocket Sugar Factory (AT)

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QUEENSLAND

The Speakeasy

“The Speakeasy” is coming to the Theatresports Nationals with two aims – to drink moonshine liquor, and kick ass.

And they’re all out of moonshine.

The team comprises four of the suavest members of Brisbane’s premiere improvised comedy company ImproMafia. Natalie Bochenski, Tom Dunstan and David Massingham all represented Queensland in the 2009 competition. This year, they’re bringing their secret Canadian weapon, Tristan Ham.

Lookout, Sydney – like a cool breeze from the north, “The Speakeasy” is headed your way!

NatalieBochenski

Natalie has been improvising for over ten years, and is currently the President of ImproMafia. She has performed with the company since it began, and has played a key role in many of its flagship long-forms, including Nurse Lottie Buble in the schlock medical comedy Prognosis: Death! (2009/2010). She devised the popular By the Book long-form format (which has so far featured Jane Austen and Enid Blyton).

A radio journalist by day, Natalie also has a keen interest in scripted theatre. In 2009, she directed a hugely successful production of John Birmingham’s He Died With a Felafel in His Hand at the Brisbane Arts Theatre. As a result of that production, playwright Simon Bedak adapted the sequel specifically for Natalie to direct. The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco plays at the BAT from 10 April to 15 May.

Tom Dunstan

Tom began improvising in 1990, making this his 20th year in the game.He’s performed, taught, directed and produced improvised theatre in both Queensland and New South Wales. He even chaired the Impro Australia committee for a while (introducing the “Pants Optional” rule for all annual general meetings).

Tom was part of the New South Wales team that won the 2005 Nationals. At the 2007 competition, he created and performed an infamous “Nude Scene” – still the only player to do so.

David Massingham

David has been a core member of ImproMafia since its 2004 inception. He performs regularly with the company, and has attracted a devoted fan base with his role as heroic doctor Burton Mangold in ImproMafia’s wildly popular schlock medical comedy Prognosis: Death! (2009/10). He also devised and directed ImproMafia’s 2009 long-form shows Tales from the Wireless and Agatha Holmes (the latter will return in 2010 for a two-week season).
David is a core writer, actor and producer for Brisbane sketch comedy troupe The Sexy Detective, which has performed regularly since 2004. In 2008, the public voted The Sexy Detective Show into a top five finalist position in the Comedy Channel’s Comedy Gold competition.

Tristan Ham

Tristan hails from Canadia where he had the pleasure of working with Rapid Fire Theatre (in Edmonton, Alberta) and C is for Comedy
(Vancouver B.C.).

He hooked up with ImproMafia about two years ago and has enjoyed the many shows they have done together. He regularly performs at the company’s professional On The Spot comedy show, and has featured in several long-forms including the musical One Bride for Seven Brothers (2009) and Enid Blyton: By the Book (2010). Right on eh!

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The Perthonalities

Glenn Hall

Glenn is best known as the host of the critically acclaimed SBS television program, Eco House Challenge. Glenn recently featured in the hit production, Spontaneous Broadway at His Majesty’s Theatre (Perth), and is currently producing and hosting Theatresports™ as part of the Deckchair Theatre 2010 season through his company, Spontaneous Insanity. Glenn has extensive theatre experience and is also a corporate entertainer, and national voiceover artist – and is proud to have been part of the winning team at the 2009 Theatresports National Championships.

Improvising for more than half his life, Glenn won the Theatresports State High School Challenge when he was just 15, going on to win five state Theatresports Championships, before exploiting his improvisational talents at Raw Comedy with MSG – representing WA in the 1998 final. He is also a founding member of Perth impro troupe The Big Hoo Haa.

Glenn’s company Spontaneous Insanity specialises in improvised and corporate theatre and has produced a number of improvised shows including Spontaneous Insanity (2000), Soap On A Rope (2001), The Fright before Christmas (2002) and THIS IS YOUR LIFE (sort of) (2007 with Dogs of Invention), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Lab – a Sketchy History of Science (the 2008 WA launch event for National Science Week), as well as creating improvised children’s shows Lost the Plot (2008) and The Hidden Forrest (2009)for the City of Perth. He also produced Impro Unwrapped as part of the Australian Impro Collective’s inaugural season, in December.

As well as performing, Glenn teaches improvisation at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and features on 720 ABC Perth’s Afternoon Program segment The G Spot, as well as hosting ABC Local Radio WA’s statewide Early Mornings Saturday shift.

Glenn is a Board Member of WA’s premier children’s theatre company, Barking Gecko Theatre Company.

Nadia Collins

Nadia Collins is a striking new talent on the Perth acting and comedy scene.

A crowd favourite at Spontaneous Insanity’s inaugural Theatresports™ season with Deckchair Theatre, Nadia has more than a knack for improv. She was featured artist in the Solo Spot Monologue as part of The Blue Room’s 21 Summer Nights earlier this year, and was a core cast member of Impro Unwrapped, the first collaborative production by the Australian Impro Collective alongside Glenn Hall and Australian Idol’s Courtney Murphy in 2009.

Nadia starred in Spontaneous Insanity’s outdoor improvised children’s shows, Lost The Plot (2008) and The Hidden Forrest (2009), which were staged in the heart of Perth City, performing to thousands.

On the comedy front Nadia has done stand-up at The Comedy Lounge and Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den, and is a regular performing member of The Big Hoo Haa!

Nadia has trained with Black Swan and Barking Gecko Theatre Companies and is also currently studying law at UWA.

Ben Russell

Ben Russell has been a professional stand up comedian in Perth for over four years and in that time he has supported Claire Hooper, Greg Fleet, Kent Valentine, Luke and Wyatt as well as Martin Short for his Perth tour in 2009. He has also performed at last year’s inaugural World’s Funniest Island at Sydney’s Cockatoo Island and at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival with his critically acclaimed show Manface.

Ben starred in the Australian Impro Collective’s Impro Unwrapped in December last year and is a featured player in Spontaneous Insanity’s 2010 Theatresports™ season at Deckchair Theatre and. A senior member of the long-standing improvisation group The Big Hoo Haa, Ben has toured the school circuit with children’s’ show Improvilicious for Barking Gecko Theatre Company.

His theatre credits include The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Portraits of Modern Evil with Black Swan State Theatre Company as well as This One Play’s award winning Blue Room show Motortown. Film credits include Two Fists One Heart, ABC Docudrama; AE2: Gallipoli’s Submarine and Every Family’s Nightmare on SBS.

Ben also works as a puppeteer and performed in Spare Parts Puppet Theatre Company’s production of Hare Brain and The Velveteen Rabbit.

Michael Burke

A WA State finalist in this year’s RAW Comedy competition, Michael Burke is seriously a name to note in your comedy filofax. A practicing solicitor by profession, Michal is a regular performer at stand-up at Perth’s comedy clubs, Shapiro Tuesdays, The Brass Monkey, Little Comedy, and the popular comedy/film fusion show, The Squinge.

A star performer in Spontaneous Insanity’s Theatresports season, Michael will next feature and compose music for the 2010 Wild West Comedy Festival show How Satan Got His Groove Back, alongside comedians Jeff Hewitt, Werzel, John Robertson, and Laura Davis.

Michael’s 2009 stage appearances include Little Shop of Horrors (Shine Studios) and The Wedding Singer (Mesh Youth Theatre) and he is currently working on the short film The TXT directed by Bianca Sharkey, in the lead role.

Michael is proficient in Microsoft word.

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SOUTH AUSTRLIA

Unimpressive Atagonist

Anne Simmons

Anne is the owner, business manager and tea lady of SA’s improvisation theatre company Impro NOW! that boasts sell-out seasons, since 2004, of the Adelaide Fringe Festival’s hit TheatreSports™ Clash of the Theatre Titans. She has trained with Keith Johnstone (founder of Theatresports™) in Canada and Lynn Pierce (author of Theatresports Down Under) in Sydney, performed and taught in USA and Canada, appeared in McLeod’s Daughters, SA Film Corp feature film “Ebtide”, been a researcher/reporter for Today Tonight and professional clown for 17 years. She can still be seen around Adelaide in very big shoes.

Eden Trebilcock

At just 23 years old, Eden Trebilcock has completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts in performance and is nearing completion of his Masters of Teaching at Flinders University. Born and raised in Adelaide, Eden, along with a talented team of actors, competed in and won the 2005 Fringe Festival’s TheatreSportsTM Clash of the Theatre Titans. Since that time, Eden has been a mainstay in most improvisation activity in South Australia.
Eden teaches at South Australia’s leading casting agency and with ImproNOW!TM. And in 2008, he co-founded the troupe Changing Jennifers, with whom he regularly performs a wide variety of long-form improvisation formats throughout the year.

Eugene Suleau

Eugene Suleau is a graduate of Adelaide’s Centre for the Performing Arts (1993) and his list of credits include the cult hit film Maslin Beach (1996), McLeod’s Daughters (2004) and the ABC documentary A Wire Through the Heart (2007), where he played the famed Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart.
His career has seen him tour all of South Australia and parts of Victoria and Queensland with Adelaide’s Splash Theatre Company, and he’s currently in residency with the Adelaide Fringe as their Artist Services Co-ordinator, helping artists from all over the world fulfil their creative dreams!
An improviser since Adelaide’s Theatresports revival in 1999, he has performed, and taught with, all of Adelaide’s major improv groups: Impro Expresso, ImproNOW, On the Fly and Changing Jennifers.

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ACT

David Callan

Nick Byrne

PJ Williams

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