Don't understand the allure and romance of improv? Let us break it down for you (and by us, we mean whoever wrote the article on wikipedia):

"Improvisational theatre... is a form of theatre in which the actors use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously. Actors typically use audience suggestions to guide the performance as they create dialogue, setting, and plot extemporaneously."

Why don't you give us a taste and check out our live footage.



Owen Chan cut his improvisor's teeth with the University of British Columbia's Varsity Improv Team, where they wore matching baseball shirts with a team logo and everything. He went on to proudly coach the team's Junior Varsity Improv Team, which took the improvised pendant for that year.

Owen has studied with Instant Improv in Vancouver, and is lucky to have studied extensively with New York-based improvisor Louie Pearlman.

When he is not improvising, he's ensuring the future of our planet by teaching high school.

Owen likes: comic books, video games, all things nerdy, teaching, provoking Paige, frisky women and cats, and the information sciences.



Lauren Cochrane got her start in "The biz", when she won the acclaimed role of "Bossy worker elf # 1" in the Mayland Heights Elementary School, grade four production of "Surfin' Santa". Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Lauren quickly became addicted to performing, involving herself in many school productions, workshops and classes. She studied at Theatre Calgary, Company of Rogues, and 17th street theatre, as well as film production courses at Crescent Heights High school and Mount Royal College.

In 2003, Lauren moved to Toronto to attend the Comedy: Writing and Performance program at Humber College. There, she studied under Allan Guttman, Joe Flaherty and Melody Johnson and was a contributing writer and performer in four original reviews. In 2004, Lauren was nominated for and won the Allan Guttman award for best actress. And in 2005 she graduated with honors from Harvard... I mean Humber.



Jason Lewis is a Leadership and Learning consultant who is passionate about experiential learning. For the past six years he has led Change Management simulations with ExperiencePoint. He has also designed, developed and delivered management and leadership training for a variety of industries including energy, pharmaceuticals and the military. In addition to Change Management he has facilitated improvisational comedy based training on communication, teamwork and innovation.

Jason is an experienced improv comedy performer who has performed in hundreds of shows in the United States and Canada, and is proud to play currently with The Kinkonauts.

He received his Master's degree in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University in June 2007. His thesis investigates the impact of Improvisational theater techniques on team performance. He has been published in Training and Development magazine and Training Media Review.

His clients include the US Navy, US Steel, GlaxoSmithKline, The Carlson School of Business (Minnesota) and The Rady School of Business at UCSD.



Mandy Sellers began improvising with The Impatient Theatre Company in 2005, where she studied under Kevin Patrick Robbins, Sean Tabares and Jason Johnston. While in Toronto she performed with ITC Harold Team Disco Turkey with fellow Kinkonaut Lauren Cochrane, which was featured in the 2006 Toronto Improv Festival.

Mandy has studied with Asaf Ronen, Keith Johnstone and Betsy Stover and Ari Voukydis of The Upright Citizens Brigade. Most recently she completed the iO Chicago Summer Intensive, where she studied with Alex Fendrich, Bill Arnett, Shad Kunkle, Jet Eveleth and Jason Chin.

When Mandy is not performing with The Kinkonauts, she is one half of the improv/sketch duo Rock Awesome. She also likes to make money to support her dirty performing habits.

Mandy likes: watching TV shows on DVD, telling people about improv, trying to be popular, working for the man, pretending to play the guitar and spending money.



Louie Pearlman is an improviser, filmmaker, and comedian from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Since moving to New York in 2002, he has studied with the Magnet Theater's Mike Meyers, Armando Diaz, Ed Herbstman, and Jean Villepique. He has also trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater with Ian Roberts, Amy Poehler, Billy Merritt and many others.

Louie loves teaching teens the arts of improvisation and sketch comedy and has done so at Buck's Rock Arts Camp in New Milford, Connecticut, since the summer of 2000. He is also the director of Uncle Dad, a teenage improv ensemble from NYC and has taught many comedy workshops across the tri-state area. He has also been a teacher and performer at The Vancouver International Improv Festival and the Del Close Marathon in New York City. You can see Louie perform at the Magnet Theatre (New York) with his group, the Yes Andersens and with his musical improv duo The After School Music Club.

Meags Fitzgerald originally hails from Edmonton where she played with Die-Nasty and Rapid Fire Theatre. She’s had to pleasure to study at Instant Theatre’s Nextact Festival in Vancouver and be an ongoing instructor at the Improv Camp in Regina. In a recent love affair with Toronto she was happy to get messy with Ghostjail Theatre, ProjectProject, Impatient Theatre’s Cagematch and Catch23. She continues to train high school students with the Canadian Improv Games across the country. In Meags’ last stint in Calgary she played with Loose Moose Theatre and the U of C improv team. Now settling here once again, she hopes to befriend the Kinkonauts with pretty drawings and her strong muscles.

Meags is currently earning her credentials to eventually become an Art Historian. She collects photobooth pictures and is pretty fond of most cats.

Rock Awesome is gooder than you think. Seriously. This two-woman act, formed outside a Toronto Shell Station, brings together the awesomeness of longform improvisation and the rock-hard bods of finely-tuned mathletes—I mean athletes.

If you had to equate their style to… some sort of style, it would be a stylish one. Full of… style.

So put on your absorbent undergarments and get ready for Rock Awesome. We’re gooder than you think.


We. Are. The. Patriarchy.