About

Originally trained in theater, Kimberly Alu has performed and written for venues across New Jersey and New York including Count Basie, Princeton University, The Player’s Club, and The Duke on 42nd Street. After moving to Los Angeles, Kimberly continued to write for several sketch comedy groups and has performed on countless improv teams including Sketch Time Strangers and Sweet Tweets, which was presented at The Second City Hollywood to Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Additionally, her short play Jumper received best original play at the Manhattan Repertory Theater and the Midtown International Theater Festival. Her original full length play Carnival Games also won best play at The Thespis Theater Festival.

Since moving back to New York, Kimberly has immersed herself in the improv and sketch world, taking up work at The Peoples Improv Theater and Gotham Writers Workshop as well as starting her own digital improv network Socially Distant Improv when New York went into full lockdown mode in March of 2020. She has completed over 40 original sketch comedy pieces, a half hour comedy pilot, two docu-series, and countless plays. Kimberly has developed her own line of improv classes, Approach to Dramatic Improv and Advanced Dramatic Improv, directly inspired by her background in acting, for The Peoples Improv Theater. Most recently, she was responsible for creating and implementing the full comedy curriculum for Dallas Comedy Club and helped to curate a series of shows for their Mainstage, including her absolute favorite, The Family Funny Interactive Improv Show.

Sarah Morgan Ashey is a Tennessee born, New York based actress, comedian, writer and baker whose work has been featured across film, digital and stage.  She got her start in various independent films after completing the acting conservatory program at Michael Howard Studios in 2006. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from The University of the South and is a graduate of the 2018-2019 Acting Apprentice Company at The Barrow Group.

A seasoned improviser, Sarah performs weekly on a House Team here at the Peoples Improv Theater, where she was awarded a full scholarship and is a current member of their faculty – offering both intro and advanced classes to aspiring comedians. Additionally, she is a proud member of Story Pirates – an organization known for adapting stories written by kids into sketch comedy!

Her original written works have been performed in the Tennessee Women’s Theater Festival, The Boston Comedy Arts Festival, the New York Sketch Festival and more. Sarah is the co-writer of the musical, A Hardboiled Christmas, which was professionally produced at the Boiler Room Theater in Nashville, TN. Her TV pilot script, Flying Blind, co-created with her writing partner, Frankie Johnson, was named a winner in the First Ten Pages Screenplay Competition. She also contributed to and hosted the popular digital series, The Name Dame, produced by Scary Mommy, garnering an average of over 700,000 views per video on Facebook.

She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband Paul and is the proud co-owner, founder and pastry maker of Kings Kolache, a popular Brooklyn based bakery featured on the Today Show, NPR and Bon Appétit Magazine.

Sunny Atwal has over a decade’s worth of public speaking experience and currently operates as a professional emcee for Showbiz Talent & Primetime Dance. He is a former State Champion in poetry and has written, acted, produced several shows for the Indy Fringe festival as well as his own 45 minute Solo Show, Taxi Cab Driver, at SOLOCOM 2019. Sunny has also hosted for the Indy Visitor’s Channel which played throughout Indianapolis hotels explaining tourist attractions. He’s been featured on Spotify’s The Get Up Morning show & the BrainsOn Podcast! Additionally, he produces an all South Asian casted Comedy show for The People’s Improv theater. Performing is his passion and he also loves Sour Skittles.

Langston Belton is a New York born and raised improviser & actor. Langston took his first short-form class in 2001 and over a decade later performed Short-form improv in the city for a number of years before arriving at “The People’s Improv Theatre” in 2012 where he was among the recipients of the “Improv Your Life” Scholarship. Since then Langston has performed on numerous PIT House teams and served on the house team committee. He has previously been seen in the Off-Broadway show “Puffs: or seven increasingly eventful years at a certain school of magic and magic”. He is currently acting, improvising, and working as an on camera host for Marvel Entertainment.

Emily is an actor, teacher, and improviser originally from Memphis, TN. She holds an MFA in Physical Theatre from Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy. It was there that she studied Commedia dell’arte, buffon, clowning, Grotowski method, and Italian men. She’s been a resident artist for physical theatre companies across Europe- some of which include Continuo Phyisical Theatre in Malovice, Czech Republic, Teatro C’art in Castelfiorentino, Italy and Familie Flöz out of Berlin. She’s worked across Italy teaching English and theatre through mediums of storytelling and gesture. Emily moved back to the states at the end of 2019- just in time to sit in quarantine in her tiny apartment for 6 months. You might have seen her on the PIT stage in Old School Sketch Show, Backdoor BBQ, and Unfinished Business. When she’s off stage you can catch her either shaking a martini for the finance bros off Park Ave or teaching hot yoga at Fierce Grace yoga studios. She values the courageous, encourages the funny, and looks for the stupid. And finally, she’s just happy to be here, y’all.

Sydney Duncan is a New York-based comedian, improviser, writer, producer, and actor and is one of the newest cast members of Wild’NOut on vh1. She has trained extensively at UCB, The PIT, Magnet Theater, and Dallas Comedy House studying advanced improv, musical improv, and sketch. Before comedy, Sydney was a professional ballet dancer having trained at ABT, Alvin Ailey, Texas Ballet Theater, and Ballet West among others. Her credits include Regional Broadway shows such as Will Rogers Follies and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Solange Knowles’s music video When I Get Home. She has been featured on Comedy Central’s IG and TikTok, and is a recipient of The SNL Scholarship Award. You can catch her regularly performing in Comedy Theaters all over NYC including her monthly character show at Brooklyn Comedy Collective, teaching improv at The PIT, her one-woman show at Union Hall, Understudying at Second City NY Mainstage, and UCB’s Maude & Betty Teams.

Mike Brian Fogarty is a comedy writer, director, performer, and producer based in New York City.  He is the founding member and executive producer of the sketch comedy show Backdoor Barbecue, one of the PIT’s longest running sketch comedy shows, where he also hosts and writes the show’s recurring comedy news segment News in Review.

Since beginning his comedy career in 2014, Mike has been a writer, performer, and director on Old School Sketch Show, a member of the PIT Sketch House team RunDMV, the co-host/head writer of the late-night style talk show At the Moment, and has had his shows and writing featured on The Second City Network, NYC Sketchfest, and more!

Mike has studied sketch comedy, late-night and sitcom TV writing, satire, and comedy performance at The Second City as well as sketch comedy and long-form improvisation at the Peoples Improv Theater and the Upright Citizens Brigade.

He loves writing comedy that is collaborative, fast and fun, knows how to make an exceptionally passable french onion soup, and is a CPA who absolutely cannot do your taxes (trust me – neither of us want that)!

Joy Masters hails from snowy Central New York where she grew up daydreaming of becoming a jet pilot, a flower shop owner, an archaeologist and a professional soccer player. You can catch her with her Softball team around town with indie teams The Complex (serious improv), Sneaky as well any student short film that will have her.

Kevin Scott began performing and creating comedy while at the legendary Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown PA (profiled in Drama High and the inspiration for NBC’s Rise). He received his comedy training in Chicago in the 1990s from the Second City. He then performed with Bang Bang (which also featured Tracy Letts, Kate Walsh and Michael Shannon). In New York he has performed with Burn Manhattan and Centralia two ensembles he co-founded to explore the boundary’s of theatrical improv and comedy. Centralia has recently marked its 17th year of performing. He’s also been a regular performer and teacher for The Peoples Improv Theater since it was founded. He’s taught continuously since the ’90’s for the Second City, Gotham City Improv, The People’s Improv Theater and for various other groups and organizations. His students have gone on to work in TV and movies (Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, The Office and more) Kevin is also a filmmaker and director. His credits include Video Director and consultant for Marc Maron’s Jerusalem Syndrome. He has developed and directed comedy TV pilots for Viacom and Fremantle Media. He co-created and/or directed several Web series including: Succesorize w/Matt Oberg, TMI featuring Ellie Kemper, Law & Order: Interns featuring Grace Helbig and has had his work shown on the Sundance Channel and Comedy Central.

‘Kevin Scott is funny, attentive and smart. Having him teaching and performing at our festival was a great enrichment. He is an open, warm and inspiring person. A true delight to work with.”

–Luisa Winkler, Würzburger Improtheaterfestival

“We took the Comic Devices-workshop and couldn’t be happier. Kevin gave us some great practical tools which directly improved our scenes.”

–Andries Tunru, Artistic director Flunknarf The Netherlands

“Kevin Scott is a very attentive and methodical teacher. He knows what he wants to give to you and does his best to deliver. If you really want to dive into a certain topic – I’d recommend taking his workshop. I’m glad I did!”

–Rahel Otsa, Director TiLT Improv Festival Tallin Estonia

“My team came to Kevin Scott when we were a few years into my improv career and needed to be recharged, reinvigorated and re-inspired. Kevin’s instruction did just that. He grounded my team and I with exercises we knew but then added a library of tools that guided our playing style for years and continues to inspire me today. Kevin reminded us to not just play but taught us that we can also be actors and artists while doing it.”

–Will Luera, Director of Improvisation at Florida Studio Theatre, Big Bang Improv, Artistic Director Emeritus of ImprovBoston

“Kevin Scott has a brilliant comedic mind, honed from years of practice, performance, and pedagogy. Whether performing with Centralia or teaching Comic Devices, Kevin’s improvisation has amazed me for nearly a decade.”

–Noah Levin, Founder Barcelona Improv Group

”Kevin Scott is a brilliant encouraging teacher with great knowledge about improv comedy. He makes the students feel safe and comfortable to explore and learn. I highly recommend Kevin to anyone who hasn’t had the privilege to work with him yet.”

–Victoria Bang, boss GBimpro Sweden

“Kevin is a perceptive and caring teacher with a rare depth of knowledge. There is no bullshit, no ego, just practical, useful material, smartly presented”

–Jules Munns, The Nursery London UK

Dana Shulman is an improviser, actor, teacher, coach, and silly long distance runner.  She is a faculty member, producer, and performer at The Peoples Improv Theater and is a founding member of independent improv team Student Driver (est. 2010). Dana is a proud member of ComedySportz NYC and one of the co-founders of Socially Distant Improv.  She has been teaching cool humans of all ages for more than a decade through programs such as Opening Act and Manhattan Youth.  Dana loves playing and having fun with all her students and teammates, her husband Giancarlo, her cats Murphy and Monster, and her brand new baby Miles who already has a slew of improv performance credits like his mama.

Sean Christian Taylor @schristiantaylor started producing original work with the renowned narrative theater group Voices of the South in Memphis, TN.

For 12 years the Peoples Improv Theater (New York, NY) has been home.

Sean received his BFA from the University of Memphis, where he teaches as a guest artist.

As a director and producer his work includes, Love is Live! NY’s newest hit dating show w/ Producers and Hosts Mackenzie Jaquish Erin Gonyeau and Olivia Benedict., Cantatore & Allen A Comedy Cabaret  staring Seann Cantatore & Reagan Allen, the solo show Kid In Church created by Timmy Hart Barron which has received critical acclaim at NYCSketchFest, Chicago Sketchfest and the LookOut Series at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago.

He is one former producer of Old School Sketch Show! one of the longest running sketch shows in New York – with a rotating cast of New York’s best comedians.

Also as an artistic team member of The PIT, Sean’s focus is original Pit Programming like 2 Min Drill! Tv Sketch Show Audition Show, Unfinished Business, Free POC Series, Wolfs Lair, Characters, Characters, Characters! PITizens Showcase, Fresh Faces and Duel with founder of The PIT, Ali Farahnakian.

Director credits include, resident Sketch House Team – RunDMV. Guest Director of Road Pizza, Old School Sketch Show, TreeHaus: A Latent Coming of Age Story, Virginian Brides, and Back Door BBQ.

Sean also has developed new material for, Timmy Barron (Chicago, IL @timmyhartbarron), PitTv, and BoomShot Productions (New York, Ny, Nashville, Tn).

He is a founding member of improv and sketch groups Vivian Delano, OSSS B-Sides, Food Fight, Caldwell & Taylor, Blonde Roast, and RunDMV.

Seeking to amplify voices, and be an asset in developing new work!