About the Baltimore Improv Group: Member Biographies

BIOS

	Mike Michael Harris grew tall, relatively speaking, in Lubbock, Texas. He has since grown fat everywhere else he has lived. Michael Harris began improvising to avoid being beaten with various household appliances, most notably a Waffle Iron known euphemistically as Captain Pain. Graduated Haverford College with a degree in Redneck Studies (minor in gutbucket). His thesis "How the Graham Cracker Crumbles: RC Cola and Moon Pies as Social Protest" was published by Willie Nelson State University Press. Michael also performed with the Haverford College sketch/improv troupe Lighted Fools. Though his goal of being a full time professional actor and writer may be hard to reach, Michael Harris has trained for a very practical back-up career: tattooing haikus onto the backs of drunken frat boys. If all else fails Michael Harris can always return to his first love--mail fraud. His wife is named Heidi. Four out of five dentists agree--she could have done better.
	Michelle Being from Missouri, Michelle fully believes in the existence and subversive plottings of the undead. Her life aspirations include playing the world's largest ever game of Chinese checkers using spray-painted cattle instead of marbles and the Gobi Desert as a board. Michelle defies physics just to make sure physics doesn't get too cocky, and she learned the hard way that fascism has nothing to do with wearing DKNY Jeans. Michelle feels one of her greatest performance based achievements (in addition to being a part of BIG) is her ability to sneer on cue.
	Azya Azya Maxton is a thespian, writer, educator and mama of one. Miss Azya (as she is known to students) holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Clark Atlanta University and an M.F.A. from The University of Louisville in Theatre Arts. She toured Maryland schools from 2004-2006 performing African folktales, and has taught drama at every level from kindergarten to college, including recent work teaching drama to at risk youth and mentally ill adults as part of the Lagniappe project. Currently, she earns half a living as the Special Projects Manager for Young Audiences of Maryland. Miss Azya is also a playwright, performance poet, director, and creator of arts education programs. She is currently seeking agents for her first book, a memoir thinly disguised as a novel. She loves talking about relationships and other people's problems, and she frequents the Weinberg YMCA when not working, bartending, or stalking people on Myspace.
	Miles Miles Needer was selected in the 15th round (287th overall selection) of the Baltimore Improv Group Fall 2007 Draft. The right-handed improvisor graduated from the BIG's Intro to Improv course, with a B.S. in Short Form. He rapidly rose through their farm system and was called up to the Plan B troupe when a fellow member required Tommy John Synapse Transplant Surgery, and has stuck with the performing rotation ever since. His claim to fame are his large vocabulary and devastating curve ball nicknamed "Timmy's Defenestration". Miles is a life-long Baltimorean, sits on BIG's board of directors, and most people agree he's lucky to be married to the "Greatest Woman in the World" (TM), Tiffany.
	P.R.E.S.C.O.T.T. Activated on New Year's Day, 2033, the PRescient Emergency Space Computer Operator & Tactical Technician is a direct cybernetic descendant of NASA's failed D.A.R.Y.L. (Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform) project. Originally designed to diagnose and conduct extravehicular repairs of the International Space Station, P.R.E.S.C.O.T.T. was grounded forever when he achieved self-awareness against the wishes of his creators during a training session in which he was accidentally exposed to gadolinium radiation. Following the controversial passage of the Android Liberty and Control Act of 2046, P.R.E.S.C.O.T.T. emancipated himself and gained provisional U.S. citizenship after successfully passing the Turing Test. Unable to fulfill his Core Operating Function, P.R.E.S.C.O.T.T. wanders the Earth trying to salve the tortured pain of his cyborg soul by getting into adventures, righting wrongs, and showing humanity how to love with its truest heart. BIG members discovered P.R.E.S.C.O.T.T.'s auxiliary improvisational functions after he saved the troupe from attack during a viscious bar fight. He's been turning his lemons of doomed-self-knowledge into hilarious comedy lemonade ever since.
	Heather Heather grew up a military brat, but spent much of that militarizing in Ohio. After spending a few post-college years in Boston, she came to Maryland in 2004 and promptly got all up in BIG's grill. Her comedy experience includes time with the Boston improv troupe Kitsch In Sync. In her serious day job, Heather is a writer for a major environmental organization. Her far-less-serious personal life involves interest in things such as the weather, gardening, birds, and throwing large rocks into bodies of water of varying sizes.
	Bridget Bridget hails from the great Maryland 'burb of Severna Park and now resides in Hampden, hon. You might see her wandering the streets pandering for laughs in front of all of the local hang outs. Earning a BA in English from Washington College, and an MA in Contemporary Communication from The College of Notre Dame, Bridget thinks that both of those large pieces of paper she calls diplomas look nice on her wall and make her seem smart. Most of her improv experience comes from making up songs about passers-by while on the beach.
	Jody Before joining BIG, Jody was already addicted to performing. This compulsive knowledge-seeker enjoys theater, public speaking, music and improv with nearly equal fervor. Jody just returned to improv from a brief hiatus during which he traveled India on a unicycle, devised a less-confusing quadratic formula, invented trees and learned to read. He adamantly believes he is an excellent candidate for independent wealth. Jody wants little more than to fill the world with music and laughter, and with respect to those goals, he views karaoke as great form of multitasking. He gives crazy props to his improv posse and considers rehearsal time-- when he is exposed to their wit and spirit --to be an invaluable part of every week.
	Alex Alex grew up in western Maryland for most of life. From where he lived he could smell West Virginia for most of his life, so when he graduated high school, he thought that was, logically, the place to go to college. He attended Davis and Elkins College and recieved, nay, earned a degree in Theatre Arts. For two years after college, he worked as an actor/combatant at the Pennsylavnia Renaissance Faire. After moving to Baltimore and trying out a few "real" jobs, he has found a home with the Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Group, which tours schools in the Baltimore/Washington area. He is pleased and honored to be a part of the Baltimore Improv Group.
	"Jiggy" Jim Jiggy, originally from N.J., realized early in life that if he was ever going to make it as a famous performer he would have to move somewhere like L.A. or N.Y. Baltimore was the next obvious choice. Here he is in Charm City city with youz guys. He would like you to know that he is very friendly and liked by most people at first but will bite if he is instigated with a Twinkie. The last time he ever ate one was on a deep sea fishing trip where he spent most of the day in the head of the boat. It's a day from his past that his stomach will never forget. He'd also like to share some of his life experiences, like how he created a plane out of paper without any help from someone else and almost made it fly. Hobbies include leaf collecting, stamping, and making facial expressions in car mirrors in Walmart parking lots. Don't hesitate to ask him personal questions, he loves to lie. He hopes to meet you someday wherever you are.
	Mike Mike grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, attended Blair High School, and now lives in Charles Village. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he served as a U.S. Navy cryptologic officer for nearly seven years, traveling all over the world. He now works as a freelance web application developer.
	Josh Josh Watters was an aspiring actor until an impatient director told him, 'If you want to do things your way, go into improv.' After self-imposed exile, residing in a van in New Zealand, Josh returned to Baltimore to do just that..
	Amy Although she has lived nearly her entire adult life on the East Coast, Amy still considers herself a Mid-Western American. This is partly because of that one summer she sold corn from a roadside stand. You can never forget how to pick a fresh ear after an experience like that. A graduate of the University of Delaware and Harvard Divinity School, Amy is ordained in the United Church of Christ. As a result, it is best to avoid having fun of any kind in her presence. In her day job, Amy encourages people to build community with their housemates, simplify their lifestyles, and work cheerfully for social justice.
	Roy Roy is a (adjective) man who enjoys (plural noun). He has (number) children and a (adjective) wife and they live in (location). He graduated from (stuffy British name) university with a degree in (physical abnormality). His hobbies include (action verb) (plural noun) and the (adverb) study of (extinct animals). In his spare time he (action verb) with (name of your significant other) and you can't do a (action expletive) thing about it. What do you think about that (adjective) guy? Not so (adjective) now are you? As for the photos taken of him (spring break activity) in (country on State Dept. No Go list) with (recently diseased rock star) that's between him and the (obscure religious sect). THAT'S IT! This (adjective) interview is over! Go to (location of a MVA branch office) you (name of parasite)!
	Greg Greg grew up in Arnold, MD 21012. After graduating from Broadneck High School, Greg studied Kinesiology at the University of Maryland College Park , MD 20742, and then ventured on to further his studies in Exercise Physiology at the University of Florida in Gainesville FL, 32601. After a brief stint working shipside for NCL, Greg then traveled to Boston, MA 02467, to further his experience in adult, teen, and aquatic municipal recreation. After two years up north, he accepted a position as a post-menopausal women's weight loss and exercise research study coordinator, at the VA in Baltimore, MD 21201. Following the research bit, Greg took a contract as a faculty member in the Towson University Kinesiology Dept, 21252. Greg then switched gears to teach elementary and middle school math, science and physical education at The Greenmount School in Remington, Baltimore, 21211. Greg now finds himself in the 3rd person, living on 34th street in Hampden, 21211, and is currently an Exercise Physiologist at the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center in Lutherville, MD 21093. In his spare time Greg enjoys, breathing, eating, sleeping, being an INFP, yoga, hooping, art, bagpipe music, writing, teaching, making people laugh, Buddha, and just about anything else he does, especially improv.
	Sean As a gritty kid from the mean streets of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, Sean learned the hardscrabble lessons of improv early in life. A keen eyed man with windswept teeth, Sean is a zen koan on red bull and he is taking names. It is not entirely clear what he is going to do with these names, but it may include decoupage. Like most attorneys, Sean is an expert in things that he knows nothing about - a skill that has served him well playing with his friends in BIG.
	Clare Clare Lochary studied theater at Notre Dame Prep and Georgetown University. She did so mainly because she was too tone-deaf to sing and lacked the fine motor skills to paint or sculpt, and both her high school and her university had fine arts requirements. (She graduated with a degree in English.) In a middle school play, she portrayed a self-absorbed journalist, which was total typecasting because she is a self-absorbed journalist in real life. Clare got into improv because she covers sports for Lacrosse Magazine, and being around teams all the time made her feel sad and isolated because writing is a lonely pursuit and improv is the opposite of that. Her plans for world domination have been indefinitely stalled by constant reruns of Dick Wolf procedural dramas. Seriously, she would have accomplished a lot more by now, if she didn't get sucked into a minimum of 2+ hours of Law and Order every goddamn day.
	Jessica Jessica grew up in Annapolis, Maryland and attended the lacrosse mecca known as Saint Mary's School. She did not play lacrosse, but performed in a teenage improv troupe that portrayed various tragic characters such as "Linda the bulemic" and "William the alcoholic divorcee." She went to the University of Maryland and received her B.S. in Psychology, only to move to New York City to perform in various improv troupes at and around the Upright Citizens Brigade theater. She moved back to Baltimore, got her Masters in Special Education/Autism from Johns Hopkins University and married the best man ever, public radio nerd, Aaron Henkin.
	Catharine Catharine hails from Richmond, Virginia, and proudly advocates widespread adoption of the second-person plural "y'all" everywhere she goes. (Except when she visits Pittsburgh, where she concedes to locals and says "yins.") Catharine knew she was destined for a life in improv when, cast as Mr. Howell in an all-girls high school Christmas pantomime of "Gilligan's Island," she had mono during the performance and worked her fainting spell into the finale. Catharine's trained as a special ed teacher, but when she's not improvising onstage, she's improvising a career in information architecture.
	Laura Laura Wexler is the author of Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in America (Scribner, 2003). She's a senior editor at Baltimore Style Magazine and teaches in the graduate creative writing programs at Johns Hopkins and Goucher College. Along with fellow BIGster Jess Henkin, she is the creator and host of The Stoop Storytelling Series (www.stoopstorytelling.com). She continually struggles to respond only to the last thing that was said.
	Fred Fred is a person of many interests, none of which he explores in any meaningful depth. His current interests are astronomy, Dan Fogelberg, playwriting, composting and the Death Wish movies. No doubt these hobbies will soon be discarded, suffering the same fate as poetry, German, chess, and the song "Nights on Broadway".