Meet the cast of ImprovCity
Neiman Araque
Neiman Araque
Having starred in over 40 improvised shows for Comedy Sportz High School League, 4 musicals, 3 plays, 6 theater festivals, 1 research symposium, 2 school-wide conventions, 10 monologues, 1 choreographed Homecoming King Nominee number, 2 halftime show dances, 3 stand-up performances, 3 talent shows, 1 senior year cabaret, 1 short documentary, 1 artsy student film, and now shows with his wonderful friends at ImprovCity, Neiman still cannot schedule a doctor’s appointment on his own.
Andy Ball
Andy Ball
A long time teacher and camp counselor, Andy was happy to join this ImprovCity family of adult children in March of 2018. While his primary gig is teaching Choir, Andy has also dabbled in acting, fencing, puppetry, climbing, cat herding, dancing, dressing poorly, and procrastinating. As you can see, he’s well rounded.
Jack Brubaker
Jack Brubaker
Jack has been improvising throughout his entire life, constantly making up characters and stories for his own entertainment. At ImprovCity, he is finally putting that skill to use. In the future, he would like to be a writer/actor, which he is currently studying for. According to his friends, he is a ‘Grade A Jamoke.’
Jeff Bueno
Jeff Bueno
Jeff Bueno has trained/performed at The Second City Conservatory, Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center, and performs Stand-Up. He also likes dogs and fitness.
Bob Burns
Bob Burns
Robert Burns has been a proud member of ImprovCity since 2018. He has been acting for over 40 years, and enjoys every aspect of performing. He continues to audition for commercials, and especially loves comedy. He thanks IC for the opportunity not only to do improv but to try his hand at stand-up comedy. Long live Bobby B.
Takebb Cordier
Takebb Cordier
Takebb approaches every project with a “yes, and” spirit – and he’s thrilled to share in the laughter, connection, and spontaneous discorvery that defines ImprovCity. He was a regular cast member from 2011 – 2015, but stepped away to focus on coaching youth soccer and honing his craft as a screenplay writer. Now returning to the ImprovCity stage he brings with him a decade of growth, perspective, and the same humble, positive energy audiences remember.
Bob Craig
Bob Craig
Bob has been performing improv for many years. He has trained at The Second City and iO in Chicago and at Groundlings in LA. He published his first novel, Sportsmans, in 2022 and is working on his latest work now. He is a teacher here at ImprovCity and thanks Devin, Gina, and everyone here for welcoming him to the fold.
Devin Dugan
Devin Dugan
Devin Dugan is the Artistic Director of ImprovCity’s Main Stage cast and a nationally recognized performer, instructor, and comedy writer. He has performed, taught, and trained with acclaimed improv troupes across the country, including The National Comedy Theatre, The Second City Hollywood, ComedySportz, ComedyCity, and LA Connection. He has headlined comedy clubs, theaters, and colleges across the United States, performing both improv and standup comedy. His appearances extend beyond the stage with on-screen credits of such major networks as NBC, ABC, and TruTV, as well as roles in numerous films and national commercials. A published book author and former contributing writer for Nostalgia Digest Magazine, Devin is also an international award-winning screenwriter.
Gina Dugan
Gina Dugan
Gina is a founding member of ImprovCity and the Artistic Director of its Thursday/Sunday cast. She is a graduate of The Second City Conservatory and has trained with Upright Citizens Brigade. In addition to improv, Gina is a veteran sketch comedy performer.
Lee Godden
Lee Godden
Lee is the co-founder of Advantage Improv, an applied improvisation team building and education company. Also a musician, filmmaker and actor, Lee has appeared in feature films and national TV commercials. A U.S. Navy veteran, Lee later worked with startups and Fortune 100 companies, managing high technology sales teams. He’s the author of the internationally-translated book ZenWise Selling.
Naz Haririnia
Naz Haririnia
Naz dabbled in theater back in high school and got to perform off Broadway. She also had the opportunity to play at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland before moving to Southern California. Once she got to Fullerton College she took almost every acting class and performed in several small productions. She found ImprovCity and is excited to be a troupe member. She enjoys the basic millennial things: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, the MCU, Star Wars, avocado toast, iced coffee, and carrying around her emotional support water bottle covered in stickers.
Shirin Haririnia
Shirin Haririnia
Shirin is a longtime listener, first time caller, when it comes to improv and acting. From watching Whose Line Is It Anyway as a wee lass, to obsessing over hosting SNL one day, she is more than THRILLED to be living her best life at ImprovCity. Modeling is her forte, having appeared in YITTY and Torrid campaigns, she also strongly advocates for the plus size fashion community.
Josh Hoover
Josh Hoover
Josh is thrilled to be back on the stage acting a complete fool of himself as per the usual. Josh studied Theatrical Design and Production at Cal State Fullerton and is an advocate for pineapple on pizza. He measures in at a whopping 6ft. 8in, weighs around (wouldn’t you like to know), and is always ready to rumble. He would also like to thank his friends and family for their supportive banter including but not limited to ‘whoohoo!’ and ‘you go girl!’ Finally, Josh would like to leave you with this proverb, ‘I like my coffee like I like my women. . . I don’t like coffee.’
Asic Khatchatryan
Asic Khatchatryan
Raised in the San Fernando Valley and unable to whistle until the age of 21, Asic found her way to improv obsession via the ComedySportz High School League, UC Irvine’s Live Nude People (With Clothes On), The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and South Coast Repertory. Her interests include writing, birds, fact-checking dubious claims, British panel shows, sour candy, Tony Shalhoub, and social anxiety.
Allen Kim
Allen Kim
Hooked since his first exposure to improv, Allen is pretty invested in it. He’s studied short form in OC and long form in LA. Now you can see the payoff yourself at one of ImprovCity’s shows!
Alen Kolenovic
Alen Kolenovic
Alen’s improv journey commenced with ImprovCity in the summer of ’21. He is also a writer, actor and director, with credits in film and television. A NYC native, he can be spotted habitually jaywalking in Old Town Tustin.
Armon Kolver
Armon Kolver
Texas born and Midwest raised, Armon is a multi-sided polygon trying to squeeze into a round hole. His acting credits include one of Jud’s pallbearers in Oklahoma, First Knight in Once Upon a Mattress, and a shout out in the credits of Paranormal Activity.
Andrew Livingstone
Andrew Livingstone
After writing and performing for Cornell University’s Humor Us! sketch comedy group, Andrew departed his native East Coast for Texas, where he graduated from the improv conservatory at Station Theater in Houston and never once used the word “y’all”. Since relocating to California, Andrew has trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles, co-founded Orange County longform team Tan Sedan and ImprovCity house team StoryTime, and appeared on his grandmother’s favorite syndicated game show.
Tim Magoun
Tim Magoun
While Tim is a graphic designer by profession, acting and the performing arts is where his heart lies. Whether it’s acting in a scene study class, a community theater play, a TV commercial, or even doing live improv… entertaining people is always the thing that brings the most joy to his heart. Other things he enjoys beyond performing: video games, iced coffee, horror movies, singing, and quietly enjoying his eclectic taste in music.
Carmina Manley
Carmina Manley
Carmina lives to entertain and inspire people. She’s insanely thrilled to be part of the ImprovCity family, and excited to make memories for those who come here.
Meghan Manning
Meghan Manning
Meghan has been doing comedy since she was 14 and it’s been an incredible journey full of laughs and joy. When she’s not doing improv comedy, you can catch her working with the character department at Disneyland where she gets to use her crazy improv skills to create magical memories for guests. Meghan also loves being outside, playing ukulele, and trying to convince her cat to audition for ImprovCity.
Brian Minton
Brian Minton
Brian grew up in Westminster and graduated from UC Irvine. Brian has been a member of ImprovCity since July 2013 and was the creator of the genre long-form improv show, The Wheely Funny Show. He has studied improv at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa and with Impro Theatre in Los Angeles.
Katie Nocerino
Katie Nocerino
Grab an introvert with a moderate addiction to cheese; mix in a Lisa Frank folder and a dash of Frank’s Red Hot; fold in two heaping scoops of sarcasm; blend ingredients together on a stage in front of a live audience for about 15 years; finally, garnish with gibberish and pair with a chilled bottle of frizz-control mousse. Et Voila! You’ve got yourself a recipe for one heck of a middle child.
Bryce St. Peter
Bryce St. Peter
Bryce has dual BAs in Music and Drama from UC Irvine and is a graduate of The Second City. Bryce wears many hats: singer, songwriter, saxophonist, composer, actor, comedian, improviser, musical improv accompanist, and most recently, aspiring writer. Bryce is a FunGuy!!
Jennifer Pizzolo
Jennifer Pizzolo
Jennifer began performing improv in the early 1990s with ComedySportz Philadelphia. She has performed longform improv with Farm to Table, Words of Wisdom and Snatch’d. In addition to improv, Jennifer is a trained Salsa dancer and also performs sketch and stand up comedy.
Rahmat Sarpas
Rahmat Sarpas
To the windoowwws (of Orange County) to the walls (of ImprovCity) ya boy Rahmat is back at ya again! A student of acting, improv, and history, you can catch him performing a humble soliloquy outside of the gates of the Taj Mahal.
Dan Scheinberg
Dan Scheinberg
Dan is a writer, actor, and producer. He adores the magic of storytelling—whether it be planned, sketched, or improvised from the ether.
Sadad Talhouni
Sadad Talhouni
The only type of violence Sadad believes in is violently making your ribs shake from laughter. He hopes the joy of improv brings healing and collective liberation from oppressive negativity. Sadad also loves watermelons, from the rind to the seed.
Edwin Trovada
Edwin Trovada
Edwin is a Filipino-American stand-up comedian from Anaheim. As the youngest of 5, he always was the quiet on in the corner, struggling to find a voice. He got into theatre in high school and college, but didn’t find his calling until he started doing comedy. Through stand-up and improv, he discovered the greatest thing in life is laughter, and bringing laughter and joy to others.
Joann Veera
Joann Veera
Joann self-identifies as a wild-card, creative wackadoodle, and a neurodivergent queen. She found improv in a midlife crisis and has since studied at Groundlings and UCB and participated in a few short films. She dreams of being a STAAAAAR, and gosh darn it, she is. Her kids think so, anyway. *channeling Mary Catherine Gallagher vibes.
Elana Vlodaver
Elana Vlodaver
Elana studied musical theater and vocal performance throughout high school and her time at Bowdoin College but fell off the wagon in pursuit of some science degrees. She went to UPenn for veterinary school but was saddened to learn that cows do not care for improvised musical numbers during their rectal exams. In a desperate whim to revive the right side of her brain, she studied improv at the Philly Improv Theater. The science thing brought her to SoCal and ImprovCity, where she found community, laughter, and great snacks.
Chris Allen
Chris Allen
Chris is a dad and full time voice actor. He has been improvising since 2008.
Aubrie Bishop
Aubrie Bishop
Aubrie is thrilled to have found a place where her “let’s play it by ear” and “let’s just wing it” attitude is cherished. She is a big fan of guessing games, creating games on the fly, and the (still a hit) television show, Survivor.
Nick Bradfield
Nick Bradfield
Nick has been doing improv comedy for the past 10 years. He is a graduate of both AMDA (The American Musical & Dramatic Academy) and Second City LA. He has performed with various theatre groups throughout Southern California. He has also toured doing stand up comedy places such as San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Austin.
Tim Erickson
Tim Erickson
Growing up in small town North Dakota/Minnesota, Tim’s background includes a love of musical instruments and singing, lingering disappointment as a MN Vikings fan, and niche ice fishing knowledge. His life dream is to win Survivor.
Britt Hollaway
Britt Hollaway
Britt has had a passion for performing since she could remember. She started improv a couple years ago when her friend invited her to a drop in class and has been addicted ever since. She thinks everyone should try improv because it has had a profound impact on her confidence and she believes it has the power to impact people’s lives in the most positive way.
James Holmgren
James Holmgren
James has been doing improv for over 8 years. He was the captain of UCI’s Improv Revolution for 3 years and hosted the OC Improv Fest in 2022.
Blake Lawson
Blake Lawson
Blake’s parents told him acting was vain but still put him in church plays as a child; confusing his adolescent pursuit of an acting career {insert lack of acting credentials here}. Fast forward to moving to Southern California for university, student debt and corporate burnout, Blake had the hopes of reviving a short-lived voice acting career, leading him to trying his hand at improv. He only hopes to make his parents proud.
Jared Lomeli
Jared Lomeli
Jared has studied/performed at Spectacles Improv Engine, Improv Collective, ImprovCity, The Pack Theater, UCB LA and UCB NY. He is very excited to be a part of the Thursday/Sunday cast.
Jordan Marshall
Jordan Marshall
Jordan, a SoCal native with a penchant for mischief and useless video game trivia, blends his theatrical training and Voice-Over artist background to bring outlandish characters to life on the stage. His performances are a lively concoction of nerdy charm, physical finesse, and a splash of daring, ensuring each show is a hilarious exploration into the unexpected.
Franky Miyashiro
Franky Miyashiro
Franky first came to ImprovCity as a fan, blown away by the speed, wit and skill of the ImprovCity players. (He is still amazed by the players.) He is grateful to be a part of the exciting, vibrant, and welcoming community at ImprovCity. Fun fact: Franky only discovered ImprovCity by a quirk of fate. That quirk being the local Hooters going out of business. RIP Hooters Costa Mesa.
Tom Newman
Tom Newman
Tom is the bad boy of the group.
Dalton Nguyen
Dalton Nguyen
Dalton is a Tony Award viewing actor based in Los Angeles. As graduate of UCI, he has done improv for over 10 years and has starred in several stage shows throughout Southern California. When not on the stage, Dalton works as a director and choreographer of IGPA in Irvine. He is also not afraid of biting anyone who wrongs him.
Varun Rajan
Varun Rajan
Varun’s spent most of his life being silly on stage: from stand-up in the Bay Area, to improv in New York, and choreographed wedding dances wherever his friends didn’t mind him embarrassing them. He’s honored to be a part of the ImprovCity cast, and can be found bothering his castmates with pictures of his dog unprompted.
Zach Robins
Zach Robins
Zach found his way to improv while looking for something a little lighter than his day job as a therapist. What started as a creative outlet quickly became a favorite part of his week, giving him a place to be playful, absurb, and fully present with other performers. He’s unintentionally gained a reputation for constantly playing characters who are eating — something he swears he’ll stop doing but definitely won’t.
Arthur Rogers
Arthur Rogers
Arthur doesn’t take himself too seriously and wants to bring a smile to everyone he comes across. You can also find him playing Ice Hockey/other sports, being competitive at absolutely everything, and completing his lifelong quest to find the best burrito in Orange County.
Nina Sharifi
Nina Sharifi
Nina’s passion is storytelling; having studied film, television, and theatre, the craft of improv became another outlet for her to build scenes and bring characters to life. From being improv club president in high school to studying at Second City LA, improv has shaped her into the enthusiastic ImprovCity teammate she is today.
Byron Spears
Byron Spears
Byron Spears was involved in over 50 plays in college and community theatre. His favorite role was Grumio in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Byron was also a player in The Corporate Recess Players for over 7 years. He is overjoyed to have found a new home with ImprovCity and hopes to call this group of very funny and talented actors family for years to come.
James Stebick
James Stebick
James Stebick is a passionate improviser who has been part of the Orange County improv community for over twenty years now. In addition to performing at ImprovCity he’s also the coach and manager for local team La Ronde James and can be seen in the IFL where he is the only Grand Slam Champion in the league’s history.
Jimmy Sullivan
Jimmy Sullivan
Jimmy likes steak. Ribeye especially. Medium rare of course. Basted in butter preferably. All else is less consequential to Jimmy.
Redda Talhouni
Redda Talhouni
Redda studied pharmacy only to discover laughter is in fact the best medicine. A claim technically not backed by science.
David Walker
David Walker
David is a tech person who has somehow found himself on stage, and would like to remind everyone to not tap on the fourth wall as it scares the improvisers.
Mike Whelan
Mike Whelan
Mike is originally from NY, and after the navy moved to California to pursue stand up and acting. He’s performed at The Comedy Store, the Improv, and has a terrible movie on Amazon titled The Mason Brothers.
LouLou Adora
LouLou Adora
LouLou is currently in college pursuing a BA in Theatre Acting. Her favorite part of improv city is the community and family, and cannot wait to share that feeling with the rest of you!
Priya Bird
Priya Bird
Priya discovered her wit young and made it her whole vibe. Improvising since 2017 because, after all, playing pretend is verily performance art. Known as Lady Bird amongst her hipster crew, she channels her inner bard, dives into characters, and says “yes and” to every ridiculous folly. She’s thrilled to be part of the ImprovCity Troupe!
Carl Desmond
Carl Desmond
Some people have a performance of a lifetime; Carl’s lifetime is the performance. Having suffered from foot-in-mouth syndrome since childhood, Carl has refined this deficiency into an ability to make people laugh as his true superpower, and he plans to wield it with reckless abandon in his ongoing quest to defeat the world’s evil.
Jamie Espiritu
Jamie Espiritu
A former musical theater girl, Jamie has traded her jewel-toned dresses and nude heels for a bowling shirt and sneakers, which she finds way more comfortable.
Nick Garcia
Nick Garcia
Nick first got his start in comedy being the class clown in elementary school. Wanting to make others see the simpler part of life, he’s wandered off into the sunset grasslands of improvising and stand up comedy. By the way the patchy beard shown above is experimental, he’s feeling the waters with it.
Taylor Gorder
Taylor Gorder
Taylor got started improvising in Orlando after being a long-time enjoyer of improvised and sketch comedy. Upon moving to California, he learned from and joined the ImprovCity family. While he doesn’t have any acting credits, he’s worked on more than a few video games at his day job. If you see him at a show – Good luck, have fun!
BJ Grip
BJ Grip
BJ has been performing in improv, sketch, and theatre since elementary school, where he won one acting award at the age of 10 and has been pursuing that high ever since. His first language is sarcasm, which comes in handy a lot in his scenes. He invites everyone to make fun of his name by coming up with something “BJ” could stand for that he hasn’t heard before.
Carolyn Herr
Carolyn Herr
Carolyn’s first and only acting credit stems from a 3rd grade performance as the ‘Tea-Taster’ in a historically inaccurate reenactment of The Boston Tea Party. She’s a fan of red lipstick and big sunglasses. And she’s ridiculously excited to be part of the Tuesday cast.
Emily Kraus
Emily Kraus
When she isn’t laughing at her own jokes, Emily likes to read, write, and ponder solutions to the world’s problems. Emily also loves all things pop culture, rom coms, and board games.
Tang Ning
Tang Ning
Tang Ning sometimes finds improv to be more “real” than real life. Here, our facial expressions and words match our feelings. Imagine that! The freedom of unabashedly and relentlessly matching our insides to our outsides. I wish this for you too.
Neo Patel
Neo Patel
Neo is often called a modern day renaissance man considering his talents in many different areas, including acting, photography, TTRPGs, improv, magic and hypnotism to name a few. Neo only has one answer to the question of ‘How many hours of sleep do you get?’ – ‘Yes.’
Tony Phonethibsavads
Tony Phonethibsavads
Tony (aka ‘Dr. T’) completed a PhD in Learning Sciences at Indiana University, researching rule-bending in improv. Although a scholar first, he performed improv since 2010 in Indiana and OC.
John Reinhard
John Reinhard
John first found improv as a way to entertain his kids, then later in life as a way to challenge himself. Most likely to throw a shaka sign – 
Favorite improv move… the dramatic pause.
Rhett Rivera
Rhett Rivera
Rhett Rivera is an actor and filmmaker with a passion for storytelling and improv. He’s drawn to committing to bold choices and absurd characters on stage.
Hayley Sperber
Hayley Sperber
Improv is one of many hobbies Hayley has collected over the years. When she isn’t performing, she can be found sewing, drawing, painting, writing, playing ukulele, watching movies, planning trips, and…well you get the idea. But maybe one more wouldn’t hurt…
Eva Stanton
Eva Stanton
Eva, a once theatre kid turned #WomanInStem, began her comedy journey with ComedySportz in high school and has been dabbling in the art of Standup. She spends her time registering voters with Headcount at concerts/festivals, recording 1Pod2Peas with her sister, as a YMCA camp counselor, supporting the Adaptive Snow Sports community with The Achievers, pursuing a career in environmental justice through statistical analytics and data visualizations, but for now, Eva is just happy to be here.
Bryce Verket
Bryce Verket
Bryce has been improvising since 2018. He’s an avid illustrator, musician, and binge-reader. Somehow, he’s the SECOND saxophone-playing improviser named Bryce on the cast.
Sola W
Sola W
Sola fell in love with improv as a kid when she saw it on TV, and she made it relationship official when she started learning and performing in 2017. When she’s not doing improv, she’s with her other love, dance. When the stars align just right, you might find her dancing her way through an improv scene.
Blaire Wayland
Blaire Wayland
Blaire Wayland has been performing improv since 2003, beginning with ComedySportz in high school. She went on to perform with Cherry Spitz (later part of Orange County’s Spectacles) and was a longtime member of Fancy Hobo. Blaire also trained at The Groundlings in 2015. And, her husband wanted her to mention that he proposed to her onstage during a show at Stages Theatre (proving that improv really is about saying “yes”). After taking a few years off to focus on her career and raising her son, Blaire returned to the stage in 2025 and is thrilled to be performing with her ImprovCity cast.