Zachary Hanes is the director and head writer of the Middle American Existence Expo. He first began to pursue comedy while a student at the University of Wisconsin. He trained at Atlas Improv Company in Madison, formerly ComedySportz Madison, in both short and long form improvisation. After college, he moved to Chicago and enrolled in the training program at iO Improv, which he recently completed and will soon begin performing as a member of a newly formed house team (so new it doesn't have a name yet). He became an intern for OINK! in the summer of 2008, quickly expanding his role to head writer. Most recently, he and his writing partner have submitted a pilot to Comedy Central, which is currently in consideration.
Othy Schwering is the founder, executive producer, and host of OINK! (Othy’s Improv Night Kabaret!). He is also a writer for MAXX. He studied Theatre & Drama at Indiana University where he appeared in a much-lauded production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia as well as a number of musicals and independent films. Since his move to Chicago he has studied improv at the Annoyance Theater. With the inception of OINK! his focus has shifted to stand-up comedy and he has performed in that capacity at many venues, including The Annoyance Theater, iO (formerly Improv Olympic), The Lincoln Lodge, and The Edge Comedy Club among others. He can be seen doing stand-up, improv and hosting OINK! each Wednesday evening at The Playground Theater.
Kannan Arumugam is co-producer and house team member of OINK! When Kannan isn't fashioning paper mâché in his own image, he's busy writing palindrome haiku about himself. Here's one:
gab an ode kannan
oh one divide...no honan
naked on a bag.
Amanda Lester is a graduate of the College of Charleston, and has a BA in Theatre Performance. She has studied and performed improvisational comedy all over the country, most recently at IO here in Chicago. Her improv group Bear Trap and sketch comedy group Maximum Brain Squad was selected to perform in Piccolo Fringe 2008. She is a member of Vintage Gramma, a local all-girl band, for which she plays guitar, writes, and sings.
Jason Lord has made the usual comedy rounds and continues to hang out on the periphery, content to be hazily remembered as that guy who was not that bad in that one show.
Ryan Williams is in love with entertainment. He graduated from Metropolitan State in Denver with a BA in Theatre. He is also a graduate of The Players Workshop West for long-form improv at the Bovine Metropolis Theater. While at The Bovine, he also co-wrote and starred in five original sketch comedies and was a main player for On The Spot, a prime time short-form show. He has also appeared with Impulse Theater, Denver’s longest running show and was understudy to The Second City at the DCPA. While in Denver, Ryan was actively represented by Donna Baldwin Talent and was featured in several TV commercials. He recently decided to make a go of the Chicago scene. There he performs regularly at The Gorilla Tango, Cornservatory Theater, The Spot, and The Playground Theater.
Amanda Peters is a recent graduate of the University of Arizona. She holds a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology and uses that degree to... oh wait... she's not using that degree at all right now. My bad. At Arizona she played with and directed the Charles Darwin Experience, a short form improv comedy group that performs weekly on-campus shows. She is thrilled to now be living in Chicagoland and cannot wait to meet you! Seriously. She's really excited.
Dannielle Owens-Reid is elated to be a part of such a wonderful production. I mean, really, could this cast get anymore fun? She graduated from Winthrop University with a BA in Theatre - performance. She also promises that school is real. She rocks hardcore with her girl-band Vintage Gramma and makes improv nerds fall in love with her girl-improv-troupe, Eleanor. She is currently enrolled in level 4 in the Improv Conservatory at Second City and Graduated the iO improv program last fall. She loves who she loves, and they know it. Thank you.