Camp Improv Utopia : Instructors

Instructors

Aaron Krebs

Aaron Krebs is a founding member of the short form National Tour Company, Mission IMPROVable. MI is a 10 time nominee for Campus Activities Magazine's Comedy Act of the Year award and won the 2011 award. He's been performing and teaching both long form and short form for 19 years in Dallas, Austin, Chicago and L.A. Past short fom credits are Chicago Comedy Sportz, Austin's 90% Effective, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, Chicago Improv Festival, 12 NACA Showcases, PAX's World Cup Comedy, and more. Aaron is currently performing/teaching at Mi's Westside Comedy Theater and IO West in Los Angeles.

Suzi Barrett

Suzi Barrett has been studying/performing/coaching improv for over ten years. A veteran of iO Chicago, Suzi spent 3 years performing at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, and currently teaches at UCB in LA. She performs with teams at UCB and iO West, and coaches many teams and practice groups around LA. She doesn't eat as much ice cream as she should.

Craig Cackowski

Craig Cackowski has been improvising for twenty years. Based out of Los Angeles, Craig teaches and performs at the IO West and Second City theaters. He's part of the triumvirate behind the long-running and critically acclaimed show Dasariski. He has also taught at many improv festivals, including the Phoenix Improv Festival and the Out Of Bounds Festival in Austin, TX. Back in his Chicago days, Craig performed with Second City on their two resident stages and with their National Touring Company, as well as with such teams/shows as Baby Wants Candy, Carl and the Passions, Mr. Blonde, Armando and the original cast of Close Quarters. He was also the director of the now-legendary JTS Brown, and has also directed for The Second City (touring cast and Norwegian Cruise Lines cast). Film and television appearances include Community, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Year of The Dog.

David Razowsky

David Razowsky is one of the top teachers of theatrical improvisation and acting. He has been called “the guru of improvisation, an improviserʼs improviser,” who connects the mindfulness of Buddhism with improvisationʼs core principals of being in the moment, taking care of your partner, and groundedness. In his 25-year improvisation career David has worked with The Second City, iO West, The Steppenwolf Theatre Company, as a consultant to Dreamworks, BBCʼs Whose Line Is It Anyway, and Amsterdamʼs Boom Chicago Theatre. He was Artistic Director of The Second City Training Center Los Angeles, has been honored with an INNY award for Best Improv Coach, and is adjunct faculty in the California State University system. He has been a featured performer and lecturer at the Chicago Improv Festival, The San Francisco Improv Festival, the Vancouver Improv Festival, and The Kennedy Center. David continues to act and direct professionally in Los Angeles.

Annie Kouris and Levin O'Connor

Levin and Annie

Levin O'Connor fell into his improv career in Chicago in 2002, studying and performing at both iO Chicago (formerly ImprovOlympic) and The Second City training centers. He performed weekly as an original cast member of the iO team Rattlesnake High School. In 2006 he packed his bags and moved out to Los Angeles to pursue film and television work, and has continued to perform improv regularly at iO West. Levin has been fortunate to learn from some of the great mind in this craft and he works hard to pass that along to his students. Improv is more than a fun performance outlet for Levin, it is a life philosophy and one he is eager to share with the world. Levin teaches a variety of classes at both iO West and MI’s Westside Comedy Theater, he won the 2005 Del Close Award for Coach of the Year and is a proud member of USS Rock N Roll, The iO Repertory Company and Now? with Annie and Levin.

Annie Kouris has been performing improv since 1997 and has been a part of many long and short forms. Annie trained with iO West and over the years a strong philosophy of team over individual and performing in the now emerged. With this idea in place, Annie began coaching which eventually turned into teaching and in 2010 won the “Del” Coach of the Year award. She currently teaches at AMDA, MI’s Westside Comedy Theater and at iO West where she also runs the student performance program, The Lottery. Annie is proud to perform with the Del Close awarded "Best Harold Team", USS Rock N Roll as well as in the MI's Westside Comedy Theater house team NOW? w/Annie &Levin. Annie is also a working commercial actor and has appeared in several national and local spots. But mostly she gets totally jazzed-off about improv, and yes, that is how she talks about it!