Super Scene

Sept. 22 – Dec. 28, 2018

Super Scene turns the Un-Scripted Theater into an improvised genre battleground. A group of grizzled directors will step into the arena each night, directing stories in the style of their favorite genre. After each round of scenes, the audience will have the power to choose the stories they’d like see continue and to vote off the directors who are missing the mark. As the rounds go on, the audience will make its way towards crowning the best director/genre and seeing the final Super Scene!

Saturdays, 10pm (except for Saturday, Dec. 28, at 8pm)

Cast

Featured

Derek

Derek Cochran is enjoying his twentieth year performing improvisation in the Bay Area. Throughout those years, he was inspired by and fortunate enough to work with some of the most talented improvisers in the country. He credits his love of long form improvisation to his early instructors, Diane Rachel and Carol Hazenfield, for showing him that improv can go beyond a simple funny game and create a rich tapestry of all kinds of stories. Currently he is proud to work with the Un-Scripted Theater Company ensemble, where they allow him to obey the inscrutable exultation of his soul. He gives thanks to his family, his Treasure Island Pirate dogs, and to all the improvisers who he has worked with, been taught by, and failed spectacularly with; throughout the years.

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." ~ The Tempest

Peter

Peter Chapman is an executive coach by day and improviser by night. He learned about improv at Stanford, which is also where he learned about being queer and his relationship with depression. A nerd at heart, he has directed shows such as Space Trip and Adventure Quest. When he’s not working, he can usually be found somewhere on the California coastline or cooking with a lot of butter.

Shara

Shara Tonn is an improviser, actor, clown and teacher based in San Francisco. She has been an ensemble member at Un-Scripted Theater Company since 2015. An alumna of the Stanford Improvisors and San Francisco Circus Center’s Clown Conservatory, Shara also performs with her duo Mona and Shara Do Improv as well as a variety of Bay Area comedy shows. When not bathed in stage lights, she works with the Medical Clown Project of San Francisco, acts and clowns in local gigs, does freelance science writing and teaches with a number of organizations including Stagebridge, Circus of Smiles, Aragon High School, and BATS Improv.

Rachel

Rachel has been performing in improv theater officially since she was 13, and performing unofficially her entire life. While offstage, she enjoys knitting sweaters of variable quality, eating foods that include salted caramel, and watching corny true crime television shows from the 90s. Rachel will also be performing with Un-Scripted this summer. Unfortunately, Pluto the Shih Tzu (pictured) did not make it through auditions and will not be performing in any Un-Scripted shows.

Allison

Allison began doing improv in college, with Roadkill Buffet (MIT's premiere—and only—improv group), after which she branched out to perform with Post-Modern Avengers and Improv Boston on the east coast, and with DASH, Hobofish, the Pear Improv Troupe, and Pure Moxie Players in the Bay Area. She has taught improv to management consultants and cybersecurity professionals, both of whom found that it allowed them to invent technical expertise more easily. When not performing, Allison works in cybersecurity research; if you work in security and are interested in performance art, ask her about joining her comedy group Security Theater.

Brad

Brad Gottesman is thrilled to perform in Super Scene at Un-Scripted Theater Company. Brad studied improv at UCLA and UCB Theatre and has performing for ten years. Since moving to the Bay Area, Brad has performed in numerous shows through Endgames Improv, Un-Scripted Theater Company and Pure Moxie Players.

Chris

Former director of BATS’ Improv @ Work corporate engagement programs, Chris has led applied improvisation sessions for more than 100 workplaces, including Genentech, UCSF, and Google. Chris delights in facilitating teams to develop leadership, presence, creativity, adaptability, communication, storytelling, teamwork, and collaboration. He has taught improv for 11 years at BATS’ School of Improv and has performed on ten different BATS’ CaveMatch improv ensembles. A Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Scholar graduate of Duke University, Chris enjoys German strategy-based board games, Texas Hold’em, and writing poetry for life-work balance. Actually, his whole life centers on play.

Jessia

Jessia Hoffman is a Bay Area-based performer, educator, and freelance writer. With over a decade of improv experience, Jessia has directed the Stanford Improvisors, coached the Aragon Improv Team, studied on both coasts, and currently teaches for BATS Improv. Select theatre credits: writer/director of Sheila, an original play; co-creator of Gravity: A New(tonian) Musical; guest improviser in Un-Scripted’s Foglandia; Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray; Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park with George. Jessia holds a B.A. from Stanford University in English with a focus in Creative Writing, a minor in Spanish, and Interdisciplinary Honors in the Arts. She is thrilled to return to Un-Scripted for Super Scene, one of her very favorite formats!

Brittany

Brittany has been performing improv for over ten years, playing with troupes in Ohio, Colorado, and California. She is thrilled to be creating with the folks at Un-Scripted. When she is not practicing improv she is a scientist in the Bay Area.

Bela

Bela is a San Francisco Bay Area based improviser. His love of improv started in the mid-1990s, when he began studying at BATS Improv and taking private classes from Diane Rachel and Carol Hazenfield. Subsequently, Bela performed in groups at BATS, Made Up Theatre, and Pear Theatre. In recent years, he has played with local indie troupes Charmers Market, All That Jazz, The Internet: Live, and Live Clickbait. Most recently, he appeared in The Muse, an episode in the Dark Room’s 16th Annual Twilight Zone Parody Series. At Un-Scripted, Bela was a cast member in Intimacy Issues, Super Scene, Adventure Quest, and Oregon Trials – and he’s super excited to be a part of Remote Control Freak!

Evan

Evan has been performing long-form improv and sketch comedy for more than ten years, and has received training in Chicago, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco. He has performed at theaters in New York, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco, and is a founding member of Seattle long-form group, Mr. Snake. This is Evan’s second show at Un-Scripted, and he is thrilled to be here. When he is not performing, Evan is a law student at UC Berkeley.

Christina

Christina Marie has been improvising for over 12 years in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She studied in San Francisco with Bay Area Theatre Sports, Sue Walden and Company, and Endgames Improv. In Los Angeles she studied with the Groundlings and The Second City. She has performed with several groups in San Francisco including the Riffingtons (Cobbs comedy club house improv group), Liquid soap, and Nightcap theater. In Los Angeles she has performed at The Improv in Hollywood, The Icehouse in Pasadena, and the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard. She is psyched to be working with Un-Scripted!

Ali

Ali Balfantz started her formal improv training in 2014 and she is a graduate of BATS Improv. Her informal self-taught improv training started in South Louisiana in the early 80's as an only child with a wild imagination. She has taken countless classes, performed in many shows, and loved every minute of it! Ali previously performed in SuperScene with Un-Scripted Theater Company, and she has guested with RagTag Improv and Moment Improv. She is the co-founder/co-producer of On Tap Improv in San Francisco. Ali is thrilled to be back at Un-Scripted and performing in Oregon Trials! She has fond memories of dying of dysentery in her elementary school computer lab.

Ivan

Ivan has been involved in stage theatre for more than ten years and has done improvised comedy for the past seven years. He first learned the style at Ohlone College, under the tutelage of Jeff Kramer, founder of Comedysportz. Before joining the Super Scene cast at Un-Scripted, Ivan was a main stage performer at Comedysportz, and was a part of their San Jose team. During his tenure there, he performed at their world championships, facing off with 22 other improvised teams from around the globe.

Will

Will Funk began his improv journey as a member of the Stanford Improvisors. Since then, he's enjoyed coaching a ragtag gaggle of high schoolers on the San Mateo Improv Team at SMHS. On his other foot, Will is an analyst at a foundation and works with a variety of camps. Will is thrilled for his first performance with Un-Scripted Theater Company!