THIS IS YOUR LIFE: THE MUSICAL!
Meet our improv artists!
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​​(Co-Creator) currently appears as a member of the musical improv team VERN (People's Improv Theatre). Stand-up and storytelling credits include Gotham Comedy Club (*Story Talks Winner), Broadway Comedy Club, New York Comedy Club, The Metropolitan Room, and the Moth. Film and TV credits include the film Crazy Enough with Chris Kattan (LA Comedy Festival Opening Night Selection) and an appearance as a former frumpy person on the FYI makeover show B.O.R.N. to Style. Rachel has studied improv, sketch-writing, stand-up, and storytelling at The Second City (Chicago), Upright Citizen’s Brigade (NYC), Manhattan Comedy School (NYC), Magnet Theatre (NYC), and The People’s Improv Theatre (NYC). RachelBouton.com
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is an NYC-based Singer/Actor/Dancer. Hailing from Berkeley, California, Mikey holds a BMus in Music Theatre from NYU Steinhardt, and has been improvising at the Peoples Improv Theater, Magnet & UCB since 2010. At the PIT, Mikey performs weekly with musical house team VERN.
He also performs original music as Kaykes (http://www.twitter.com/kaykesmusic).
MIKEY CAKES
is an actor, director, musical improviser & award-winning voiceover artist originally from Astoria, NY. Matt majored in TV Production and double minored in Theatre Studies & Performance at Seton Hall University. For over 10 years, Matt has toured the world improvising musicals with Baby Wants Candy, Your Love, Our Musical, Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, Blank! The Musical and VERN. With VERN, Matt produced VERN’s Off-Broadway run at the Players Theatre in New York. While they performed at the Peoples Improv Theater, they, in conjunction with Audible.com, produced “A Very Improvised Holiday Musical” with Tony-winner Laura Benanti. Television credits include Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, CBS’ God Friended Me, NBC’s Law & Order: SVU, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, The Deuce, Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt & SyFy’s Happy! IG: @matt_giro www.MattGiro.com
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(Creative Director) is a Michigan native, who graduated from college in Ohio, and then moved to Chicago to study and perform improvisation at The Second City, The Playground Theatre and iO (formerly Improv Olympic). She moved to Florida to improvise full time for the Mouse at Disney World and spent several years performing and singing all over Disney property as well as at SAK Comedy Lab in downtown Orlando. In NYC she spends her time performing and teaching improv and just celebrated her 10th Anniversary with the musical improv team, VERN. Away from the stage she is an HR consultant, facilitator and host, dog and human mom and taker of naps. www.katiehammond.com
is an improvisor, actress, musician, and all-around goofball living in Brooklyn. She has been studying and performing improv in New York City since 2012. Kiki holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University. She performs with Baby Wants Candy (Edinburgh Fringe Fest, Adelaide Fringe Fest), Blank! The Musical (Green Room 42), VERN (The PIT), and Premiere (Magnet). She also performs regularly with Happy Karaoke Fun Time! and her indie team Tall Boys. Find out more at kikimikkelsen.com.
RAQUEL PALMAS
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is an actor, writer, and comedian based in New York. His digital series, “Night Crew”, landed a development deal with Comedy Central after being chosen as an official selection for the New York Television Festival. His work has been featured by Mashable, Funny Or Die, SF Sketchfest, Quickiefest, Red Hot Video Fun Time, Chicago Sketchfest, Austin Sketchfest, Hell Yes Fest, and Solocom. Adrien started TOS Comedy, a video sketch comedy collective with a monthly half-hour sketch show on Public Access TV. He’s written and performed in 3 musical sketch shows (ADRIEN: #biggerthanbieber, Meet The CEOs, WTF is Love?). You can see him perform regularly at The PIT with sketch teams “Kids These Days” and “BoogieManja”, as well as musical improv team “Elevator Talk”. Additionally, Adrien plays piano for many improvised musicals including “Baby Wants Candy” (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Kennedy Center), “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical”, and “Blank! The Musical”. More at adrienpellerin.com.
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is a New York based actress, musical comedian and improvisor. You can catch her performing musical improv with Baby Wants Candy (UCB) , Elevator Talk (PIT), North Coast (various) and Off Top. She is proudly focusing her theatrical / comedic energies on f$&3ing up the status quo. She is a member of many indie improv teams such as Off Top, the all black King Zebra and even has the audacity to perform with her father on a two prov team called Daddies Issues. She is overjoyed to be able make theater that consists of two things that always make white men question their privilege: blackness and laughter. She currently performs every Wednesday night at the PIT on musical house team, Elevator Talk.
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is an actor, musical comedian, and improviser living in New York City! Besides performing with TIYL, Daniel does musical improv across the country with the touring show Broadway’s Next H!T Musical, is the co-creator/co-star of the two person musical improv show What Town? The Musical, and has been performing with the group VERN at the Peoples Improv Theater for five years. Favorite acting credits include shows at the Atlantic Theater Company, NYC Fringe Festival Encores Series, Williamstown Theater Festival, and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. More here: www.heydanieltepper.com
is a writer and comedian living in Brooklyn. He has been performing improv comedy since 2002 in New York City and around the country, primarily at the Upright Citizens Brigade, Chicago City Limits and the People’s Improv Theater. In 2024, his musical improv group Vern celebrated its tenth anniversary. He has been a contestant on Jeopardy! and Cash Cab, and a “+1” on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He is the writer of four screenplays, two plays, and two children's books, for which he is patiently waiting to get paid.
JEFF SCHERER
Meet our music directors!
STODDARD BLACKALL
is a musician and composer with a degree in songwriting from Berklee College of Music, and composing accolades from the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He is co-owner of Sunny Songsters Children’s Entertainers, and teaches songwriting and improv to senior citizens with Vintage Improv. In addition to being an all-night entertainer for Brandy's Piano Bar and The Duplex, Stoddard has served as pianist for various musical improv groups at the People’s Improv Theater, Magnet Theater, and UCB. Stoddard’s original cabaret, Slanted, premiered at Don’t Tell Mama in 2022, and was revived at the Triad Theater in 2023. Stoddard is also a founding member, pianist, singer and saxophonist for the rock and roll band, The Caterers, sharing the stage with Coincidance star James Manzello, The Voice’s Gene Taylor, and drummer Alex Feldman. Stoddard’s music can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon music. His brand new album, "Hiccups: Selections", can be streamed and downloaded under "Hiccups Musical".
RODNEY MARFIL
has a Bachelor’s of Music in Classical Piano Performance. He studied jazz piano with Blue Note recording artist Harold Mabern and classical piano with Solomon Mikowsky at the Manhattan School of Music, where he received the Eubie Blake scholarship for ragtime piano. From 2008 to 2011, Rodney was musical director for the famed Second City improv theatricals boat co. out of Chicago and now regularly performs improvised musicals at The People’s Improv Theatre, The Magnet Theatre, and Upright Citizen’s Brigade in New York.
JODY SHELTON
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contributed orchestrations and musical direction to the new musical The Village of Vale at Lincoln Center in 2017. Earlier that year, he co-wrote the musical parody Star Wars: The Farce Awakens, and directed its world premiere. The Story of a Story (The Untold Story) (Jeff Award nomination for Best New Work), co-written with Emmy and Peabody winner Peter Gwinn, premiered at the Chopin Theatre in Chicago in 2015. Jody co-wrote the parody 50 Shades! The Musical, which had an extended run off-Broadway (2014-15), and has been performed in twelve countries around the world. Jody performed with renowned musical improv ensemble Baby Wants Candy for fifteen years and got his start in comedy as musical director for the Second City National touring company. He has released three critically acclaimed albums as solo artist, and two more with his band, Daughter & Son. Most recently, Jody contributed to The President Show on Comedy Central and to The Break with Michelle Wolf on Netflix.
