Eric Appel

Eric has been performing sketch and improv at the UCB Theatre since 2002. In those past years he created shows like "Buy, Beg, Borrow or Steal," a play about real estate brokers that mysteriously synced up to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," and the wildly popular "Trapped in the Closet" panel discussion show, with Aziz Ansari and Paul Scheer. In the summer of 2006, he moved from NYC to Los Angeles to write for Jimmy Kimmel's puppet prank show, "Crank Yankers." His other credits include writing for "Human Giant" and all three seasons of MTV's "The Andy Milonakis Show."

Eric currently writes, directs, and stars in his own sketch show, "The Subconscious Channel," for the Turner Network's superdeluxe.com, and you can see him performing here at UCB with his Harold team, Powerwalkers.

Also, he has a tattoo of the UCB logo on his left bicep... seriously.

John Bowie

John Bowie started studying improv under the UCB in 1998. He appeared in several shows at their NYC space, including 2 years in "Feature Feature," numerous sketch comedy shows with The Naked Babies, and his one man opus "Paid To Stand Around."

Since moving to Hollywood in 2002, John has been a series regular on NBC's shortlived but critically ignored A.U.S.A., as well as appearing on CSI:NY, Reno 911!, Joan of Arcadia, Charmed, Las Vegas and a bunch of commercials. His film work includes Road Trip and the cult hit What the Bleep Do We Know?.

Julie Brister

Julie Brister is an actor and comedian and a long time performer, teacher and director at the UCB Theatre. She most recently appeared as Crystal Conners in the critically acclaimed Showgirls, The Best Movie Ever Made, Ever! She is co-creator of Laid Up! and Put it in You! The Sex Ed Musical. Other UCB credits include Buy Beg Borrow or Steal, the improvised soap Chastity Cove, Van Gogh's Path, WUCB Action News, Filet of Film, Todd Barry's Icky and Beyond the Valley of the Switchblade Pussycats. Her directing credits at UCB include Get Evolved, The Adventures of Lock and Kay, Cardboard Follies, Double X, Of Mice and Tara and Michael, and Crush.

She has appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, MTV, FUSE, and will soon be seen on a new online show for The Onion. She's also been in about 2 billion short films, many of which can be viewed on the internets.

Neil Campbell

Neil Campbell is a writer and a sketch, improv, and stand-up comedian. He has performed at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles since it opened in 2005 and has studied under Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Scott Aukerman and many others. Neil has written, performed in, and/or directed many shows at UCBT, including Neil and Paul: Growing Up is Tough and Fireball Deluxe: Dadquest. Also at UCBT, Neil co-hosts Not Too Shabby and performs improv weekly as a member of Last Day of School. Other UCB credits include Comedy Death-Ray and MySpace. Neil also performed at the 2006 and 2007 San Francisco SketchFests and the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas.

Neil's writing credits include MTV's Human Giant, adult swim's Moral Orel, Scott Aukerman and B.J. Porter's The Right Now! Show FOX pilot and The Untitled Onion Sketch Movie. He is also the creator of the webcomic My Naked Dad.

Chad Carter

Chad Carter is a writer and improvisor based in LA. He has performed in a lot of festivals and shows with silly names. Currently, you can see him in MySpace and ASSSSCAT at the UCBTLA. He has written for ABC's My Kind of Town, Comedy Central's Crossballs and the upcoming Creature Comforts on CBS.

Chad Carter is a trained physicist and tries his best.

Brett Christensen

Brett Christensen has been studying and performing with the UCB Theatre in New York and LA for the past four years. His comedy experience starts more than a decade ago, at the University of Arizona, with the sketch and improv group Comedy Corner. Brett has performed extensively in both traditional & improv theaters in Los Angeles and New York.

Currently, Brett can be seen at UCBTLA on the house team Hey, Uncle Gary.

Sean Conroy

Sean Conroy has studied improvisation with every member of the Upright Citizens Brigade as well as Armando Diaz and Kevin Mullaney. He has performed stand-up comedy on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central's Premium Blend and Late Friday on NBC. His one-man show, Taught, was selected for the 2001 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. He has written for the Comedy Central show Shorties Watching Shorties as well as Comedy Central's Crossballs. He has appeared in the feature films Happy Hour, Martin and Orloff, The Untitled Onion Sketch Movie and Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story. He improvised with Chicago City Limits in national tours and as a mainstage player in their Off-Broadway show. Sean is also a founding member of the longform improv group, The Swarm. He currently performs every Saturday and Sunday in ASSSSCAT.

Jamie Denbo

Jamie Denbo appears regularly on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and has also appeared on Reno 911!, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Happy Hour, Sex and the City, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and others.

She has taped pilots for ABC, NBC, FOX and Comedy Central, and can be seen in various regional and national commercials. She will be seen in the upcoming Jim Carrey film, Yes Man.

Jamie spent two years performing improv comedy at the Comedy Warehouse at Walt Disney World's Pleasure Island in Orlando, FL. She then performed and taught at New York City's Chicago City Limits (both Resident and National Touring Company) for several years. She also performed and taught at the original UCB Theatre in New York City.

She has appeared at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, and her first original one woman show, "Pixie Chick" (dir: Amy Poehler), was an official selection for the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO. Her second show, "Rennie!," won first place in the 15 Minutes of FEM competition in Los Angeles. It chronicles her true life experiences working on the Renaissance Festival circuit. She still performs "Rennie!" at UCBTLA.

Her ongoing show, "Ronna & Beverly's All Jew Revue" with Jessica Chaffin, continues to play to packed houses at UCBTLA and other venues all over the country. Look for upcoming performances and check out their videos at www.ronnaandbeverly.com

Drew DiFonzo Marks

Drew DiFonzo Marks is the current Artistic Director of the UCBTLA. He has been part of the UCB Theatre since 2003 and studied under Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh and many others. He has written, performed, and directed several shows at the UCBT including Bukkake: The Musical and the infamous "Drug Cagematch."

Drew was originally a member of the Boston based improv team "This is Pathetic" founded by David Cross and Laura Kightlinger. Drew has also shot a few National commercials, and a pilot for Comedy Central. Outside of comedy he is also on the board of directors for the Non-for-Profit Theatre Company "Brimmer Street Theatre" which he co-founded here in Los Angeles. He has trained at the ImprovOlympic, The Second City, and The Annoyance as well.

Currently, Drew hosts the "Long Hard Improv Jam" and is on the Harold team Last Day of School.

Katie Dippold

Katie is currently a writer for MADtv. She was a cast member of MTV's prank show Boiling Points and has made several appearances on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. A journalism major from Rutgers University, Katie was the writer of Mandatory Lame-Ass Staff Meeting, a TimeOut NY Critic's Pick noted as a "very funny sketch show". She was a member of Police Chief Rumble, awarded "Best Sketch Group" by the ECNY Awards. Katie wrote and performed a one woman murder mystery as well as performed in other shows such as Retraced, Director's Commentary, Reuben Williams, the Channel 102 hit show Gemberling, and also a member of the UCB improv touring company. At UCBTLA, Katie has performed in ASSSSCAT, MySpace and currently with the Harold team Powerwalkers.

Colton Dunn

Colton Dunn started comedy at the age of 15, working with Comedy Sportz, Minnesota. In 1997, Colton moved to NYC to study improv and perform with the Upright Citizens Brigade. He lived and performed in Amsterdam with Boom Chicago and pulled pranks on MTV's Boiling Points. At UCBTLA, Colton performed in Crime Scenes (a selection of the 2006 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival), Legal Weed and Hookers and MySpace. He was also a member of Coffee is For Closers, the first UCBTLA Harold Team. Currently Colton writes for Mad TV and plays Xbox 360.

Dannah Feinglass

Dannah (pronounced Donna) Feinglass has been performing improvisation and sketch comedy at the UCB Theatre since its New York theatre opening in 1999. Dannah has performed in countless shows while at the UCB, including Eye Candy, her two-woman sketch comedy show that went to the Aspen Comedy Festival. Dannah was a featured cast member on FOX's Mad TV and has appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, VH1 and Comedy Central's Crossballs. She can currently be seen in the improvised film Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story. Since her move to Los Angeles in 2004, Dannah has performed at ImprovOlympic, The Fake Gallery, M Bar and the Steve Allen Theater.

Dannah has been teaching improv and sketch writing at the UCB Theatre in New York City for several years and is thrilled to be teaching in Los Angeles -- clearly the superior city. In the words of the great Governor Schwarzenegger: "Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer."

Chris Kula

Chris Kula is currently a writer for MADtv. He has previously written for the Onion News Network, NPR, FUSE-TV, and the Improv Everywhere NBC pilot.

Kula studied improvisation and sketch comedy writing with the top teachers at UCB Theatre including Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. He has been performing and directing shows at the UCBT since 2001, and was an official participant of the 2006 HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

Mike Leffingwell

Michael Leffingwell began studying with the UCB in 2003. At UCBTNY, he performed in the Made-Up Musical, with the sketch show Gun Love, and co-wrote and performed in the sketch show Of Mice and Tara & Michael. He also spent several years as a teacher and performer in the Touring and Main Company of Chicago City Limits.

Michael co-created and was head writer of the fake news website FNN 24/7. He has appeared on FOX's Talk Show with Spike Feresten and has written and performed several characters for The Marc Maron Show on Air America. He is currently a freelance writer for The Onion's Web Video Project and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson's monologue. At UCBTLA he can be seen on the house team Hey, Uncle Gary!

Will McLaughlin

Will has been a perfomer at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre since the year 2000, before apes were our masters. He has appeared in several shows at the UCB Theatre including Anydayville, Crime Scene Improv and Piledriver, which he broke a rib for.

Will has performed with the NY Harold Teams Renegade 77, America!, Grenade vs. Washing Machine and Police Chief Rumble. The latter Harold Team won the Emerging Comics of New York award for best sketch show, Piece of Bullsh*t Pie. He is also the creator of Wake Up With Buff Trumuscle, another ECNY nominated show.

Will has appeared in several national commercials, TV shows such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Law & Order: SVU, Third Watch and MTV's Damage Control. He has also played featured roles in the films Spandex: A Father's Tale and Terrorists! starring the UCB's Ian Roberts.

He is thrilled to be teaching at the UCB Theatre LA.

Johnny Meeks

Johnny has been studying and performing with the UCB Theatre Los Angeles since its inception and has been trained by Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade. His improv comedy experience began eons ago when he represented the Webster Groves High School Statesmen on its improv team. Johnny went on to found an improv troupe at Ohio Wesleyan University where he taught and directed for four years and continues to coach periodically. He also founded the Control Group, a sketch and Improv group in Washington, DC.

As an actor, Johnny can be seen in various commercials and makes regular appearances on TALKSHOW with Spike Feresten. Johnny also co-wrote and stars in Alleyball, winner of Best Feature and Audience Award for Best Feature at the SoCal Independent Film Festival in 2006.

Currently, Johnny can be seen at UCBTLA on the Harold team Sentimental Lady and Improvised Movie team Deep Focus.

Billy Merritt

Billy Merritt has been with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre since its inception, teaching, directing, and performing. He has performed in over 50 different shows at the theater including ASSSSCAT, Killgore, Harold Night, The Real Real World, Immortal Kombat, Robot TV, the Third Degree and Gigantic Man. He has developed such shows as Piledriver, The Sunshine Gang, Brain Town and Rat Radio. Billy was one of the founding members of The SWARM, and improvised most recently in The Stepfathers and with Michael Delaney in Omelette Vision.

Billy's television credits include MTV's Boiling Points, VH1's Best Week Ever, VH1's Sledgehammer, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Comedy Central's Straight Plan for the Gay Man, Bravo's Great Things About..., and most importantly, the Upright Citizens Brigade TV show.

Billy is currently working with the Premiere Radio Network on a new morning comedy radio show called Punch Line Live.

Seth Morris

Seth Morris is a stand-up, sketch and improv comedian from San Francisco and the former Artistic Director of UCBTLA. He began studying improv and sketch with the UCBTNY in 1997. Seth appeared in, directed and wrote for many shows at the UCB and has performed at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, The Toyota Comedy Festival, The San Francisco Sketch Fest, The Chicago Improv Fest, The Telluride Comedy Festival and The Dirty South Comedy Festival. He also appeared in the long-running Off-Broadway production of The Marijuanalogues.

Television credits include numerous appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien as well as Comedy Central’s Upright Citizens Brigade, Chappelle’s Show, Crossballs (for which he also wrote) and The Denis Leary Roast and MTV’s Damage Control. Film credits include Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story. Whew!

Joe O'Brien

Joe O'Brien has been improvising at the UCB Theatres in NYC and LA for the past six years. His sketch show Gun Love and two one act plays The De-Evolution Theory and Van Gogh's Path were performed at the UCB as well.

In addition to co-creating the fake news website FNN 24/7, Joe has written pilots for MTV and Animal Planet, was a staff writer on Comedy Central's Crossballs and The Showbiz Show with David Spade, and wrote two dick jokes for the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson. He currently writes for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

John Reynolds

Writer/performer, John Reynolds, is currently a staff writer for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS. He has also written for such television shows as Starveillance (E! Channel), Comedy Central's Window Seats, Celebrity Deathmatch and Nick Cannon's Short Circuitz both for MTV to name a few. He has acted in many commercials and writes and performs comedy on a regular basis at the prestigious Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York and Los Angeles. He's also a member of the Harold Team Powerwalkers. His instructors have included Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Michael Delaney, Sean Conroy and Seth Morris.

Paul Rust

Paul Rust has been performing improvisational, sketch, and stand-up comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles since it first opened in July 2005. He has studied under Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Scott Aukerman and many others.

Paul has performed in numerous UCB shows, including co-writing and co-starring in Let's Go!, Dadquest, and Neil and Paul: Growing Up Is Tough, which was selected as an LA Weekly "Pick of the Week." Rust is also co-host of Not Too Shabby and a current member of Last Day of School.

Paul's writing credits include Adult Swim's Moral Orel, MTV's Human Giant, Matt Besser's TBS.com series The Funny Show, and the FOX sketch-comedy pilot The Right Now! Show, which he also appeared on as a cast member.

Paul played "Wheelchair Darren" in Semi-Pro and will next appear as the male lead in Fox Atomic's I Love You, Beth Cooper, starring Hayden Panettiere and directed by Chris Columbus.

Danielle Schneider

Danielle Schneider, an actor and comedienne, is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. You can see her every week as a panelist on VH1's critically praised and highly rated Best Week Ever. Among her many credits she has played a Paris Hilton like debutante on Fox's My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, she starred in Trio's The Pop Culture Round-Up: White Noise, Comedy Central's Contest Searchlight with Denis Leary, was a cast member of VH1's prank show Sledgehammer, guest starred on NBC's Happy Family and Comedy Central's Crossballs.

In 2002, her show Eye Candy, which she co-wrote and starred in, was selected for the HBO/US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. Danielle has made many appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, voiced various characters on MTV's Celebrity Death Match and has been a performer and teacher at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC.

Joel Spence

Joel has been performing improvisational and sketch comedy at UCBTLA since 2005. He's a member of the Harold team Sentimental Lady, as well as the improvised movie team Deep Focus. He's also appeared in America's Best Comic, Dirtiest Sketch Contest, Cleanest Sketch (winner!), Gallery Of Evil, F'ed Up and Illegal Videos, and Freak Dance: The Forbidden Dirty Boogaloo at UCBTLA. He studied improv under Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Seth Morris and many others.

Joel grew up in San Antonio, TX and went to S.M.U. in Dallas where he received a B.F.A. in Acting. After graduating he moved to Minnesota and co-founded The Hidden Theatre. In 1995 he joined Theatre de la Jeune Lune and by 2000 had performed in over 20 productions there. From 2000-01, Joel studied at l’Ecole Philippe Gaulier in London, England and wrote/ co-starred in One Night Only, a comedy that had a successful and critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Festival.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 2002 he has appeared on tv shows such as Dirt, The District, Judging Amy, Andy Barker PI, and the upcoming 12 Miles of Bad Road on HBO. He appeared in such features as Killing the Dream, which won Best Film in the 2004 Temecula Film Festival, and Alleyball which won Best Feature at the SoCal Film Festival in September 2006.