Afrita started Improv journey a few years ago and fell in love with the art form.  While new to improv, she is no stranger to being in front of crowds.  She began her oratory practice in high school, where she participated in her school local forensic club. She continued to built those skills into a business and her current day job as a facilitator and personal developer coach.  Her talent for humor always took a back seat to the more serious nature of speaking until she took an improv class at Kickstand Comedy.  She co-founded "The Humans," a local Portland improv group, and has performed with other groups over the years.  She is a kind and expressive performer who sees the humor in the routine crevices of life.

Lauren is an improviser and artist with over a decade of experience performing in Portland. Originally from the Midwest, Lauren’s style is very supportive and listening-based, with lots of room for organic moves and games. 
She is currently on the teams Quiet Women, Sinner & Williams, and the Tuesday the 13th Part III (an improvised slasher show). Other highlights include performing in the Del Close Marathon (NYC), Vancouver International Improv Festival, Loose Threads, as well as the sketch show, Show Ridiculous. She is also the founder and host of Night Cheese—an absurdist art/food/comedy variety show. 
Outside of comedy, Lauren is an editor, writer, mentor, teacher and critic who focuses on contemporary fiber and textile work. When it comes to fun, non-comedy stuff, she loves reading horror, playing video games, and thrifting.

Jhordan began her comedy and improv journey at Chaos Bloom theatre in Denver, CO. 
Since moving to Portland, she has performed on Kickstand’s Harold teams, in various sketch productions, Velodrome, and Secret Aardvark. She has also performed at Curious Comedy’s Friday Night Fights and numerous Sunday School events.
She believes in seeing the whole performer and leaning in on the strengths and abilities we carry as individuals to build us up on stage. Education through empathy is a value she has carried with her from her time as a school teacher into her new role as a teacher with Kickstand Comedy. 
You can see Jhordan performing with the indie team No Pockets, as a cast member on Kickstand's Mosaic nights, or simply reading on her patio with her two cats, or trying to remember where she set things down or why she came into a room.

Mary C. Parker is a performer, applied theater facilitator, and independent international scholar. As a performer, Mary has performed improv comedy in Portland, OR, London, UK, and Pittsburgh, PA teams in 175+ in-person shows including the Improv Festivus (Richmond, VA), Edinburgh Improv Festival (Scotland), Pittsburgh Comedy Festival (Pittsburgh, PA), and 2nd Best Fest (Richmond, VA). Her online improv has reached global audiences with over 6,300 views. In her applied theater work, Mary employs humor to deepen humility and disrupt fragility, one laugh at a time using a praxis of applied improvisation, playback theater, and theatre of the oppressed.

Jon began teaching improv in the early 2010s in Austin, TX at The Hideout Theatre and co-produced The Out-of-Bounds Comedy Festival. He has since traveled to London, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, among others to teach and direct niche forms of improvised theater and comedy. His favorite classes, however, will always be working with newcomers and watching them gain confidence, awareness, and the power of being present. He strives to make everyone feel comfortable, safe, seen & heard.

Jon began teaching improv in the early 2010s in Austin, TX at The Hideout Theatre and co-produced The Out-of-Bounds Comedy Festival. He has since traveled to London, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, among others to teach and direct niche forms of improvised theater and comedy. His favorite classes, however, will always be working with newcomers and watching them gain confidence, awareness, and the power of being present. He strives to make everyone feel comfortable, safe, seen & heard.

Thea is a local improviser, aspiring gardener, and shark-aficionado. Thea performs regularly as a member of the Breaking News improv team and hosts the Kickin' Off Your Weekend with Kickstand Comedy show on XRAY.fm. With 11 years of improv experience, 4 years in the Kickstand community and nearly twenty years as a self-proclaimed "comedy nerd" - Thea is thrilled to bring her passions for community, comedy, and life-long learning to her role as a teacher. 

Dana Murphy is a midwest transplant with a passion for comedy. Since joining the Portland comedy scene in 2017, she’s performed improv with various groups around town including current teams HONK, For Ginger, and Hot Dip. While improv holds her heart, you can also see her writing and performing sketch comedy with Pretty Kitty Glitter Party.

When she’s not performing, Dana loves hunting down delish vegan spots, having solo concerts in her car, and smoochin’ on her little dog named Tuna.

Widely regarded as a resident of Portland, Steven Wilber is one of the funniest comics currently teaching stand up classes at Kickstand. He is the winner of the Portland’s Funniest Person contest in 2014, has performed at Montreal’s Just For Laughs and the Bridgetown Comedy Festivals, and has opened for comedy greats like Tig Notaro, Dana Gould, Ron Funches, and the guy who voiced the Taco Bell chihuahua. Steven’s style of humor blends wit, whimsy, and utter stupidity into material that breaks the conventions of traditional stand up, to varying levels of success. Also, the Portland Mercury has called him an “agent of chaos” on multiple occasions, for whatever that’s worth.

Natalie is an improviser, actor, and karaoke enthusiast who found her love for improv during her time earning a degree in Theater Arts back in 2013. Since then, she’s trained with UCB New York, The Brody Theater, The Liberators, and found her home at Kickstand Comedy. Their career highlights include performances with groups like Portland’s WAFE and Show Ridiculous, alongside touring engagements with the Kickstand Cvlt ensemble. Natalie has performed in festivals such as the Del Close Marathon and the Vancouver International Improv Festival, consistently delighting audiences with her infectious enthusiasm. Beyond the stage, Natalie is deeply committed to fostering a nurturing environment for aspiring improvisers through her teaching. They are dedicated to cultivating a supportive space that ensures students can confidently explore the art of improv comedy.

Julia Corral is a Latina comic from Portland, OR. She has been described as the friendliest-caustic person you will ever meet. The Alt Weekly papers have named her Funniest 5 comics (WW) and Undisputed Genius of Comedy (Portland Mercury). She has performed at Limestone, All Jane, Treefort,Upper Left and Savage Henry Comedy Fest. She host Of Helium’s Cooch Street, Kickstand’s Comedy in the Park and many more shows in town. She has been featured on NPR.

Randy Smith (they/them) is a Portland-based improviser and writer who has been performing for the past ten years. They studied and taught at BATS improv in San Francisco and came up through classes right here Kickstand. You can see them performing at Kickstand’s Saturday Big Dogs with their teams HONK and For Ginger as well as on the Kickstand Cvlt team, The Algorithm. When they aren’t performing improv you can see them on their other favorite stage, in a nightclub dance fitness class at PulsePDX.

Adam Trabka has been improvising since 2009, training at Austin, TX's ColdTowne Theater and studied under alums of Chicago improv institutions such as iO, the Annoyance Theater and the Second City. While in Austin, Adam hosted and performed in a weekly improv showcase with his locally award winning troupe Bad Boys.

In addition to performing, Adam served in writing, producing and directing roles for a number of productions in Austin, most notably as Technical Producer of Austin Sketch Fest.

Adam moved to Portland in 2014 and has been teaching, directing and performing around town since his arrival. He was a founding faculty member of the Kickstand Training Center, and is excited to be back teaching after a recent hiatus.

A cast member of Mr. Show once told a mutual friend that Adam "gets it," "it" referring to comedy.

(she/her)

Naomi Dixon is a Portland-based actor, writer, and stand-up. Performing for ten years, Naomi has studied short and long form improv under instructors from Second City Chicago, UCB LA, and Kickstand Comedy. Naomi is passionate about helping her students bring their full selves to their performances and helping folks develop their own unique comedic style, with an emphasis on creating intersectional and inclusive comedy. You can catch her performing with Quiet Women, Small Fruits, and Mosaic Improv at Kickstand Comedy. Notable highlights include performances with Holy Shit Improv (LA), The Big One (Portland), Kickstand CVLT Ensemble (Portland), & a casino residency in her hometown (Reno, baby!).

When she’s not performing or teaching, Naomi is hanging with her rescue dog Ash, online shopping, watching reality TV, and thinking about starting a blog (don’t tempt her).

Eric Simons is a writer, improviser, teacher, and producer originally from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, who has been swimming in Portland rivers since 2015. He has gathered over 20 years of comedy experience from all corners of the contiguous United States (and THREE CANADIAN PROVINCES). He currently uses all that worldweary experience with his group Broke Gravy and as a teacher with Kickstand’s BIPOC Comedy Program.

Diana Kolsky is a writer, actor, stand-up, and improvisor. She's a proud member of the former Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NY weekend team, Airwolf.

Mariah Mercedes Muñoz is an artist, performer, and producer based in Portland. With over 15 years of experience on stage and in the classroom, she works to expand people’s perception of what improv can be, encouraging students to bring their whole selves to the stage and cultivating a space where real growth and discovery can flourish.

Mariah is the co-producer of Small Fruits, a monthly queer comedy show at Kickstand Comedy. Improvisational theatre has been a joyful throughline of her life and career. She is also a Lead Facilitator at On Your Feet, a creative consultancy that uses applied improv to spark creativity, collaboration, and better results in business and life.

Dylan co-founded Kickstand Comedy in 2014, and has performed at The Bridgetown Comedy Fest (Portland, OR), Bumbershoot (Seattle, WA), the Del Close Marathon (New York City), Out of Bounds Comedy Fest (Austin, TX), The Stumptown Improv Festival (Portland, OR), and later this year in the show MONDO at the Vancouver International Improv Festival (BC).

In 2016 Kara co-founded the Kickstand Improv Comedy Training Center. She has performed all over the US at festivals such as: The Del Close Marathon in NYC, Out of Bounds in Austin, TX, Stumptown Improv Festival, and at Vancouver International Improv Festival in Vancouver, BC. Currently you can catch Kara improvising in Secret Aardvark and performing in her comedy character shorts “Impressions of Human Beings” @kaymocomedy on Tik Tok.

Paul Stein has directed and produced world premiere plays, comedy events and one-person shows in theaters and festivals across the United States, Canada and Europe. Formerly an Executive Producer for Comedy Central, he supervised over 1,600 live presentations at the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood and worked with such noted performers as W. Kamau Bell, Russell Brand, Wyatt Cenac, Chris Garcia, Nikki Glaser, Ken Jeong, Marc Maron, Randall Park, Jill Soloway, Sarah Silverman, Daniel Tosh, Reggie Watts, and Kristina Wong, to name a few.