Rachel Rosenthal is a professional performer and improv instructor with over 23 years of experience. A recent transplant to Portland from NYC, she has taught at numerous comedy theaters throughout the USA, including Reckless Theatre, Brooklyn Comedy Collective, & The PIT in NYC, where she was awarded Teacher of the Year for her work with 101 improv students. She is a 11+ year cast member of both free-form improv team, Big Bang, and free-style rapping Hip Hop comedy group, North Coast (“Top 10 Comedy Show” -- Time Out NY).

Brad Fortier, MA, is an anthropologist, author, educator and entertainer. He has been teaching and training adults in a variety of settings for more than 20 years. He combines two fields of applied work in his research and training background: applied anthropology and applied improvisation. Brad has been working in the inclusion, diversity, equity and access space since creating Spontaneous Village. It’s a trauma-informed game and play-based community-building intervention for refugees used in 2014 in San Antonio, Texas, and Berlin, Germany, in 2016. He had an advisory role with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in 2016 for incorporating interactive and experiential training methods in their work.

Brad is the author of “Long-Form Improvisation: Collaboration, Comedy, Communion”; “A Culture of Play: Essays on the Origins, Effects, and Applications of Improvised Theatre”; and a chapter in “Applied Improvisation: Leading, Collaborating and Creating Beyond the Theatre” published by Bloomsbury London in 2018. His thinking, scholarship and field research on applying improvisation are foundational for this emerging field of training.

Brad was the coordinator for Portland Community College’s Illumination Project, a student leadership program that uses interactive theater to teach about social justice issues.

Roland Mechanik (he/him) has been teaching improv at Kickstand for almost 5 years! Roland graduated with a theater degree from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. He studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade in NYC before moving to Portland and joining up with Kickstand Comedy. Roland has performed at the Stumptown Improv Festival, the Vancouver Improv Festival, and every theater around Portland. In addition to improv, you can catch Roland doing stand-up and weird bits with his mannequin, Muriel. He’s proud to have been the first out trans masc improviser in Portland (as far as he knows)!

You will rarely see Chris wearing a suit. He has always been more interested in “the who” than “the what.” The power of story has influenced his life from a very young age and Chris has incorporated storytelling into the work he does. He earned a Master’s Degree in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University and currently works in the Student Services Department for Portland Public Schools.

Michael Zimmer is an actor, writer, and improviser from Portland, OR. After training at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in NYC he returned to find his comedy home in the Kickstand community. He performs regularly with his improv team Fuckos and produces the monthly improv show The Big One. He has performed at the Westside Comedy Festival, VIIF, Del Close Marathon, and Stumptown Improv Festival. michaelzimmer.net

Justin found improv in 2013 and has been performing ever since. Known for his improv groups J Names and Death Hammer he has performed at SF Sketchfest, Out of Bounds, Del Close Marathon and the Vancouver International Improv Festival.

Michael Knackstedt is a Portland-based improviser, actor and writer with over a decade of improv comedy experience. He’s trained at Kickstand Comedy, Curious Comedy Theater and other improv programs and intensives in Portland and beyond. He’s performed in the Del Close Marathon, Stumptown Improv Festival, Vancouver Improv Festival, Westside Comedy Festival and the LA Indie Improv Festival. Michael has been an active part of Portland’s improv scene since 2014, having performed on indie improv teams such as Double Double, Juiceface, King Ricky, Al Dente and many more. He was a producer, writer and cast member on Show Ridiculous, a cable access sketch comedy show and monthly live sketch show.

When not performing comedy, he can be found entertaining his one-year-old daughter (his most demanding audience).