Mira McMahon (she/her) started in improv with her college short form team, Bad Grammer. Since moving to Durham, she has performed with Mettlesome’s improvised play, The Setup, the Harold Night team Thanks for The Invite, and has also coached a Secret Society team.
Read MoreAdrienne Tegreeny (she/her) joined her first improv team in high school. Since then she has performed with short form, Harold, and Narrative teams as well as coached both short and long form improv in Orlando, San Jose, and now Durham. She currently performs with her indie team, Stolen Identity and Mettlesome's House Party. She would love to show you pictures of her pets.
Read MoreCorey Brown has been improvising since 1998. He taught for six years at the Upright Citizen's brigade in NYC, and is happy to bring that knowledge back to Mettlesome.
Read MoreAditya Pabba (aka Pabba) first started improv when he moved to Austin, Texas, and thought it would be an excellent way to make friends. However, he got hooked on the art and stuck with it. He performed in various Harold troupes and Narrative Troupes across Austin. He eventually directed a South Asian-focused improv show called "South by South Asian, an immigrant show," which was very well received. He performed in plays or hosted storytelling events while not performing improv. He currently performs in "Hush, Hush" at the Mettlesome Theater.
Read MoreJack Reitz is an actor, writer, and improvisor based Durham, NC. He has been studying improv since 2004, first with the DSI Comedy theater in Chapel Hill, NC, and then with the UCB Theater and The Magnet Theater in NYC. Jack has appeared on stage in Durham, Chicago, and NYC and in various film work including appearances on ABC and MTV. For seven years toured nationally (and internationally) as part of Catharsis Productions' show "Sex Signals," which uses scripted and improvisational comedy to address issues of sexual assault in the military and on college campuses. He was recently the host of Our State Magazine's Secrets of the Triad Series. Jack Reitz is a founding stakeholder of Mettlesome and recently directed Two Months In - An Original Sketch Comedy Revue.
He directs the show Golden Age and can be seen performing with Hush Hush. Jack has studied with Will Hines, T. J. Jagadowski, Shannon O’Neill, Brandon Scott Jones, Rick Andrews, Jeris Donovan, and Paula Pazderka.
Jonathan Yeomans has been improvising since 2008. He's performed, coached and taught all over the Triangle, and studied under improv instructors from theaters in Austin, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. He's currently on local artist-inspired improv team GOLDEN AGE. He couldn't be more excited to teach at Mettlesome and hopes to spread the joy of improv far and wide. He also encourages you to stay hydrated. Winter is coming!
Read MoreKelly Hoover (she/her) is an improviser from Raleigh, NC. She started with improv in 2006 at NC State and in that time, she’s performed in short-form, long-form, and musical improv all over the Triangle and beyond. She’s also performed in sketch comedy and served as a long form comedy producer at ComedyWorx. She is currently performing on the two person indie team “Scolding Chair” and Mettlesome’s Harold team “Thanks for the Invite”. When she’s not performing or at her marketing day job, she enjoys going on adventures with her wife Daphne and their dog Ollie.
Read MoreBrandon “Bam” Alston is an improvisor, actor, and writer from Raleigh, NC. He has been performing improv comedy since 2014, first with DSI Comedy Theater in Chapel Hill, NC and later spent years coaching, teaching, and performing with the Washington Improv Theater in Washington, DC. Bam was most recently seen in the sketch show, Was It Something I Said?, and can be seen each week performing with Mettlesome's Hush Hush and Well Seasoned.
Read MoreHillary Yonce has been performing, teaching, and coaching improv comedy since 2008. She has a background in theater, a career in science, and is a North Carolina native. Hillary has performed improv across the country from New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and more. She has extensive experience in performing, writing, and producing in the comedic field from producing a televised gameshow, a live musical variety show, and coaching her improv teams during her undergraduate and graduate degree programs at UNC Chapel Hill and University of Arizona. Hillary performs with Mettlesome on the house show HUSH HUSH, has coached Secret Society, and is happy to be joining the instructor ranks for Mettlesome.
Read MoreMegan Myers (she/her) is an improviser, performer, writer, and professional editor. She has been a regular contributor to Mettlesome sketch shows, recently performing in Was It Something I Said? and writing for the holiday-themed Let It Show. Megan has been practising long-form improv comedy since 2019; she travels with the Mettlesome Tour Co and performs as a cast member of the Mettlesome house team Hush Hush.
Megan is chaotic good and appreciates a well-timed literary reference. She will drop everything to talk with you about books, D&D, or knitting. In warm weather, she can be found outdoors riding bikes with her fiancé or gazing at clouds.
Read MoreBrandon Holmes (he/him) was first exposed to improv comedy when he tried out for the then-newly-formed troupe at his alma mater, Presbyterian College in 2010. He made it! And loved every single minute of it!
Improv has taken him all over the country, to bar mitzvahs and nondenominational lock-ins, block parties and watermelon eating contests, New York City and on top of a bank vault in Kinston, NC (what a night). Brandon works at Duke. On any given day, you can probably find several hairs from his beloved scrappy junkyard mutt dog, Miso, on his jeans. Brandon loves music, but he's not crazy about podcasts.
Brandon has studied with Paula Pazderka, Jeremy McDonald, and taken workshops with Rick Andrews, Chet Siegel, and Charna Halpern (legend).
Read MoreAshley Melzer is a producer, writer, and filmmaker based in Durham, NC. Born in North Florida, she received her Bachelors in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California and then a Masters in Folklore from UNC-Chapel Hill. Her work has been featured in Indy Week, Paste Magazine, eMusic, and the Southern Foodways Alliance. She's worked with Hopscotch, Moogfest, Southern Cultures Journal, The Southern Oral History Program and more. She currently serves as Director of the Arts & Humanities Grant Studio at UNC Chapel Hill.
Ashley is Producer of You Gave Me a Song, a new, feature length documentary about the life and music of legendary old-time and bluegrass musician Alice Gerrard, which premiered at the Full Frame Film Festival (2019) and on PBS Reel South in May 2020. Ashley is also director and producer of Zara, a one person show about an anxious, asthmatic Muslim kid’s search for meaning and the chance encounters that impacted him.
Ashley is a founding partner and stakeholder of Mettlesome.
Read MoreApril Dudash has been an improvisor since her junior year at the University of Florida. She has participated in long-form, short-form and musical improv as well as sketch comedy. April has performed with teams in Fayetteville, Raleigh and Durham, coached teams, and hosted and produced "Late Nite Tonite with April Dudash," a late-night talk show with live and filmed sketches. She is currently a performer with Mettlesome's "Golden Age."
Read MoreJake Ratliff is an improviser based in Durham, NC. He was a weekly performer at DSI Comedy Theater and has coached multiple improv teams in the Triangle region. You can see him perform regularly with his indie teams Thundermuffin, HEIST, Little Saucy Boys, and Improv @ The Varsity's "The Hundred." You can also hear him as a regular contributor to "Westworld: The Podcast."
When he's not teaching or performing improv, Jake is a coder. He lives in a house by a pond and has a dachshund named Daisy. He's also the nicest durn guy you'll ever meet.
Jake has studied with Andrew Aghapour, Jack Reitz, Dan DeSalva, and Vinny Valdivia.
Read MoreCharles Givens has been an improviser since 2000, beginning with Wake County's high school group, Teen Co. Chuck has performed short-form, longform, and recently sketch comedy with Mettlesome. He has taught improv workshops for Duke and NC State and has performed in improv festivals in Raleigh, Atlanta, Richmond, and New York City. Chuck currently coaches an independent longform improv team in Durham.
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