CURIOUS COMEDY SHOWDOWN
Dramatic entertainment photographer Andy Batt created these hilarious portraits and video for Curious Comedy Theater's Showdown improv comedy showcase.
Six players enter the stage. Only one will survive. Often referred to as "The Hunger Games of Comedy" the Curious Comedy Showdown pits Curious Comedy's finest players against one another in competitive improv matches that will make you laugh until you cry. Armed only with audience suggestions and razor-sharp wit, the players must create fast-paced hilarious scenes on the spot to win audience votes - round after round - in hopes of living to see another day.
Andy and artistic director Stacey Hallal sat down to hash out concepts, while Andy sketched some of his ideas. They agreed to the idea of a spoof on cowboys and the Wild West, and the final results are very close to those original sketches.
Featuring improv comedy performers Hallie Zmroczek, Audrey Butler, Matt Lask, Jenn Hunter, Eric Simons, Craig McCarthy, Tyler Quinn, Sarah JK Shoemaker, Nick Condon, Chad Parsons, Nathan Loveless, Bill McKinley, Chris Williams, Jay Flewelling, Laura Sams, Chase Padgett, Stacey Hallal
Andy's sketches during the concept phase of this project.
Improvisor Bill McKinley for Curious Comedy Theater's ensemble cast production Showdown.
Chris Williams has worked with The Brody Theater, The Siren Theater, Hand2Mouth Theater, BackFencePDX and is excited to have been added as an ensemble member to the Curious Comedy Theater family. Chris has a podcast called "Are We Still Friends" and is a member of the Portland Oregon Improv Group "Broke Gravy" along with being a member of the Curious House Team Battle Ax.
Stacey Hallal is the founder of Curious Comedy Theater and the creator of the All Jane Comedy Festival.
Curious Comedy Theater features the hilarious comedy of Hallie Zmroczek, an improv performer in the ensemble cast of Showdown.
Audrey Butler posed for dramatic portrait photographer Andy Batt for a series of Western-themed images for Curious Comedy Theater.
Hilarious improvisor Matt Lask created this character for dramatic comedy photographer Andy Batt.
Improv comedy actor Jenn Hunter is wild and unpredictable on stage and in front of the lens. dramatic comedy photographer and entertainment photographer Andy Batt was careful to capture all of Jenn's ecentric moments!
Entertainment photographer Andy Batt created these intense and hilarious portraits of improvisor Eric Simons for Curious Comedy Theater's Showdown improv comedy showcase.
Craig McCarthy has a background in theater. Wanting to get back on the stage, he was torn between taking an acting or an improv class, ultimately deciding on improv because the classes were $20 cheaper. Since then he has immensely enjoyed studying and performing at Curious Comedy Theater.
Tyler Quinn has been improvising off and on since his birth. (He notably performed from 2006-2010 with Dartmouth College's Dog Day Players.) After four-year improv-free stint in New York City, Tyler is happy to be back on stage here at Curious Comedy Theater. He owes it all to his family, his partner Willa, and the Sister Act films.
Sarah JK Shoemaker is an alumi ensemble member at Un-Scripted Theatre and Leela Theatre in San Francisco.
Nick Condon most recently hails form Talkeetna, AK where he served for several years as Director for Denali Drama.
Chad Parsons first started performing improv in 2014 when he finally moved to a town large enough to have a comedy scene. He now finds that he rarely wants to do anything else and is happily overwhelmed with all the opportunities Portland provides. He performs regularly with the indie teams Tunnel, YEP!, and Tickets to Heaven, and is also half of the absurdist duo Database. In between all this Chad also writes sketches, monologues, and joins in on any podcast he can. He joined Curious as part of the Mt. Hood team at the beginning of 2016. Here,
Nathan Loveless has performed across the country with independent groups including Whiskey Tango which has performed at SF Sketchfest, Vancouver Improv Festival, and the Del Close Marathon. Nathan has also performed at Curious Comedy with the Curious Comedy Players, State Fair of the Union, and PIPES: An Improvised Musical.
Jay Flewelling is the dream subject and a favorite of dramatic comedy photographer and entertainment photographer Andy Batt's to shoot with.
Laura Sams has a Master’s Degree in Science Education, where her advanced courses included exactly zero classes about improv comedy. But later, she took classes at the Curious Comedy training center and got hooked. When Laura is not lurking around Curious Comedy, she is running Sisbro Studios.
Chase Padgett has been a professional actor and musician for most of his adult life. While attending the University of Central Florida Chase studied and worked at the Sak Comedy Lab in Orlando Fl. Chase created a character just for this shoot. His name is CHUNT,
