Improve Hour at Sonoma Laughfest on October 21, 2016
Episode Four – airs:
December 12, 2016 at 10:00pm
December 13 at 1:00am (dec. 14)
December 14 at midnight (dec. 15)
December 15 at 11:00pm
December 16 at 10:00pm
December 17 at 1:00am (dec. 18)
Hosted by Marshall Givens
Modern Family (ABC). Movies: Bloodsucking Bastards. Online: Funny or Die, College Humor
Marshall Givens is a writer/performer/host/voiceover artist and native of the south side of Chicago, IL. He has lived and slaved in Los Angeles since the Bears went to the Super Bowl last, just so you know where his allegiance lies. His comedy education started at Northwestern University, then to The Second City Chicago, i.O. West, and Upright Citizen’s Brigade L.A. A member of several improv/sketch teams, he is the co-founding member of the all-Black comedy team, The TuskegeeXperiment. Marshall is currently writing on several film and web projects. You can find him in many featured sketches on UCBComedy.com, Funny or Die, and College Humor. Marshall is the co-producer of UCBlack: Black History Month show and a proud member of the house sketch team, Oh Brother!
OBAMA’S OTHER DAUGHTERS – improv from Los Angeles
Obama’s Other Daughters are an all black all female improv team. Come see them perform black girl magic through long form improv and inevitably learn something about Beyonce.
You might recognize Priscilla’s face from her various national commercials including McDonald’s, Uber, and Cintas. Priscilla has been in the acting game for 8 years now. The first year was in NYC and the last 7 have been in sunny Los Angeles! She mostly performs in commercial and theatrical productions, but she’s also a hilarious improviser! Priscilla’s been improvising for almost 10 years now and was a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade Mess Hall Improv team, Cool Jerk. You can catch her performing every 2nd Thursday of the month at UCB Sunset with Obama’s Other Daughters.
Ashley Holston is a writer, improvisor, and nanny based in Los Angeles. When she isn’t trying out new characters on toddlers, she’s studying improv and sketch writing at UCB LA. She’s in love with making people laugh, and can be seen on stages around LA performing with her all Black all female improv team Obama’s Other Daughters.
Mora is an actress and improviser from Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and after years of working in finance, decided that her true calling was to become a professional zombie slayer! Mora stars in the zombie horror series, The Z Virus, available to watch on Roku later this year. She is also one of the stars of the horror feature film Grim Weaver, premiering in select theaters and tv networks in October. When she is not battling creatures from the depths of hell, she enjoys performing with her improv teams Obama’s Other Daughters and UPeople at UCB, The Second City, IO West, The Clubhouse, and The Pack Theater. Mora is a graduate of Upright Citizens Brigade and a three-time UCB Diversity Scholarship recipient. She is currently working on writing several film and new media projects.
Laci Mosley is an actress and comedian on Harold night at UCB LA. She has a comedy page on Instagram called @DivaRants where you can take a ride on the struggle bus that is her life.
Yazmin Monet Watkins is an internationally touring, bisexual, spoken word poet and actress from Los Angeles. A Posse scholar and a graduate of Dickinson College, Watkins’ work in higher education combines art and activism, providing critical artistic outlets for students to self advocate, heal, negotiate and navigate the space that is higher education. She has opened for the likes of Angela Davis, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Peggy Mcintosh and Victor Lewis. She is the author of Love Without Limits: The Bi-Laws of Love and has a forthcoming publication with Not A Cult press. Her work has been published in the Huffington Post, AfroPunk, For Harriet, Rebel Muse Magazine, and in the Race and Pedagogy Journal. As an actress, Watkins has been cast in several feature films, commercials, sketch/shorts and multiple new media projects with Buzzfeed, Issa Rae, Russell Simmons, Dailymotion, and Black and Sexy TV garnering over 3.5 million views on YouTube and online. She is represented by Sheree Guitar Entertainment, Coast To Coast Talent, Rogers Orion Talent and Bella Agency. In her free time Watkins volunteers with incarcerated youth teaching poetry workshops and serves as a steering committee member of the Los Angeles Bi Task Force.
Shakira Ja’nai Paye is an exceptional actress of the screen and stage. You can catch Shakira on the UCB stage every other Sunday with her Mess Hall team, Fancy, and around town with her all Black female Indie teams Obama’s Other Daughters and Indie girl group Between the Lips! You can also catch her on the new TV show Lethal Weapon and on the straight to blockbuster B Horror film 12/12/12 (Spoiler Alert: She dies in the end).
AND THEN WHAT? – improv from Los Angeles
An imaginative mix of storytelling and improv. Hilarious storytellers tell the beginning and middle of a real-life story. An all-star team of improvisers then improvise what they “think” happens next. To top it off, the storyteller comes back up and tells what really happened.
Marla Black is a writer/performer/filmmaker from Canada. Before attending the Professional Program in Screenwriting at UCLA, she studied in New York at the Lee Strasberg Institute (she’s a super serious method actress). Marla can currently be seen on stage at UCB as the co-host of And Then What? and The Murry Show: A Real Professional Comedian’s Talk Show in the Inner Sanctum. When she’s not on stage or with a camera in her hand, Marla can be found posting pictures of other people’s pets on Instagram because why buy kitty litter when you can get so many likes with a well chosen filter?
Rose Marziale is a performer, writer, and producer in Los Angeles. She can be seen performing with Mess Hall team The Up and Up, as well as her indie team, Anchorbaby!, hosts the storytelling/improv show And Then What?, and produces UCB’s monthly best-of show, Starpunch, with Beth Appel. Rose is also a filmmaker and her most recent short film, It Remains, was the regional winner for North America in the Hong Kong International Mobile Film Awards and can be seen this fall on PBS’s Shorts Showcase.
episode one
episode two
episode three
episode five
episode six
episode seven
episode eight
episode nine
episode 10
episode 11
episode 12
episode 13
episode 14