Home Opener

My first ever collaborative piece right out of college. This was the first experience I had at writing and performing and would be the first time I studied Commedia dell’arte. We would then bring the show to Arezzo Italy, 3 Eagles fans on a quest to find their lost tickets to that day’s epic Superbowl featuring the Cowboys.

Bailout

The first live performance where I played not 1, not 3, but at least 8 different characters with Off-Color Theatre Company. They take pride in fostering the young theatrical and comedic artist and provide a place for artists of all disciplines to explore the limits of what’s funny. It was also a 6-part live action sitcom we performed for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Each episode was about 30 minutes long. To this day, this show looped together everything I love about performing. We used almost every technique I had learned up to that point in each show we performed and I would GLADLY go back for a reunion.

Out Of Tooners

I received my second opportunity to go to Arrezzo, Italy and perform. This time however, I would be going with Off-Color Theater Company. We created a cartoon of 3 travelers who ventured into the promise land of America by using improv and Lecoq. I was stoked. We were performing in “The Crisis Art Festival,” and it just so happened to be August of 2014. Ferguson, Missouri erupted over the shooting resulting in the death of Michael Brown. We were in Italy, but news travels fast. While I had already realized comedy was much more than just a one liner, this would be the moment I would recognize just how important a message the comedian carries.

From the production team:

"The Out of Tooners" is a live-action cartoon comedy that combines clown work, improv, sketch, and song to tell the story of Brother Bugsy, Sister Lucy, and Baby Wee Wee immigration to America where they find that not everything is as seen on TV. We've assembled a cast and crew from across the nation and will be tackling relevant political topics with our unique brand of uninhibited humor.

We're scheduled to first perform in Kankakee, IL through the generosity of their town and the assistance of their artist-in-residence Brandi Burgess. After a week of shows, rehearsals, and workshops, we will be lucky enough to take the show to Arezzo, Italy where we have been selected to represent America in the international CrisisArt Theatre Festival.

Not only did I have a hand in the development, but also grew through the talkbacks in Kankakee and the performances in Italy more than I could have guessed. 

Pizza Man

My first job in New York City was at a restaurant called The Smith. I met some of my closest and most artistic friends while serving burgers and mussels at what became a corporate multi-- millionaire (possibly billionaire?) restaurant business. Katherine Martin and Mathew Brown walked up behind me one day as I was carrying dirty dishware, “Wanna produce a play with us?” And that was it. This was my first shot at using Kickstarter, which was still fairly new in 2011. We raised $1,800 and put on what we considered to be the finest play in all of New York. Pizza man is an ageless tale where two neurotic roomates (one addicted to alcohol and one addicted to food) decide to kidnap a pizza man and teach him a lesson, convinced men were the issue. I had found a new love of comedy and now realized I also never lost my love of drama and theater. I could combine both, I can use it all….I was hooked.

View our successful campaign video below:

HappYouth

Katherine Martin asked me to be a part of another production, Happyouth. Nicholas Hulstine was a friend of mine and the writer of this amazing dark comedy. HAPPYOUTH is a dark comedy following Ryan, a procrastinating writer and Jake, an ice cream peddling burnout actor, who conspire to sell drugs with Frank, a coked up birthday clown, to pay for their Harlem basement bachelor pad. But when they discover the drugs are stolen property, the anti-heroes are caught in a frenzied standoff with a calculating gun-for- hire. This Off-Off Broadway premiere takes an energetic and hilarious jab at the cost of making new art in New York City. It was my first full-length collaborative play. We were able to raise $10,000.

Made To Be Late

My first ever all female sketch comedy show. We performed in both New York and Chicago. My greatest achievement here was editing together 5 short films that would show between our live sketches onstage.

Teething Emotionalities: Woof/Friend?

I met Tabitha Vidaurri when both of our sketch groups combined to create an outrageous Christmas show at Cherry Lane. It was on our last night of performing we realized both of us had been performing solo shows but why not combine? In our series of comedic monologues we took our life lessons we had absorbed during the awkward stages in our lives and intertwined them with old-school childhood videos. We converted over 10 hours of VHS tapes to DVD’s and then digitized them to give our audience amusement and hopefully visions of their own nostalgic childhood in their nightmares late that evening while sleeping. Between this project and constantly working on my solo show I have learned more about myself as a person and performer than ever before. It has made every performance I am a part of more honest and more fearless than ever.

We premiered this show at Philly Fringe Fest (and heres a review) before taking it back to NYC

“Teething, like as a baby, is painful,with regular teeth or emotional teeth.” says Alyson. “Growing up, we tried so hard to hide these god-awful things and keep them discreetly swept under the rug. Ironically, later in life, we celebrate them and parade them about and use them to make others and ourselves feel better.”