Kate DeFeo
Kate has taught theater to children and adults for over 25 years developing Creative Arts programs at Cultural Arts Playhouse on Long Island and creating a dual credited fiction writing program at Hunter College for High School Seniors as well as being part of the creative staff at The Garden Players here in Forest Hills, Queens. She started FoHi Improv in 2019 with the vision of developing a hyper local improv community in Central Queens. FoHi Improv is now running classes for children in several schools, improv workshops for CUNY and maintains classes of all levels for adults. As a performer, she has played on numerous house and indie teams for the past 15 years, performing at The People’s Improv Theater, The Magnet Theater, produced several runs of comedy nights at Under St. Marks and was on the House Team: Hot Again at the original Secret Theater in LIC, but her passion has always remained being an educator. Her most proud accomplishment has been raising two tiny humans, who make her laugh with their natural improvisation on a daily basis.
Jamie Cummings
Jamie is an actor, writer, and director who's appeared on Comedy Central and MTV. The King & Me, his solo show about a bad Elvis impersonator, has played from coast to coast. He's been seen with international musical improv powerhouse Baby Wants Candy, as well as in hundreds of shows at UCB and the PIT. He wrote, acted, and directed for the Emmy Award-winning Web sitcom Floaters, which screened at Sundance. He’s currently producing Unnatural, a comedic short film about infertility. fb: @jamiecummingscomedy
Annie Unnold
Annie is a Queens-based actor & full time stay at home mom to a 2-year-old who loves to do improv and sketch comedy. She is currently performing with Sequel: The Musical! at the Magnet Theater. Past shows include Old School Sketch Show at the PIT, Singin' In the Pain at UCB & Austin Sketch Fest, and Boogie Manja. She loves musical improv best of all and wants to share her love with other people who are exploring improv for the first time or are old pros who are scared to get up there and belt!
Mandy Schmieder
Mandy has been teaching improv comedy for over a decade, and currently teaches at The Peoples Improv Theater in NYC. Corporate clients include NYU School of Business, Columbia School of Business, Duke Fuqua School of Business, Friedman Accounting, and Bloomberg, among others. She received her M.F.A. in Acting from UC-Irvine, where she was an Artsbridge teaching scholar. She produces & writes original content including solo shows and web series, and has performed from coast to coast. You can see her on your TV in commercials for Geico and GE, and as a recurring guest on all four seasons of Inside Amy Schumer. She lives with her husband in NYC, where they’re raising 2 humans named Teddy & Veda. www.mandyschmieder.com
Mary Theresa Archbold & Pat Shay
Mary Theresa Archbold and Pat Shay are a married couple with two kids. They are also lifelong improvisers and improv teachers who have worked for Second City, iO Chicago, The Magnet Theater, The Peoples Improv Theater and have taught many workshops across the nation. Their two-person project Jazz Hand has won awards in multiple media, including a Best Actor award for Mary from the NBC Universal Shortcuts festival and an invitation to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In addition to their stage experience, Pat uses an improv foundation in his work as a personal skills coach for many organizations, including the Institute for Personal Leadership at Columbia University. Mary has used it in her experience as a teaching artist in both private and public schools in Manhattan and Queens. In town, Pat teaches at the Peoples Improv Theater, where he helped to develop the curriculum, and Mary co-founded the teen improv program at the Magnet Theater. Also active performers, they've appeared on TV in shows such as FBI, SVU, Bull, and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Annemarie Cullen
Annemarie Cullen is a copywriter, comedy writer, satire writer and performer who has participated in improv, musical improv, hip-hop improv and sketch comedy all over NYC in places like The Magnet Theater, UCB, The PIT and Gotham Comedy Club. Currently she's writing and performing with sketch team Rococo at the Magnet Theater in NYC on Thursday nights, and with indy musical improv teams Freeze Frame, Sotto Voce and Stomp Rocket at various venues. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her cats Frankie Boy, Jerry Garcia and Sweet Baby Ruth. She'd like you to watch her comedic music video OG BROOKLYN. Now would be good.
Stefanie Lindeman
Stefanie originally joined the FoHi Improv family as a student in the very first Beginners Class and was a founding member of the student house team, "Queens of Anarchy." Now she's one of FoHi's first homegrown instructors--proving that sometimes dreams really do come true! When she's not doing improv, you can find her practicing yoga, doting on her cats, or working at her day job as a consultant to nonprofit organizations. She is a lifelong resident of Queens and she's got the accent to prove it.
Tracey Gordon
Tracey Gordon, like Spider-Man, lives in Forest Hills. She is a performer at The Magnet Theater in Chelsea. She performs weekly with the Musical Megawatt team Speakeasy and monthly with musical teams Gem and HR Shovin Stuff as well as improv team The Little Big Show. Tracey has experience leading corporate improv workshops (Microsoft) and creating improv courses for non-native English speakers (Lingo Live LLC). She speaks conversational Japanese and has performed improv in Japan (but in English!).
David Bell
David is an actor, singer, and mathematician from suburban Virginia. In his wicked youth, he studied operatic performance and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1996, later performing opera through the United States, Canada, Europe, and on NPR's "All Things Considered." In recent years, he has been active in improv (PIT house team Mr. Kitty, indie improv team Sally Tomato), musical theater (Bob Cratchit / Scrooge! Tour, Billy / Ellen Craft / NYC Fringe, Clyde / The Problem Trolley / Merkin Hall) and film (David / “Love Is Strange.”) David loves the wild ride that is improv and has been delighted to bring the funny to theaters, bars, and webseries throughout the tri-state area.
Nicole Pascaretta
Nicole is an NYC-based improviser and actor originally from Detroit. Nicole completed her Improv training at Go Comedy! Improv Theater in 2013 and Musical Improv Training at the Magnet Theater in 2018. Most recently, Nicole played the role of Ilse in the musical, Spring Awakening. From her performance in Spring Awakening, she was nominated to participate at the 2023 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for the Musical Theatre Scholarship Auditions program. Nicole headlined the 2022 Detroit Women of Comedy Festival with her original two-woman show, The Parent Trap: Lord of the Twins Trilogy. Nicole also performs musical improv and original sketch comedy with her duo, Bring Your Own Bob. She has been sighted at notable venues like Caveat, Magnet Theater, and The PIT and has performed in improv festivals all over the country.
Melinda Faylor
Melinda is a pianist and composer with a background in classical piano performance and interdisciplinary work. Melinda weaves together dense and mercurial sound worlds using field recordings, synthesized sound and piano. Current projects include a solo electroacoustic album, Sari Sari Storybooks with Music (a musical setting of Filipino children's books by author Christina Newhard), duos with violinists Gillian Rivers and Charlotte Munn-Wood and her interdisciplinary theater piece MeMeMeMe. She is the recipient of the Ma-Yi Theater grant (2021), NMUSA Creator Fund grant (2023) and the Queens Art Fund grant (2023).
Jen Jurek
Jen Jurek is a teacher, fellow player and theater maker utilizing Spolin based improvisational games, natural and surprising comedy, with a real time touch (you'll see!). She is the founder of 8 year running, Astoria Women's Improv, a community lovin' program! She is a founding member of the arts portion of the company, "Ascent Decisions", a therapist driven group working to use the arts and life skill building to help our languishing young adults. Jen directs musicals, currently, with the Music Academy Foundation in Garden City LI.... Get ready for June's production of "Aladdin Junior" ! Jen is so happy to continue to explore the kind of fun that is unique to each person while also contributing to the organic story that rises up between us (while we stay out of it). Jen cannot WAIT to work with the wonderous folks of FoHi! Let's PLAY!
GUEST TEACHING ARTISTS
Aik Hooi Lee
Aik Hooi Lee is a pianist and a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique from the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). She specializes in working with performers, addressing issues such as posture, repetitive strain injuries, and performance anxiety. Aik travels extensively, giving workshops in higher education institutions, including Columbia University, NYU Tisch School of Arts, New York Open Center, University Putra Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, and Mahidol University in Thailand. She believes that each person has the ability to restore their natural poise. During the Alexander Technique sessions with Aik, you will discover better physical coordination, reduce mental stress and reconnect with your body for a more graceful, effervescent lifestyle. https://www.poiseandharmony.com/