While in Los Angeles, Nick trained at the World-famous Groundlings Theater where he was a member of the prestigious Sunday Company who’s alumni include Will Ferrell, Heidi Gardner, Phil Hartman and many more. There he would study and teach improv and sketch comedy. He also studied at iO where he learned and taught Long Form Improvisation and performed on the critically acclaimed teams King Ten, COG and Kind Strangers. He was also former Artistic Director of M.I’s Westside Comedy Theater. where he taught and performed as well. Nick has taught workshops all over the world and has performed and headlined in over 60 festivals throughout the world.
Currently, Nick is the Co-Owner and Artistic Director of RISE Comedy in Denver, Colorado and Founder and Executive Director of Improv Utopia a Non-profit improv camp for adults held annually that gives back to the improv community and other arts related charities.
Anatasha Blakely is a filmmaker, actor, and comedian. She studied at Southern Utah University (B.F.A. Classical Acting), iO West (Improv Comedy), The School for Theatre Creators and Clown Church (Clown). Anatasha is the creator of an L.A. based improv ensemble called Stormchaser (The Stormchaser Improv Podcast Show) and a comedy duo, Buddy Puzzle (@buddypuzzle). Anatasha won best actress in a short at Filmquest, the Houston Horror Film Festival, and HorroHaus for her performance in “Inch Thick, Knee Deep” which she also wrote and directed. It also won “Best Script” at the HauntedHouse Horror Fearfest. darklingfilms.com
Hailing from Indiana, she was a troupe member and educator with INDYPROV in Indianapolis, IN for 9 years. In 2021 she joined Laugh Track, RISE’s short form house team. Aurelia became an instructor at RISE to continue her passion of helping others gain confidence and a love for improv! When not at the theater she likes practicing yoga and snuggling with her dog, Poppy.
Christie has been described as “Brave” for leaving the house in that body, Christie’s comedy has been described as “funny despite what she talks about…” and “Uncomfortable..” by Christie’s mom. She was chosen to open up for the likes Josh Blue, Marc Maron and David Cross.
Christie co-hosted a witty relationship advice podcast, Empty Girlfriend, which earned best Comedy Podcast by Westword Magazine and best Podcast for Sexpot Comedy in 2017. As one third of the Denver Comedy powerhouse, The Pussy Bros, Christie reps the Mile High City hard while crushing audiences with a wry, biting style that’s a bit sweet, a and a little bit surly; proving time and again you can say almost anything with a smile on your face and a gimp in your step.
Christie has been described as “Brave” for leaving the house in that body, Christie’s comedy has been described as “funny despite what she talks about…” and “Uncomfortable..” by Christie’s mom. She was chosen to open up for the likes Josh Blue, Sean Patton and Andy Kindler. She has also been featured at national comedy festivals like 208, High Plains and Limestone.
Christie co-hosts a witty relationship advice podcast, Empty Girlfriend, which earned best Comedy Podcast by Westword Magazine and best Podcast for Sexpot Comedy in 2017. As one third of the Denver Comedy powerhouse, The Pussy Bros, Christie reps the Mile High City hard while crushing audiences with a wry, biting style that’s a bit sweet, a and a little bit surly; proving time and again you can say almost anything with a smile on your face and a gimp in your step.
In 2021, Haley decided it was time to seek new opportunities West. She settled in Denver and started getting involved at RISE Comedy. She is a member of Waiting Room, Laugh Track, Teach!, and is currently leading a new mockumentary team. Outside of improv, Haley is a visual artist, rock climber, and avid hiker. She works in Deaf education and is passionate about helping students tap into their creativity and potential. She is thrilled to be a new instructor with RISE Comedy!
An alumnus of iO West and Second City Hollywood, Steve has performed with and studied under improv luminaries such as Michael Pollock, musical director of Second City Hollywood and the premier improv accompanist in the country; Shulie Cowen, the founder and director of Opening Night: The Improvised Musical in Hollywood; David Razowsky; Armando Diaz; Kevin McDonald; Craig Cackowski; Dave Hill; Eric Hunicutt; Karen Graci; and many many more.
On the scripted theater side, Steve studied at the Asolo Repertory Theater and New College/USF in Florida, and he has performed across the country and on both coasts, including Off-Broadway as part of the United Solo Theatre Festival.
Steve now operates as CTO and corporate/private workshops & events manager for RISE Comedy. He has personally deployed corporate workshops and events for companies such as Apple, Adobe, Comcast Xfinity, Chipotle, DaVita, Dell, Ernst & Young, Google, Microsoft, Vail Resorts, and many others. Steve is honored to have been chosen as the keynote speaker for the 2021 RMHA conference in Black Hawk, CO. Steve also created and runs RISE Comedy’s musical improv training program.
In addition to RISE Comedy, Steve is co-executive producer for The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Show®, where he manages 8 cities across the country, as well as coordinating the websites for all 80 locations. Steve is also founder and director of Hit and Run: Musical Improv™, Colorado’s longest-running improv comedy show, which has created hundreds of fully improvised Broadway-style musicals over the past 17 years, at theaters and festivals across the country. In 2016, Steve co-founded the Diversity in Colorado Improvisation group; this group kickstarted a change in inclusivity and diversity in the Colorado improv scene, which continues to this day.
In the virtual arena, Steve operates as Lead Digital Architect for The Virtual Detective. Through The Virtual Detective, Steve has so far produced 8 full-scale digital productions, and has performed hundreds of shows for dozens of colleges and organizations across the country and internationally, including shows in Canada, Bahrain, Hawaii, Morocco, Italy, the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, and many other countries.
Steve’s comedy festival and improv festival performing & teaching credits include: Los Angeles Improv Festival, New York Musical Improv Festival, New York Improv Festival, Out Of Bounds Comedy Festival, Montreal Improv Festival, Duke City Improv Festival, Denver Improv Festival, Colorado Improv Festival.
She got her start in comedy because she thought that she invented improv (it was her college thesis and she went around calling it “unscripted theatre”), and when she found out that, no, she was not that revolutionary or special, she decided to dedicate herself to learning it.
She got her start at the Neighborhood Comedy Theater in Phoenix, then moved to Los Angeles where she trained at iO West and the Pack Theater. Her background is in physical theatre, where she’s trained in Commedia dell’Arte, clown, mask and puppetry.
You can catch her on stage with Laugh Track. She also coaches Snack Table, the house sketch team at RISE.
She has had her digital content featured on WhoHaHa, Funny or Die, as well as at live events in New York City and Los Angeles.
She loves kale, potatoes, and burritos.