Anne Marie Irey

Anne Marie Irey has been involved in theater for over twenty years. She minored in Theatre at Saint Mary’s College and earned her M.Ed. at DePaul University. Anne Marie is an Alum of The Second City and she spent several years performing improv in Chicago. Previously, she taught 4th grade at Sacred Heart School, where she founded an after school drama program. Prior to teaching at Westside, Anne Marie taught the Children’s Acting Workshops at Wheaton Drama.

Anne Marie teaches Westside Improv’s youth improv program!

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Ann Marie Trepkowski

Ann Marie Trepkowski is from Rochester Hills, MI and saw her first improv show at The Planet Ant Theatre in Detroit. The show was so funny she decided she had to do improv too. Twelve years later, Ann Marie has done a lot of improv, sketch and standup comedy. She is a graduate of The Second City Conservatory and has also trained at iO Chicago, The Magnet Theater, People’s Improv Theater, and the Philly Improv Theater.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Beth Brousil

Considering that being loud and talking in weird voices are two of Beth’s favorite things, it’s surprising that it took her until March 2018 to find Westside and start studying improv. When Beth isn’t spending too much time at the theater, she’s probably working as graphic designer, listening to podcasts (about murder), watching too much Investigation Discovery (about murder), or watching animal gifs (not about murder). Beth knows Grease 2 is the superior Grease and she will dance fight you in a bowling alley to prove it.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Brian Litteral

Brian stumbled into the Sea Of Love known as Westside Improv in January of 2017. He now has over a dozen real-life adult friends, all from Westside. When Brian is not playing make-'em-ups with his friends, he's writing, avoiding household chores, geeking out, or annoying his teenagers. Brian is available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and adoption.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Brandon Cheney

Brandon has been doing improv since 2004, when he joined the Wheaton College improv troupe Imaginary Friends. Prior to joining Westside, he and the rest of Circus Police performed for several years at Open Source Improv; and before that he was a member of the Unwritten Works of William Shakespeare and the Titanic Players at University of Illinois. He loves road trips, nonfiction, and the Dallas Cowboys.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Brian Sebby

Brian Sebby has been studying improv since 2011, when he bought a Groupon for a class at ComedySportz Chicago. He quickly fell in love with improvisation, and after finishing the program at ComedySportz, went on to study at The Annoyance, iO, and in the Players Workshop right here at Westside Improv. He also performed for three years with the One Group Mind team Kelly Machiavelli.

When he’s not improvising, Brian works in IT for the government, and is also a member of the Board of Directors of Otherworld Theatre Company.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Caleb Sjogren

Caleb Sjogren has been in the improv game since 1997. He has played corporate gigs, touring shows, and experimental improv–both short and long form–in venues ranging from Piper’s Alley to church camps, from comedy cabarets to the county farm barn. Caleb is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory in addition to training with iO and Under the Gun. He has taught and coached improv at elementary, high school, and college levels.

In 2012, Caleb founded Open Source Improv, a suburban improv co-op. OSI disbanded in 2015, as its teams and players are now featured in many shows on the Westside stage.

He is also a proud founding member and director of the tragicomic team known as The Unwritten Works of William Shakespeare.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Christi Koehl

Christi Koehl is a fan of Shakespeare, comedy, and making things up while pretending to know a lot. So she is a natural fit for the Unwritten Works of Shakespeare team. She has studied drama and been involved with theatre since 1992. Christi worked for three years at the Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship and was a student and intern for the Masterworks Festival theatre program. There she received training from acting coach John Kirby and producer Ken Whales among others.

Christi is wife to Barry and mother to Haven and is grateful to them for allowing her the time to come be silly at Westside Improv Studio.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Janet Roe Everette

Janet Roe Everette grew up on a small farm in north central Illinois, so she knows all about an agrarian lifestyle. She plays on two teams at Westside Improv and is grateful for the positive community and friendship.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Dave Friedland

Dave Friedland began performing improv at ComedySportz-Madison while attending college at the University of Wisconsin. After moving to Chicago, he went on to study improv at Second City and iO, and then, after a late-night game of zip zap zop went south, he decided to take his improv skills to the courtroom and earned a law degree in New Orleans. He is now back and thrilled to be performing at Westside. Dave is also an accomplished musician with 30+ years of experience in piano and guitar instruction and has performed music all across the country. When not performing improv or music, Dave enjoys chasing his three children around and trying to talk to his wife. Laisser Les Bon Temps Rouler! .

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Erik Hejnosz

Erik, whose parents named him after Erik "The Red" Thorvaldsson, started taking improv classes at Westside in 2018.  Like " Erik the Red", Erik lived abroad for sometime, but unlike Erik the Red, he stayed away from plundering and murder.  Way to go Erik!  Way to go!

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Randy Thermos

Randy (husband of Betty Thermos) started his career at a young age, performing alone in front of a bathroom mirror.
He quickly realized the audience was not interested… so he quit.

Then October of 2018 (5 DECADES later) he joined an intro to improv class and will never use a bathroom again.
He is honored and thrilled to be part of the incredible Westside family and hopes they will not put him up for adoption.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Sheryl Alkevicius

On a fateful night in  March 2018, Sheryl had no idea her world would be turned upside down watching her son's Graduation Show at the Westside Improv.  She joined her first class at Westside that night and has never looked back.  She comes to Westside with years of theater experience having performed with The Olympic Theater, Morton College, Village Players, and Speakeasy Productions.  Currently, she works as a Director of high school plays and a manager of a doggie daycare.  In her spare time, Sheryl spends time with her family and shows her French Bulldogs.  She would like to thank Jeff Ash and his teachers for creating an enriching environment for mind and soul, her supportive family and all of her improv family.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Jim Wozniak

Before starting a beginner’s improv class in the fall of 2017 at Westside, Jim had no prior improv or theater experience other than the time he was an extra in a Hollywood movie that never was released. Now, thanks to great teachers, fellow improvisers, and the will to get better at something, Jim can be seen with a couple of house teams at the theater. When not singing badly or pretending to be Irish on stage, Jim likes to watch movies and be a sous chef at home. Jim and his wife (who is also a Westside alum) live, as the Irish say, a “wee stone’s throw away” from Westside.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Eric Scheidler

Eric Scheidler got started doing improv hanging out around his backyard firepit with sons Nate and Sam. His formal training began in October 2018 at Westside. When he's not making up goofy songs with Futon Music, Eric enjoys playing guitar and piano, mountain biking, and spending time with his 8 kids (yes, you read that right). His favorite yoga pose is Side Angle. He has the loudest whistle you've ever heard, and has very strong opinions about the proper way to make s'mores.

Eric plays with Sprinkles and Futon Music.

UPCOMING SHOWS

Kim LeClair

Except for playing Eeyore as a little kid in a community production of Winnie the Pooh, Kim hadn’t really set foot on a stage until she happily stumbled on Westside in 2018. She had no idea what she had been missing. Hopelessly hooked, Kim plans to keep doing whatever she can at Westside for as long as she can. George Bernard Shaw said it best “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Yolanda G. Waddell

Yolanda loves improvising at Westside. She feels a great sense of community here, which has helped her grow as an improviser. Yolanda discovered improv comedy in late 2010 at the tail end of a postpartum depression. The laughter and creativity she found in improv helped end that dark time. She is also a recovering perfectionist, for which improv continues to provide the best treatment!

Yolanda has studied improvisation at Westside Players Workshop, The Annoyance, Jimmy Carrane’s Art of Slow Comedy, iO, ComedySportz and The Second City. She has performed at various venues in Chicago with Kelly Machiavelli, a former house team for One Group Mind Improvisers Guild. She is a former actor with The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Show in Schaumburg.

She is so grateful to her biggest cheerleader, her husband, Michael. His loving support (and childcare!) has made studying and performing improv possible!

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Tom Arnott

Tom is a large mammal who started taking classes and performing at Westside in 2016. This biped is a family man who enjoys movies, old Threes Company episodes and cased meats. He has taken exactly one course at Second City and appeared on the Bozo show as a child. He is sorry if his haircut offends anyone.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Steph Hochstetler

On a mission to break out of her too-cozy comfort zone, Steph registered for the Intro class at Westside because it sounded paralyzingly terrifying, but (slightly) safer than skydiving. She miraculously survived her first jump on stage in late 2017 and was completely hooked by the challenge and the joy she found there. Steph is endlessly awed by and grateful for the support and friendship in the Westside community. Special thanks also go out to Steph’s family and friends who cheer her on even though they think she’s a little weird.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH

Sarah Kueker

Sarah Kueker is uber excited to performing at Westside. Sarah performed in over 15 theater productions at College of DuPage including Lucy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Kate in The Taming of the Shrew. She has performed sketch and improv with The Feisty Pirates at Steel Beam Theater in St. Charles. She is a graduate of iO and has performed with Kangaroo Dudes at iO, The Vagabonds and Boutros Boutros Daddy at The Playground as well as independent teams Santonio and Clarah.

UPCOMING SHOWS

PERFORMS WITH