TNC Director
Cranston Cup Champion for 2004, John Knowles has produced, directed and performed in comedy shows for over his 15 years. Straight out of..er...thrown out of...Canada's most recognised acting school Ryerson, John began creating comedy shows including the successful Gods Cowboys - that meat-worshipping evangelist trio, IMPROZAC - the TV Hospital John's performance credits include: Off The Cuff, The Royal Rumble, Abandon Script, Extreme Theatresports and the recent sell-out show, The Comedy Improlympiad, which John directed, produced and performed in at Belvoir Street Theatre. He has acted on many Australian television shows and commercials including his simpleton character as featured on a recent 'Footy Show' episode where he drove footballer Mark Geyer to distraction in a candid camera type hoax. John is writing a book entitled 'How Not To Be a Jerk. TNC Host
With a name like Nigel I had no choice but to work in comedy. That, or work as a librarian, a librarian with bottle thick glasses in a tweed suit who works in a occult library and helps fight evil demons with a sexy vampire slayer called Buffy. Co Host
Victoria Cast
Geoff Paine has been improvising for 18 years across Australia and around the world and you think he'd get it right by now. Experience in TV (Neighbours, Blue Heelers to name a couple) the odd film (very odd), radio and stage hasn't given him any polish or technique, although impro has given him the ability to bluff his way through most situations. Geoff has been seen most recently on stage in It's a Dad Thing and Spontaneous Broadway. Hobbies include hunting, deep sea diving and lying about his hobbies.
Jenny has been improvising her way out of trouble for 18 years. Starting in Sydney in 1987 with what was then Theatresports Sydney she moved to Melbourne in 1995. She is now a senior player with Impro Melbourne performing, directing and producing all manner of improvised shows across Melbourne , including Theatresports™, Micetro™, Gorilla Theatre™ and Shakespeare Scared Scriptless. Jenny has also performed overseas in improvisation festivals in San Francisco and Edmonton. Other performing work includes stage, TV (MDA, Blue Heelers, Prisoner) and film (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Darkness Falls).
Patti served her theatre apprenticeship at Loose Moose Theatre Company, birthplace of Theatresports, under the playful, eagle eye of its inventor, Keith Johnstone. Her work internationally as an actor, improviser, director, instructor and playwright has earned her a reputation as one of the world’s finest exponents of Johnstonian improvisation. A founding member of the improvisational company, Die Nasty, Patti has also been Artistic Director of two Theatresports companies in Canada and is currently the Artistic Director of Impro Melbourne. Currently, Patti is displaying her villainous side on Neighbours as Mayor Thomas.
Not only an accomplished improviser, Ross is a writer, actor, filmmaker and TV producer. Recently he trod the boards in It’s A Dad Thing and Noises Off, while on the big screen he has appeared in the feature films The Hard Word and Guru Wayne, Stingers, Blue Heelers and Something in the Air are among his various television guest roles. Ross has been improvising for 14 years, beginning with Theatresports in Sydney before becoming a regular with Impro Melbourne. He was co-creator and performer in several renowned improvised stage shows including Completely Lost in Space, X Files Unplugged and The Linda Blair Witch Project. Last year he also did some very strange things in the highly acclaimed Spontaneous Broadway. Ross loves improvising because there’s no rehearsal to get up for.
New South Wales Cast
Andrew O'Keefe, Michael Gregory, Nicola Parry, Tom Dunstan
Nicola trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA),
was Associate Director at London's premier new-writing theatre - the
Bush Theatre London, and is currently the General Manager of Actors Centre Australia. She is a champion theatresports performer and Cranston Cup winner, and has appeared in many seasons at Sydney's Belvoir Street and Enmore Theatres.
Michael has specialised in the field of improvisation for over 15 years, including two years as Artistic Director of TheatreSports® Incorporated.
Andrew O'Keefe is the host of Channel Seven's hit game-show Deal or No
Deal. Viewers of Seven's Sunrise, and listeners of MMM's The Shebang will also be familiar with Andrew's face, and he recently co-hosted the
historic joint-network Reach Out To Asia tsunami appeal with Eddie
McGuire and Rove McManus.
Western Australia Cast
Glenn most recently appeared in the 2004 production of Face to Face for Perth Theatre Company. He also toured with Face to Face to Brazil and regional WA in 2002, and was part of the original production which was a sell-out for the 2001 Perth International Arts Festival. Glenn has had extensive stage experience working with all of the professional theatre companies in Perth, and is also a corporate entertainer, comedian and national voiceover artist. With Mark Storen, Glenn performs as musical stand-up comedy duo HallmarK. He also teaches stand-up comedy, improvisation and theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and John Curtin College of the Arts. Glenn represented Perth at the last National Theatresports Championships in Sydney in 1998.
Claire has been performing improv comedy since seeing a boyfriend do it five years ago and deciding she would be just as good, if not better. Her boyfriend's career has since blossomed to include national and international theatre and film performances, and she has, with a little hard work, gotten better than him at comedy. Possibly. Claire also works in theatre, most recently directing 'Hamlet' under the Perth Theatre Company Umbrella. She is also a stand up comedian, winning the Western Australian leg of Triple J Raw Comedy in 2004. Claire has just returned from a series of dodgy pub gigs in the UK, and will be performing in 'Comedy Zone' at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this March/April.
Mark has been a professional performer since graduating from Murdoch University in 2000 with a BA in Theatre and Drama Studies and a Certificate in Musical Theatre from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1995. He has worked either as an actor, musician, facilitator or director with WA Theatre companies such as Black Swan, Barking Gecko and Hi NRG Youth Theatre. Mark has also worked extensively in the Perth fringe theatre community. Along with establishing himself in the comedy, improvisation and corporate performance scene, he and Glenn Hall perform as the musical stand-up comedy act HallmarK.
From the laconic Aussie icon in ‘On our selection’ to Tiddler the frog of little brain in Barking Gecko’s ‘Frog Opera’, Sam Longley has used his 6’10” body and unique acting style to full effect. After a decade playing Theatresports® and performing with comedy trio MSG, Sam spent two years in Chicago, studying improv comedy at Second City, Improv Olympic and Comedy Sportz. There, Sam honed his skills and his American accent. On returning to Perth, he started the improv comedy show The Big HOO-HAA!, which has been running for over two years now. Sam is soon to be seen on ABC TV as the host of the new show ‘How the quest was won’. Queensland Cast
Kiesten McCauley was Artistic Director of Theatresports Queensland for four years, and has been a Theatresports tutor for six. During that time, she taught Theatresports at over 200 schools throughout Queensland. Kiesten also co-ordinated the Youth Theatresports Festival, which involved organizing performance time and space for 60 teams of students from over 30 schools. She joined Qld Theatresports in 1992, and played in a succession of winning teams in Brisbane, Beenleigh, and on the Gold Coast. In 1998 she was invited to represent Queensland in the National Theatresports Championships in Sydney. She is a top ranking corporate trainer, having worked with IBM, Flight Centres, Corrs Chambers Wesgarth, and B105’s Morning Crew to name but a few. She is now in the process of co-developing a brand new Improvised show for the Tivoli Theatre in the role of Artistic Director and Creative Consultant.
Roger has been a performer, teacher and producer of improvisation in Queensland for over 15 years. He began as a performer in 1988 and after two years of working in almost all Queensland Theatresports shows, he began directing and teaching Theatresports for La Boite Theatre. When the company for which he was working started to get dismantled by a faceless multinational, Roger went freelance and has been performing and producing ever since. Two years later, he and his partners founded the Sit Down Comedy Club, Brisbane’s only regular stand-up comedy room. Roger has performed all manner of impro shows, from street acts for whoever would stop, through to amphitheatre shows in front of 2000 people. “When 2000 people are waiting for you to finish a sentence you haven’t even completed in your head, that keeps you on your toes.” He has been the producer and director of Theatresports in Queensland for over 12 years and is a multiple winner of Queensland ’s state championship – The Burbrook Cup. Roger has represented Queensland twice in National Theatresports Competitions. As a father of 1.5 children, Roger is proudest of his achievements in infantile laughter. “A baby gives you no credit for fame or history, when you make a baby laugh – you’ve earned it. Knowing about pressure points and having long fingers does come in handy though.”
Troy has been performing in improvised theatre since 1994 and is a regular at "Impro Gladiators", the weekly, improvised comedy show at the Sit Down Comedy Club. In previous years, Troy has performed all over Brisbane, including at La Boite Theatre, the Princess Theatre, the Metro Arts Theatre, the Powerhouse Theatre, the Pig 'n' Whistle Indooroopilly and at countless fairs, festivals and public events. In the late 90s, Troy was a member of the successful "Six of the Best" improv troupe, which performed numerous shows at the old Hub cafe in Brisbane, then later at the Metro Arts Theatre. Troy has also tried his hand at stand-up comedy and theatre performing in the stand-up duo ‘The Amazing Sea Monkeys’.
Adam has been playing Theatresports since the 80's which is a sod of a long time. He has represented Australia, won Cranston and Burbrook Cups, and taught impro to children and adults alike. He was drawn to Theatresports where his left-handedness could be a subtle advantage. Adam has broken his nose and cracked his shin bone for the game, shedding blood on at least three stages across the east coast. If you ask him why he still plays, he will get a strange distant look in his eyes and mumble something about biscuits. Excited by once more donning the Queensland colours, Adam hopes that his allergy to mushrooms won't stand in the way of fun.
Our Star Musicians Gep Blake & Anna Jacobs |
John Knowles 
Nigel Sutton
Jenny Hope
Geoff Paine 
Jenny Lovell
Patti Stiles
Ross Daniels
Nicola Parry 
Michael Gregory
Andrew O'Keefe
Tom Dunstan 
Claire Hooper 
Mark Storen
Sam Longley
Kiesten McCauley
Roger Beames
Troy Baker
Adam Couper
