ComedySportz players are a bunch of nerds. We admit it; heck we’re proud of it! We can wax philosophical on everything from STAR WARS to WILD STRAWBERRIES to WORLD WAR HULK to Chase Utley. And there is no bigger nerd amongst us than Sean Curran. Don’t let the nerdiness fool you: Sean’s an aggressive player a tough ref and now, an awesome Daddy. Happy Father’s Day Sean!
1. Your name and nickname: Sean “Swimming Against the” Curran
3. Year you joined CSz: 2005
4. High School attended: Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
5. College (and grad school) attended: Bradley University – Peoria, IL
6. Favorite CSz game: Four Corners
7. Favorite memory involving a fan: My favorite moment with a fan was after my second show. We were standing in the lobby doing the high-five line. One gentleman in particular was eager to make eye contact with me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me in close to whisper, “YOU were very funny tonight.” I said, “Thank you sir!” and thought he’d be on his way, but he made it a point to show his entire group of friends the guy who he thought was the funniest.
8. Memorable show moment: My most memorable show moment would have to be a tie. The first moment was the night in 2006 when I was able to correctly guess all five things in “5 Thingz”. The audience loved it! My second moment would be during the New Year’s Eve show in 2006 when Nathan Holt dressed as Baby New Year. No one bothered to tell him that he should have kept his underwear on under the diaper, and as a result, we all got much more of a “ball drop” than we had been hoping for!
9. Interesting fact (or 2) about yourself: Fact #1: I can walk on my hands for extended periods of time. Fact #2: I am really good at Jeopardy, but have never tried out for the show.
10. Voted Most Likely To… Channel an 18th Century London Bootblack in a Scene
Don’t let Olivia’s diminutive stature fool you; she has a powerful set of pipes and can blow out the back of the house if need be. Plus she can bench over 600lbs!!! Ok, I made that last part up.
1. Your name and nickname: Olivia ” Strange Bru”-baker, but I prefer Olivia “The Butcher The Brubaker The Candlestick Maker.”
2. Your player #: 33 (for Scottie Pippen)
3. Year you joined CSz: 2007
4. High School attended: Hoover High School, Des Moines, IA
5. College (and grad school) attended: College, Goshen, Indiana — BA in Theater AND University of Pennsylvania — halfway through Master’s of Liberal Arts
6. Favorite CSz game: 5 Thingz
7. Favorite memory involving a fan: We once played “Day in the Life” about a woman in the audience who was an Occupational Therapist. I made a few OT references during the scene and the woman was so happy. She was like, “HOW DID YOU KNOW??”
8. Memorable show moment: My teammates started a bungee jumping scene and without thinking I yelled out that I was the pilot of the plane. Suddenly they were bungee jumping from a VERY high altitude!!
9. Interesting fact (or 2) about yourself: I once tried to have a picnic on the lawn of a correctional facility, I was born in Japan AND I am doing an improvised musical with my fellow CSz players called RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN ARE DEAD. It’s awesome! (Sorry, I had 3 interesting things!)
10. Voted Most Likely To…Hide during any sort of argument
You can see Olivia (as well as many other CSz players) in:
RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN ARE DEAD
May 13-29
Not only is Dave Jadico Artistic Director of CSz Philadelphia, he is also one of the company’s longest acting members. This means we get a lot of “Back in my day, we had to improvise uphill, both ways…” speeches during rehearsals. It’s worth it. Dave’s commitment to showmanship and the art of improv has given ComedySportz Philly some of it’s finest and most entertaining shows.
When he is not directing the company he is a Barrymore Award winner actor and External Relations Director for 1812 Productions.
When he’s not doing all that, he’s answering our questions.
1. Your name and nickname: Dave “You wanted to stay but” Jadico
2. Your player #: #8, just like Bob Boone from the Phillies, circa 1980. Also, it looks like a snowman and it has axial symmetry on two axes, cool.
3. Year you joined CSz: 1994… sheesh. If ComedySportz was a car, I would officially be allowed to drive it.
4. High School attended: Council Rock High School, Newtown, PA
5. College attended: Drexel University, Music Performance/Music Engineering Degree, played a lot of saxophone, watched a lot of Star Trek TNG.
6. Favorite CSz game: Slo-Mo, both the announcing and the slo-mo part.
7. Favorite memory involving a fan: There was this terrific fan, Mark, who used to come and sit in the front row when we were at The Brick Playhouse. Everybody knew him. He would often come alone, you know, a lone-wolf type of guy. So, he came on his thirtieth Birthday and at the time tickets were $10. He was first in line and plunked down $300 and said to the ticket seller “Tonight’s my thirtieth birthday and I want the first thirty people to get in for free”. As each of those thirty people came up they were told that their ticket was already paid for by Mark. The people were floored! At the end of the show, the cast and audience all sang “Happy Birthday” to Mark. The real version! It was awesome.
8. Memorable show moment: The great Mike Young and I were in a Shakespeare scene together, also back when we performed at The Brick Playhouse. At the time, we looked kinda similar, both having long hair and beards. We wound up playing twins, separated at birth. It was one of those rarely seen, four minute scenes that had an entire story told, with the brothers finally meeting at the end in a slow motion cross-stage run into each other’s arms. Huzzah!
9. Interesting fact (or 2) about yourself: Jadico is a made up name. My grandpop starting using it in the fifties. It used to be longer and was a lot more Italian sounding.
10. Voted Most Likely To… mime, or go for a drink after the show.
If you’ve seen a ComedySportz show featuring Kennedy Allen, you most likely will have remembered it. This fierce woman never takes the stage half-heartedly, and has a singing voice that has blown the minds of more than one unsuspecting fan.* But unknown to most, this lady is also one of the geekiest players we have, able to spout out more than just a Sci-Fi references like they common knowledge. This makes her a wonderfully unpredictable player on stage and an all-around funny woman.
1. Your name and nickname: Kennedy “Aurora Borie” Allen
2. Your player #: 53
3. Year you joined CSz: 2007
4. High School attended: Central HS/ Martin Luther King HS
5. College attended: Mansfield University
6. Favorite CSz game: Blind Line Sing It!
7. Favorite memory involving a fan: Getting recognized at work by fans! Note: Kennedy is a fantastic tour guide in Philadelphia. You may have seen her on one of the trolleys.
8. Memorable show moment: Too many to recall!!
9. Interesting fact (or 2) about yourself: I know at least one song from every Disney animated classic feature film—seriously.
10. Voted Most Likely To… Fall on her face whilst attempting to be smooth.
*The incident in question is entirely metaphorical.
Mary Carpenter has been with Comedysportz Philly from nearly the beginning and continues make audiences laugh over and over again. With the bearing of great female comedians like Carol Burnette, Mary can switch easily between playing your woman next door, or the eccentric crazy character. She also runs the ComedySportz Education department, helping to train the public in how to do improv and bring the funny.
1. Your name and nickname: Mary “I don’t know my nickname” Carpenter
2. Your player: #00
3. Year you joined CSz: 1992
4. High School attended: Radnor High School
5. College (and grad school) attended: Northwestern University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts
6. Favorite CSz game: Seven thingz (and old version of five things) and Quick Change
7. Favorite memory involving a fan: When a fan’s cell phone rang during a show and Ref Tom McManus took the call and got a suggestion from the person on the other end of the phone.
8. Memorable show moment: This Doesn’t involve me, but I remember one time a team giving clues for five thingz back in the days when we performed at the Bourse days. One of the elements to guess was the Kennedy assassination. The team reenacted it in hilarious detail including Jackie climbing over the back of the car. The guesser, Nicole Borrelli (CSZ alum), jumped up and down because she knew what it was. She guessed the location as a “Duck-shooting gallery.”
Another was at a CSz anniversary show when Jim (my husband) strutted out to promote t-shirts to the tune of “I’m too sexy for my shirt,” wearing a diaper and licking a huge lollipop. He then stuck the lollipop to his belly.
9. Interesting fact (or 2) about yourself: I know too much about Star Wars
10. Voted Most Likely To: Do the right thing.
