The CSz Philadelphia Staff
Mary Carpenter :: Executive Director
Mary Carpenter has worked as an actor, improviser, teacher, director and writer in Philadelphia for over 30 years. A graduate of Northwestern University and LAMDA, Mary has worked with 1812 Productions, Act II Playhouse, Montgomery Theatre Company, and many more. She has been with CSZ Philadelphia since 1992, where she has worked as a performer, teacher, Business Manager, Education Director, Artistic Director, and Executive Director. Mary’s improvisation experience also includes City of Nutterly Love with The Second City, It Doesn’t Matter, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, 3M, I’ll Have What She’s Having, Odd at Sea, Detective Improv, Frankenstein’s Body and her new solo show What If, as well as publishing her book: Do Or Do Not: How To Improvise Like A Jedi. Most recently, she co-created and co-directed Improvised Star Wars. She has taught improv for 30+ years at CSz, Improv Utopia, Baltimore Improv Festival, and many independent workshops.
Jake Lucas :: artistic director
Jake Lucas (they/them) is the Artistic Director of ComedySportz Philly, and has been improvising and educating for over 9 years. Their specialty in play and social & emotional learning (SEL) helps ensure everyone can put the "imp" in impulse.
Jake has taught, devised, and consulted with the City of Philadelphia, University of the Arts, Philadelphia School of Improv, Playworks, Fab Youth Philly, School District of Philadelphia, Mantua Theater Project, and countless other clients. They have performed with Pseudonym Productions, Maukingbird Theater Co., American Immersion Theater, SideQuest Theater, Waterhouse Collective, Swim Pony Performing Arts, Collaboration Town, and of course ComedySportz Philadelphia, appearing throughout Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and online. They’ve won Best Actor and Best Acting, along with Best Ensemble, Best Film in the Philadelphia 48hr film festival.
Jake is the director of ComedySportz, and is also the creator and Director of PRIDE & Prejudice: A Queer Parody, Detective Improv: a noir film parody, Game Night: the party-game game show, and But WAIT there’s MORE! They are the artistic producer for Dual Duel, The Longform Mini Festival, the Improv Double Feature, and so many more amazing shows at CSz Philly.
You can see them performing improv comedy right now in ComedySportz, Roll Play, Hallmarkable, Be Kind, Puppets Here & There, Mirror Zone, Best Medicine, or wherever fresh hoagies are sold. Contact.
Siobhan O’Hara :: Education Director
Siobhan O’Hara is a Philly based comedian performing improv for 10 years in New York and Philadelphia. In addition to ComedySportz, Siobhan worked as a cast member of The She-Quel and Dun-Dun: Improvized Crime Unit. Siobhan has performed at Philly Improv Theater, Crossroads Comedy Theater, performs in This Week Sucked at The Lab in Ambler and is a member of the indie improv team, Daddy Issues. She is also the co-author of The Comedy Improv Handbook. Contact.
Keane Cobb :: Diversity & Inclusion Director
Keane Cobb is an actor, improviser, standup comedian and writer from Philadelphia. Keane has been writing and performing his own brand of comedy since 2008 and has hosted the Funny Bone in Albany and the Helium Comedy Club and Punchline Comedy Club in Philadelphia. He is also a member of the all POC comedy troupe NYTEShift, the comedic trio known as Black History Monthly, a company member of ComedySportz Philadelphia, as well as a co-host of the podcast Alt-Black. He has performed in a number of comedy festivals including the Pittsburgh Comedy Festival, Hell Yes Fest in New Orleans, New York Sketch Fest, NYC Improv Fest, Cinderblock Comedy Festival in Brooklyn, Diverse AF Festival in New York, We The People Improv Festival, Philly Sketch Fest, Philadelphia Podcast Festival, and Fringe Festival.
Keane can also be found teaching improv classes with the Philadelphia School of Improv. Keane has hosted and opened for Tommy Davidson, John Heffron, Jessica Michelle Singleton, Jamali Maddix, Randy Feltface, Zach Martina, Duncan Tressel, Yedoye Travis, Darryl Charles, Setoiyo and Chappelle Lacey. He used to be good at Scrabble and people refuse to play Monopoly with him. His favorite color is ROYAL BLUE(ALL CAPS)! Contact.
David Dritsas :: Applied Improv Director
David Dritsas runs the CSz Applied Improv program, which connects the teamwork and communication skills of improv to real-world application in business and professional relationships. He has been performing and teaching improv and sketch comedy professionally for over 25 years, working at ComedySportz in both Philadelphia and Chicago. He also regularly performs with popular improv shows such as Murder Manor, Roll Play, Puppets Here & There, Trash Puppets, and more.
Dave Jadico :: technical director
Dave oversees the production aspects of the CSz Philadelphia theatre and all CSz produced shows. He joined ComedySportz in 1994, served as the Artistic Director from 2007 to 2018, and also works in Philadelphia as an actor/musician, having appeared at 1812 Productions, The Walnut, The Arden, InterAct, EgoPo, and MumPuppet for which he won a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical in The Fantasticks. He’s studied physical comedy with the greats, Maestro Antonio Fava, Fred Garbo and Bill Irwin. Dave appears annually in This Is The Week That Is with 1812 Productions.. Contact
Alli Soowal :: Business Manager
Alli oversees our essential business operations from contracts to payroll. Her dilligent work makes sure we make the purchases we need and our books are settled. Alli has been a CSz Philadelphia company member since 2007 and was the Managing Director from 2008 – 2012. She has taught improv since 2006, including instructing improvisers from around the country. In addition to being a ComedySportz Player, Alli directed CityBeatz – Philly’s first hip/hop improv team – and Origin Story – an improvised superhero show. Alli performs regularly on the CSz stage, and has spent years with Figment Theater in shows including Grey Gardens, Wisdom Teeth, AD Showcase, Alli & Darryl, Stage Fright and John Hughes High. She also had the joy of coaching the CSz Philadelphia Rec League. Contact.
