Meet the Revivalists.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, John moved to Chicago to begin a career in advertising at the famed Leo Burnett. On a lark, John took advantage of a little-known HR benefit that provided free improv classes to employees. A spark was lit. Soon, John became a staple of the Chicago improv community performing at many venerable theaters including ImprovOlympic, Second City and others. Two years after stepping foot in his first improv class, John moved to Amsterdam to join the cast of Boom!, a Dutch-based comedy ensemble. With Boom!, John performed over 200 shows across 5 countries and shared the stage with many notable performers including Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele and Ike Barinholtz. John returned to the U.S. and enrolled at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where he earned an MBA. In 2015, John opened The Revival at the exact spot where improv was born in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Today, John serves as Executive Director of The Revival directly overseeing the creative and education endeavors of the organization.

Allison Reese is a New York-based comedian by way of Chicago. In addition to touring the country as a writer/performer with The Second City National Touring Company, she is also a staff writer for The Second City. Allison wrote the critically acclaimed sketch comedy revue State of Unfairs at The Revival. Most recently, Allison is the creator/head writer of the web series In-Diana, which is written by and starring the renowned cast of Matt Damon Improv. Allison was featured in the 2019 NBC Breakout Festival, as well as iO Chicago’s SNL, Just For Laughs, and Comedy Central showcases.

Catharine Savage is originally from Boxford, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Brown University with a degree in History and Gender Studies. Catharine has trained at The Second City and regularly performs at the Armando Diaz Experience.

Cynthia is originally From Wisconsin Dells, WI. They are a graduate of UW Milwaukee with a BFA in Theater and Visual Art. They trained at Second City. iO, and Annoyance. Cynthia is a full time artist and running coach. They can be seen performing and teaching at many of the comedy theaters in the Chicago area and in other Theaters across the USA. They are an ensemble member of Chicago Style (at The Revival Theater), Whirled News Tonight (at the iO Theater), and ComedySportz Chicago. Cynthia also co-created the long-running show Home for Haunukkah with Bubbe and Zayde, where they play Zayde.

Damon Royster teaches writing and improv at The Revival, The Second City, and The Lantern Comedy Collective. His parody play - Love, Factually - was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 2018 and 2019. Damon was a 2020 recipient of the Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellowship and has written an acclaimed web series called AppQueen. He is represented by Gray Talent and has been in a variety of commercials he will gladly tell you about.

Derek Reid is an LA-based actor, director, musician, and instructor. He can be seen regularly playing Barak Obama on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and as Black Spider-Man in the hit web series Black Spider-Man. Derek is a long-standing teacher with LA’s The Groundlings and the (now departed) iO West. Derek is a member of the acclaimed hip-hop improv group 808 and directs the female-identifying hip-hop team Chrome XX.

Dionna Irons-Griffin is a writer, comedy producer and talent diversity champion. Griffin-Irons has facilitated over 200 workshops with corporations and organizations around the world using improvisation as a tool for innovation and belonging. Her work has been featured on ABC, NBC, American Theatre Magazine, Diversity Journal, TEDx, and The Incredible Unknown. Irons-Griffin teaches at DePaul University, Story Studio Chicago, Chicago Dramatists, and The Second City Film School. Her signature program - "Telling Your Truth" - is offered annually to professionals, creatives and those who seek to share their greatest story. For two decades, she expanded Second City’s talent recruitment efforts and mentored hundreds of performing artists to increase underrepresented voices including BIPOC and LGBTQ+ in comedy.

Emily Anderson has been performing improv in Chicago since graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in Theatre and Creative Writing. She studied and later performed at iO, The Second City, and The Annoyance Theatre, and appeared at Lookingglass Theatre in Her Honor, Jane Byrne. She is also a faculty member at The Second City and has enjoyed leading workshops and classes across the country. At iO, she was mentored as a teacher by Susan Messing and Liz Allen, and is a cast member of Whirled News Tonight.

Erica Elam has facilitated groundbreaking sessions for companies such as Google, Anheuser-Busch, JP Morgan Chase, Kellogg’s, SC Johnson, and many others. She served as visiting faculty at Princeton University and has led workshops at Dartmouth, Stanford, University of Chicago, Northwestern, and Notre Dame. Erica recently received a Master of Applied Positive Psychology degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She travels the world with the critically acclaimed musical improv group, Baby Wants Candy.

Hannah Baker, M.Ed is an educator, writer, performer and director. She graduated from Skidmore College with a B.S. in Theater and received a Master of Education in Elementary Education from DePaul University. During the school year, Hannah is a second grade teacher with Chicago Public Schools.  Hannah is originally from Nashville, TN, where she learned to love theatre, music, and sweet tea. She has directed and performed at theaters across Chicago, including Collaboraction, 20% Theatre, Newport Theater, Annoyance Theater, iO Theatre, and The Revival. Her directorial work has won awards in the Toronto Sketch Festival, Elgin Fringe Festival, and Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Hannah has taught improv, theater, and academics to students aged 3 to 93. You can see her perform every Friday in Improvised Sitcom at the Second City.

has been performing and teaching improv since the turn of the century! Her experience includes The Second City, where she was a member of the National Touring Company, on the Main Stage of the Second City Novi (Detroit), and faculty at the Training Center. She also taught at UCB in NYC, and in Chicago performed at The Revival, iO, the Annoyance Theater, and the Playground Theater. TV and film credits include All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (featured at Sundance), Pants (Featured on Funny or Die), Across the Sky, and many internet commercials. Keep an eye out for the comedy pilot GUMSHOES coming soon!  Off stage, Megan recently earned her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Mo Phillips-Spotts graduated from Williams College with a degree in Theater and Anthropology. She was a member of The Second City’s music team Infinite Sundaes. Mo is also a faculty member at The Second City and a teacher artist with Playmaker’s Laboratory. You can see her performing with ComedySportz Chicago and Playmakers Laboratory.

Neal Dandade is a racially ambiguous actor, writer, and improviser. Television credits include Sirens (USA), Kevin from Work (ABC Family), and Shrink (Seeso) in addition to regional and national commercials. Neal was featured as a writer/performer in the 2016 CBS Diversity Showcase and holds an MFA in Writing for Screen and Stage from Northwestern University where he also works as an Adjunct Lecturer. Neal was a writing intern at The Daily Show and The Colbert Report as part of the Chris Rock Summer internship and attended the School at Steppenwolf. Neal was a member of the Second City National Touring Company and created online content for The Second City Network.

Honduran-born and Chicago-raised, Vernon Mina is a NBC Bob Curry Fellow and an alumni of the Second City National Touring Company. Television credits include Hot Date (Netflix); Utopia (Amazon Prime). Awarded Best Actor in a Comedy for his role in the short The Guitar Thief. He is a graduate of the Improv and Musical Conservatories at the Second City.