bang. studio

Aliza Murrieta has taught improvisation for a good decade and a half in Los Angeles and at Chicago’s The Second City, where she wrote and performed as a Company Member. Since founding bang with her husband Peter in 1995, she has also been the Executive Producer of bang’s critically acclaimed comedy theatre. Aliza works in L.A. as both a writer and actor. A member of numerous L.A. improv groups and stage shows, she appears frequently in sitcoms and indie film, and has optioned several of her solo shows to Paramount for television development. Currently at bang she hosts the new works variety show Millie Warnburton’s Cavalcade of Endless Talent Industry Showcase, and directs long-form improv groups R.P.S. (Religion. Politics. Sex.) and Goes Around, Comes Around.

Peter Murrieta is the creator and Executive Producer of the 2002 WB Series ‘Greetings from Tucson,’ based on his experiences growing up in Tucson, Arizona. He has written for many other television shows, including such almost hits as ‘All About the Andersons,’ ‘Hope and Faith.’ He’s also written pilots for networks about Bounty Hunters, Kids working at Starbucks, Military Recruiters, and ESPN’s Linda Cohn.

Peter began his career as a writer/performer at The Second City in Chicago. Upon moving to Los Angeles, he began writing on series television beginning as a Writing Fellow at Walt Disney Television, and subsequently on series including NBC’s ‘Jesse’ and ‘Three Sisters.’

Peter has written feature films for Revolution Studios and Paramount and has taught improvisation at The Improv in Hollywood and at The Second City. The co-founder and owner of bang, he can sometimes be seen here performing in his cult hit ‘Peter’s Always Correct.’

Peter’s podcasts with his friend Al Madrigal can be found the iTunes Music Store.

Peter lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.

Ezra Weisz has been the administrative director at bang for the past three years. He is a bang. graduate and has taught improv at The Company of Angels, California Migrant Education, and SCRT prior to teaching at bang. He has performed improv with many groups in numerous venues around LA, including ‘The Doubtful Guests’ (which was part of the 2002 Chicago Improv Festival) ‘Ladies Man,’ ‘Rise and Fall,’ ‘Catcher In the Raw,’ and he hosts ‘60 Minutes: The Comedy Version’ as the irrepressible Walter Wahl. He works as an actor in television, directs voice-overs, and does Audience Warm-up for several network television shows. Ezra has dedicated his life to improv and finding new and creative ways to present and teach it.

Darrin Butters is a product of the bang. system. After performing with the graduating group ‘Kids with Beards’ and several long-form groups after, he was eager to pass along the bang. philosophy. Darrin is a native Nebraskan who makes his living in acting, one frame at a time, as an animator.

Sabrina Hill has been acting professionally since the age of ten. She has been producing and directing theatre in the Los Angeles area since 1990, and taught improv for the Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre, and The Company of Angels, whose improv workshop program she co-founded. She has been a member of several improv groups including: ‘The Doubtful Guests,’ ‘R.P.S.,’ ‘Our Townies,’ ‘Catcher in the Raw,’ and ‘Cornfed.’ She performed with ‘The Doubtful Guests’ as part of the Chicago Improv Festival in the spring of 2002. Not only does she teach and perform regularly at bang., she also produces and directs several innovative shows there. Sabrina is a bang. graduate.

Gaye Coffman began her professional career singing in ‘My Fair Lady’ and tap dancing through ‘George M’ in her home state of Oklahoma. She earned her MFA in Acting/Directing at the University of Arizona, then headed to Chicago, finding professional roles in both well-known and ‘original’ works. After digging her car out of the snow one last time, she moved to LA and fell in love with improv. Gaye is a bang and ImprovOlympic West alum and has played in bang shows ‘R.P.S.’ and ‘Lurlene’ amongst others. Gaye was thrilled to play at the 2003 Chicago Improv Festival with bang house team Smoke the Kitty. She directed and performed in the long running ‘Ka-Blam! Improv Samurai’ and most recently directed Amalgam’s ‘Funeral for a Friend.’

Mitchell Roché was born and raised in Hollywood and Burbank, California, respectively, and became involved in acting and theater arts at an early age. In college, at California State University, Northridge, he earned a bachelor’s degree in visual art, and produced his first short film, ‘The E! True Hollywood Story of Mighty Mouse.’ Professionally, Mitchell has worked under the direction of Richard Donner and Anthony Perkins, and co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in a commercial for Brazilian TV. He is most proud, however, of his role in the HBO movie, ‘Lansky,’ which put him only two degrees from Kevin Bacon. At bang, he has appeared in ‘The Doubtful Guests,’ ‘Peter’s Always Correct,’ and ‘Trent Whitestone: Embrace the Unimaginable.’ In his free time, Mitchell enjoys improvising, absorbing pop culture, and referring to himself in the third person.

After graduating from Juilliard, Nicole Marcks acted regionally in productions including The Cherry Orchard, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf where she was abused in two separate productions as Honey. Read it if you don’t know what she’s talking about. Nicole found her birth Mother (A.K.A improv) in 1997 studying with The Groundlings and joining the genre-specific LA based improv group, The Meddling Kids. TMK played throughout LA & abroad for over 7 years. She wrote, produced & performed (Yentl anyone?) in Sex Life: My Journey Through Booty in 2003 at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. She starred in the long running, 25th anniversary production of Last Summer At Bluefish Cove produced by Lily Tomlin & Jane Wagner (GLAAD nomination,) also at the LAGC. No, she’s not entirely gay. In Los Angeles she’s performed at The Ahmanson, The Actor’s Gang, ACME, and other theaters not starting with ‘A.’ TV credits: Crabby Nun on American Dreams, Grieving Widow on Crossing Jordan. She’s on the box cover of the recently released indie, 29th and Gay, a GLBT festival favorite. Her bang. shows include Goes Around Comes Around, RPS, and Jews vs. Christians. She continues to write, dye her hair, perform and live in LA with her adorable lovah & cute as a button cat. Visit her on MySpace - search for Nicole Marcks or Famke Roumstead, Ms. Marcks’ life coach.

Jenna Jolovitz is an alumnus of Chicago’s The Second City, having performed on the Mainstage and in the ETC theater. Jenna studied and performed in the Windy City at The Annoyance and IO Theaters. In LA, she has written for many television shows, including Mad TV, Saturday Night Live, King of Queens, and Greetings From Tucson. Jenna has appeared at the Aspen Comedy Festival and acted in several sitcoms/pilots, as well as improv shows too numerous to count. Jenna has performed at bang often, and is now excited to be teaching there as well.

Peter Albers has taken turns as a literary agent and in casting, as well as producing a large number of short films. A home-grown bang. improvisor, Peter has been part of the bang. community for 8 years. Prior to bang., Peter studied acting at Vassar, San Francisco State, and as a graduate student at CalArts, but it wasn’t until he came to bang. that he truly felt at home. He has performed with many longform groups here, - among them ‘Ka-blam,’ ‘Catcher in the Raw,’ ‘Cutter,’ and Wood - and is a founder of Big Hollywood.’

Jay Davis is a professional character animator, a musician, and a native Louisianian. He is also a bang graduate and has been improvising since 1999. He performed with Mayfly at the 2003 Chicago Improv Festival and has performed with other improv groups including Ka-blam!, MOS, Momma Likes It, and Lurlene. For bang Theater’s 10th Anniversary Celebration Stage Show, Jay played the role of bang co-founder, Peter Murrieta.

Evan Gore has been teaching at bang since 1997 (yeow!). Previously, he taught at Chicago’s The Second City and The Improv Institute. A cast member of the group Stacy’s Not Here, he has been performing improv and sketch comedy since before many of you were born. His sit-com credits include Murphy Brown, Clueless, Two Guys and a Girl, and he regrets never having appeared on Law and Order. He’s on TV commercials, radio spots and his one-man show ‘Look At Me! Look At Me! Look At Me!’ was the hit of the Aspen Comedy Festival, back in ‘37. Along with his wife, he writes cartoons for all your favorites: Futurama, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Ozzy and Drix, The Weekenders. Currently, they’re writing for ‘Dave The Barbarian’ which will air on Toon Disney early in ‘04.

Theresa Mulligan is a writer on the Fox hit, ‘The Loop.’ Her previous writing credits include ‘South Park,’ ‘Method and Red,’ ‘Greetings From Tucson,’ ‘Run Of The House.’ She has been teaching improv at bang. for about 7 years and has been improvising for over 11 years. She hails from The Second City in Chicago where she toured and was part of the ‘Northwest’ cast. She was also writer and creative director of the Second City Business Theater. Her L.A. Improv credits include ‘Stacy’s Not Here’ (bang), ‘The Second City Alumni Show’ (Guess where), ‘The Armando Show’ and ‘Girl Team Balls’ (Improv Olympic). Her previous television acting credits include ‘Mr. Show,’ ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘3rd Rock From the Sun.’ She has a cat named Frank and a man named Jeff.