Andy Sarouhan is a Bay Area native. His improvisation training began in 1992, when he joined his high school improvisation team. That event started a chain reaction that eventually resulted in a BA in Theatre from UC San Diego and an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside. Since 2003, Andy has improvised professionally with Flash Family and the Un-Scripted Theater Company, joining the Un-Scripted ensemble in 2013.  In 2015, he and fellow Un-Scripted ensemble member created Andy & Jerry are The Trifecta, a popular improvised show that has been featured at the San Francisco Improvisation Festival and has included some tremendous guest improvisers.  Andy has also been a busy improvisation coach since 2001, leading courses for ImprovWorks, UC Riverside, American Conservatory Theater, Cal Shakes, BATS Improv, Un-Scripted Theater Company, and some incredible high school improv troupes in San Mateo.  Andy is a frequent director for Un-Scripted Theater Company, including the improvised formats Beloved Strangers, Life in SF, and The Short & The Long of It.

Christian Utzman is a full time actor, teacher, and an original founding member of the Un-Scripted Theater Company. Christian spends much of his free time writing about the improvisational theory behind the work here at the Un-Scripted Theater Company. You can find out more about his writings at improvactor.com. If you have any questions about how we do what we do, or you need help choosing a drink at our concessions counter, please feel free to speak with him before or after the show. (He's also our concessions buyer.)

Ian was first exposed to improv as an eleven-year-old in a class at Walnut Street Theatre! Since then, he's performed in numerous sketch and improv groups in Philadelphia and the Bay Area, including the Stanford Fleet Street Singers and Stanford Improvisors. His favorite gig has been teaching improvisational theater at Hillsdale High School with the most talented group of teenagers he's ever met. When the sun's out, Ian does marketing for GreatNonprofits and serves as the chair of the Advisory Board for Camp Kesem at Stanford.

Merrill Gruver has been performing with the Un-Scripted Theater Company since 2009, and joined the artistic staff in 2011. She studied acting at Brown University and The Neighborhood Playhouse under Sanford Meisner. Merrill is a graduate of BATS improv and performed regularly with The Sunday Players. She is a member of Shakespeare's Stepchild, which performs improvised Shakespeare in Dolores Park. Merrill teaches drama at Peninsula School.

Steven Anacker first caught the improv bug in the mid-‘90s as a member of Short Order Theater in New York City. In San Francisco, Steven has been lucky enough to play with the Leela Theatre, Secret Improv Society and BATS, as well as experimenting with new formats as a founding member of BoyGirlBoy, TwoXFour and the Improv Artists. Steven is thrilled to be a member of Un-Scripted Theater Company.

Susie Sargent discovered and fell in love with improv over 20 years ago and enjoys sharing her passion through training, teaching and performing. She has taught the skills of improvisation to students aged 3 – 80. Susie is an ensemble and staff member of Un-Scripted Theater Company and loves surprising the audience and creating rich and diverse characters. Her ideal evening at home is a dinner party with improvisors who are likely to break into interpretative dance at any moment.

David Madison Stellar (San Francisco, CA) first took the plunge into improv in 2004. He directed a weekly improv jam for many years and has performed with the Un-Scripted Theater Company, BATS main company, Out of Line and a variety of other groups, and is now the artistic director of the San Francisco troupe Well Endowed.

David is also an internationally renowned dance instructor, as well as Time Magazine's Person Of The Year in 2006.

Jessia Hoffman is a Bay Area-based performer, educator, and freelance writer. With over a decade of improv experience, Jessia has directed the Stanford Improvisors, coached the Aragon Improv Team, studied on both coasts, and currently teaches for BATS Improv. Select theatre credits: writer/director of Sheila, an original play; co-creator of Gravity: A New(tonian) Musical; guest improviser in Un-Scripted’s Foglandia; Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray; Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park with George. Jessia holds a B.A. from Stanford University in English with a focus in Creative Writing, a minor in Spanish, and Interdisciplinary Honors in the Arts. She is thrilled to return to Un-Scripted for Super Scene, one of her very favorite formats!