"But where are you from?" a question asked through out the ages. Join Mishell as she discovers guest's origins, beginnings, and where they're from.
Jerry is an actor/filmmaker from the Windy City. Since the tender age of 4, Jerry has been acting and creating films. He has a degree in Cinema from Columbia College Chicago as well as a voiceover minor. In addition to this, he also has trained in the art of improv at the IO theater and is represented by Dream Team Talent. Jerry loves dogs, a tall glass of wine, and the smell of rain. Only contact him if you're ready to make a serious commitment. No scrubs.
Ankur Patel is a student at the iO writing program. He got started in comedy initially at the Second City when he moved back to Chicago to become a consultant. Unlike most that discover they were funny as kids, He accidentally wrote his first lines of comedy while writing a medieval morality play. If you are wondering, sloth is by far the funniest deadly sin. Ever since then, he has wanted to write funny things, and when possible, on purpose!He was on Michael McCathy's Comedy Lab. Podcast Tall tales, Hollywood stories and the business and art of comedy writing gather at this virtual bar/podcast full of friends and contacts of Michael McCarthy, Howard Johnson, and Ankur Patel. Michael, Howard, and Ankur dissect all aspects of comedy writing from process to networking. Michael and Howard bring unique perspectives of having built long and distinguished careers in TV comedy writing, and Ankur musters only naïveté and enthusiasm… and debt, an alarming almost crushing amount of debt.
Lynnette Li likes to act, sing, write, tell stories, and on most days would rather skip the small talk and go straight to the deep stuff. She’s originally from Metro Detroit, has lived in Kalamazoo, China, Boston, Los Angeles, but loves calling the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago home these days. She teaches Music Together, early childhood music classes with Marsha’s Music. And co-hosts a podcast called Motherhood Every Kind of Way. Lynnette believes that the key to changing the world is through parenting and the way we spend time with kids. She will literally eat anything that somebody presents to her as delicious. She is married to one of her high school best friends, and together they parent two awesome kids. More on her website at www.lynnetteli.com
Simon Collier moved to Chicago in 2011 after graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has studied with the Second City, CSz Theater, and part of iO. He is a current ensemble member of the CSz Theater Chicago, ImprovAcadia, and Booze Your Own Adventure. He also does stand up sometimes, so ask him about that. Animals, analyzing pop music, and baking are all things Simon loves, and will talk to you too much about all of them. If you are out to eat with Simon, and he doesn’t know what to get, he will default to chicken tenders.
Haley Bolithon is an actress and singer in Chicago who has worked at A Red Orchid, The House Theatre, Redtwist, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Children's Theatre, and others. She went to the Chicago Academy of the Arts and School at Steppenwolf. She's a Fijian-Dutch American-Australian who grew up in Japan. Haley loves her 2 cats Tim and Carl Boots, movies, theatre, art, and being maximum Gen Z/Millenial trash. Her most recent project is The Grey House at A Red Orchid.
In this episode, Mishell talks with her mother Paulette Livio-Velez.
Amy Do (@helloamydo on instagram) is a producer of the Radio DePaul Podcast and working towards her graduate degree at DePaul University. She is involved in the performance community through her improv team, Promo Code: Ouch! and is a 2018 DiOversity Scholar. When not in the studio, she likes to read, cook, and write silly songs. She is honored to be on this podcast.
Mishell talks with Laurel Posakony about her unconventional conception, what her parents are like, and why she has so many tattoos.Laurel Posakony is a comedy person living in Chicago. They majored in Comedy Writing and Performance at Columbia College and are a graduate of iO, The Annoyance, and The Second City’s Conservatory and Severn Darden Graduate programs. Today, they can be found performing with Buttermilk at iO, Fever Dream at Second City, a lot in Chicago and around the country with their duo Merit Badge.
Lureena Cornwell is a Chicago-based improviser and actor from Providence, Rhode Island. Lureena is all about making the best experience out of any situation; hard work and perfectly timed bad jokes have gotten her this far. That being said, best odds are catching her at Honey Butter Fried Chicken – no endorsements, just a real fan.
Vanessa Garcia is an aspiring actor, comic, and writer in Chicago.
Becca Phoenix Tham is an up-and-coming Chicago comedian, raised suburbs and living city. She does stand up, improv, musical comedy, and- gasp- prop bits!
Nathalie is an actor, improviser and producer. A Miami native, she recently moved to Chicago fleeing an almost serious notion that she would get IT certification and turn computers on and off indefinitely. In 2018, she produced ImproviSEXation at the Annoyance theater, later nominated for an ALTA award after 3 seasons. Currently she plays with indie-team spectacular JayJayDreamz* and is a newly minted warrior on Batsu, performing regularly at the Kamehachi in Old Town. If you ever see her on a big screen, she'll have finally achieved completion of her growth hormone therapy. FIVE FOOT ONE BABY!