Sara discovered improv at TIM in 2015 when looking for a creative outlet. She immediately fell in love with the theatre and found a place that she could truly be herself. Sara enjoys laughing and playing on stage with her friends. Sara has experience performing with both short form and long form teams, and she presently performs with the only Spanish-speaking team in Tucson, ¿Cómo Se Dice?, the all-female team, Killer Cathy’s, the Dating Scene, and the 3v3 champion, Three’s Company.

Sara finds that the improv “Yes, and…” philosophy permeates all aspects of her life, and helps her better communicate, collaborate, and be her most genuine self. When she is not at TIM, Sara studies Second Language Acquisition at the University of Arizona where she also teaches translation and interpretation in the Spanish and Portuguese Department.

Emily Areinoff has been doing Improv with TIM Comedy Theater for 4 years. She is on a variety of teams at TIM including ¿cómo se dice? One of Arizona’s only Spanish speaking improv teams and has performed in festivals in LA, Phoenix, and Tucson. Also there was that one time she took a drama class in college. In her time off stage she is a mother to two boys and works with children as an Occupational Therapist.

Zack started improvising at the U of A, first in Comedy Corner – when there weren’t enough sketches to fill out a show – and then with the Charles Darwin Experience. After graduation, he moved to Chicago for “improv grad school.” He completed the training programs at IO and the Annoyance and performed on Harold and other long-form teams for 3 years before he ran away with the circus. Once he finally returned to Tucson, he was elated to discover an outstanding improv community at TIM. When not performing, coaching, or teaching improv, he can be found teaching English to 5th graders or clowning around with The WonderFools! He learns more about improvising every day and is proud and honored to do so with the fantastic humans of TIM.

Catherine has been involved with improv since March of 2013 but has always been a fan of funny and seeks the humor in everyday life. When not interacting with bipedal mammals on stage, she’s playing with cold-blooded creatures at the Desert Museum, where she works with invertebrates and reptiles. Born and raised a Tucsonan, Catherine is naturally a fan of burritos, the Cats, and AC. Her favorite games involve puns, but you can also catch her rapping caucasionally.

Jen Blanco has her doctorate in funny (technically audiology) and is a laughter triple threat. She began performing comedy when she was 14 in Chicago, IL and has found herself here in Tucson, AZ. Currently she is a cast member at Tucson Improv and an actor & writer at Keep Tucson Sketchy. She produces Lady Bits at The Screening Room and both Battle of the Boasts and Punball Wizards at Tucson Improv Movement. You can listen to her weekly on her podcast, Kurt & Jen Make a Podcast, where they break down the sense of humor of your favorite bands

Sean's a southern New England-transplant living in Tucson since 1997. He teaches writing at the UofA and spends his spare time geeking out on horror movies and eating out for every meal (probably why he's broke).

Betsy Bright is a professional musician and composer. She is the 2nd trumpet player with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and is also a member of Monsoon Brass, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, and the Tucson Pops Orchestra.

​Also a committed educator, Betsy teaches a thriving private trumpet studio, and she is the founder and director of Tucson Brass Workshop. She teaches composition for the TSO Young Composer Project.

Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Betsy studied at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA.

She loves spending time with her husband, David, and their two kids, Max and Oliver.

Esther has been studying and performing improv since September of 2013. She currently plays on Improv Throwdown, Fine Print, Pilot Season, the Riveters, and is part of Kvetch Us If You Can.  In addition to teaching and performing, Esther helps manage FEMPROV monthly workshops and has previously coached Improv Collective.  

One of Esther's favorite things about improv is how it can be used as social commentary.  Esther's teaching and coaching style is very energetic and she loves encouraging others and helping them feel comfortable in trying new things.  

When she is not at the TIM theater, she works as an attorney practicing criminal defense.  She enjoys yoga, traveling, reading, and telling everyone how cute her dog is.  

At 50 years old Kimberly is finally living out her childhood nicknames: Alice Actress and Debbie Drama. What? By day you can find her roaming the hospital hallways as an Infection Preventionist. She loves improv, books and dancing!

Although Jessica dreamed of being a fly girl on the sketch comedy show, In Living Color at the tender age of 8, she was actually terrified of the stage for most of her life.  However, after her first Improv 101 class in March 2013, she kicked herself for not trying improv sooner and is very grateful to be a part of TIM.  When she is not improv-ing or practicing the Running Man, Jessica enjoys hanging out with her adorably overweight Miniature Pinscher, Sophie.

Andrew always knew he was destined for the stage. However it wasn’t until 2008 that this dream was realized through Improv at the U of A.  He has been hard at it ever since and never looked back. Now a proud member of Tucson Improv Movement’s Harold team, Andrew is diversifying his improv portfolio. He is also a member of the one man novelty band “Andrew and the Jellyfish” and is a part-time balloon animal artist. Despite the rampant rumors he does not know karate.

Jess began training with the Tucson Improv Movement in October 2012. Jess loves making the funnies, going to pretend-y town, and instilling a love of “yes, and” in others. When not playing on stage or teaching improv 101, Jess is a leadership educator at the U of Arizona. Jess has obsessions with: pens, her puppies, and Bookmans. Jess believes that improv is not just a hobby, but a life philosophy that helps people be kinder, less serious, and more collaborative.

Holly studied comedy extensively as a child, but abandoned it when life forced her to put away childish things. She came to TIM in 2017 to rediscover her spark. She can now be found on comedy stages all over, but TIM will always be home.

Kainan doesn't love writing bios, but he does love improv! He feels grateful that he gets to perform with so many wonderful, funny people. When he's not being the silliest of gooses on stage, he enjoys having deep conversations with his cat Dude, in the hopes that Dude will eventually learn English through some form of linguistic osmosis. Kainan is also an avid film lover, and will gladly talk your ear off about movies until you politely remind him you have to go home now.

Cory has been studying and performing improv since the beginning of 2013. He currently plays on The Soapbox, Improv Throwdown, and is part of Hanging Chads and Kvetch Us If You Can. In addition to teaching and performing, Cory has coached a number of teams, including Improv Collective and Choice Cut.

Cory’s comedic improv philosophy is that truly great comedy can come from the real world that we live in or create on stage. He believes that grounded scenes that play out the themes of real life are the richest because they are relatable.  His teaching and coaching style emphasizes practicing good habits. As they say, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”

When not teaching/coaching/performing improv, Cory spends his days as a legal drug dealer/licensed pharmacist.  His non-improv interests include exercising, golfing, racquetball, and anticipating the day the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

David began doing improv in New Orleans in 2012. After a long layoff, he moved to Tucson, discovered TIM, and got the improv bug again. He's also a storyteller, musician and writer.

Susan is immensely grateful to live in the best part of Arizona. Improv has been a very positive experience for her because of the enthusiasm, kindness and patience of all those involved with Tucson Improv Movement. The best part about improv is no one ever tells her to use her indoor voice and funny voices are not only encouraged but required. She loves her family, which includes fuzzy rodents, a bunch of chihuahuas, a gaggle of kitty cats and a two legged human husband.

Justin has loved comedy since seeing Ghostbusters for the first time. In college Justin produced Misericordia University’s first live comedy show CougarLive. After moving to North Carolina he began an in-depth study of improv comedy at the DSI Comedy Theater. While at DSI, Justin was an instructor in the Comedy School, performed on Improv Slam and Omaha 9 house teams, and coached the high school team. After moving to Tucson in 2012 he founded TIM!

Justin has been engaged in teaching and performing improv since 2009. Over that time he honed a fast paced, game based approach to performing. His philosophy of scene work is all about the relationship and the two people on the stage, if the improvisers can make the interaction personal to the character and bring out the details in that scenario, the funny will flow through. His biggest asset to improv is bringing energy and enthusiasm to any scene being performed and class being taught. Justin love to delve into the academic logistics of why and how a scene works, with the positive energy of a roller coaster ride.

Benjamin Mackey (he/him) has been working as an illustrator for comics, books, magazines, and films over the past eleven years. He received his BFA in Painting from the University of Iowa. On the 9-5 grind, he's a Graphic Designer for a Cannabis company. Want to know a cool dinosaur fact?

Eric is a criminal defense attorney in Tucson. He first discovered improv at Amherst College, where he dabbled in theater and music before earning a B.A. in English and French. Then he went to law school at the University of Arizona and had the laughter driven out of him. It did not return until 2014, when he started taking classes at TIM. Eric also enjoys cooking, video games, being a karaoke diva, and fighting injustice.

Lisa is an acupuncturist, a teacher and a mermaid. When not in the water, she loves to be with others, laughing and playing.

Lindsay has been doing improv with Tucson Improv Movement since 2018. She loves getting to be creative on stage and laugh with her teams.

When she’s not doing improv, Lindsay teaches the 3rd grade, rock climbs, plays soccer, and bakes all the goodies!

Czarina Nafarrate is an Arizona native who grew up in Nogales, AZ. An avid storyteller, Czarina first came to Tucson to pursue a degree in journalism (and French) at the University of Arizona and has called it home ever since. She is currently a digital copywriting manager by day AND an improviser at Tucson Improv Movement by night. She spends her days listening to true crime podcasts and begging for cuddles from her pup, Nikolaj.

Jessica has been studying and performing improv since the beginning of 2013.  She currently plays on TIM house teams The Soapbox and The Riveters.

Jessica's improv philosophy is that really good comedy should be smart, grounded, sometimes goofy but ALWAYS fun!  Trying to engrain improv strategy/skills as a natural part of your scene work will allow you to get out of your head and truly experience what's happening on stage. Jessica's teaching and coaching style emphasizes finding confidence on stage which allows you to truly follow the fun in a scene. 

A Tucson native, she earned her Business and Film degrees at the University of Arizona.  When not ‘improving’ you can find her in the Nico’s drive-thru (bean and cheese burrito please!), watching TV, walking her cat (it's true), at the movies, playing video games (yes, she’s a geek!), or simply hanging out with friends & family.

Cristin Phibbs began performing when she was 3 with Limelight Productions in Sierra Vista Arizona. She became a touring performer through elementary school and middle school singing and dancing. In high school she began to focus on acting, primarily in comedies. After High school she moved to Tucson and Performed with many local Theater Companies including Borderlands, Old Pueblo Players, Top Hat Theater Club and The Comedy Playhouse. She also served as President of the board for Something Something Theater Company. She studied theater at Pima Community College and earned a theater minor from the University of Arizona. In 2016 she became a company member of Tucson Improv Movement. By 2020 Cristin was asked to coach improv for the theater and in 2024 she began teaching improv at TIM. Professionally Cristin has been a teacher since 2004 and will complete her PhD in Educational Psychology in Spring 2025.

Linda Ray writes the "Laughing Stock" and "City Week" columns for Tucson Weekly and plays improv whenever she can. Making new friends and laughing more are her favorite things about retirement.

Clare started classes with TIM in January 2014 and never looked back. Her love for entertaining began in 3rd grade when she played the letter “E” for the alphabet musical. Being cast as a vowel allowed her to overcome the nascent feelings of inferiority that come from being the youngest of four kids. She loves dancing, singing out her emotions, and waiting for the right moment to yell YOLO.

Kallie is fairly new to both Tucson and Improv, but has always been a fan of laughter. She started classes with Tucson Improv Movement in August 2015 and has adored every second spent improvising. Although she would love to spend all day, every day making arts and crafts and/or doing anything else besides physical labor, she pays the bills by working as a registered dietitian.

Amanda started doing improv with TIM in May 2015 after realizing that she needed a little intangible and impermanent art in her life! The inviting community, high average number of belly laughs per minute, and throwaway nature of improv is what made Amanda know that she wanted to do as much Improv as possible. In addition to studying Improv at TIM, she has also studied Sketch at both TIM and Second City online. She is currently a member of Fine Print, a house Harold team, and most importantly to her heart, the indie teams Legal Torts, We Were Dead the Whole Time, and Oops All Tom Sellecks!

Philosophically speaking, Amanda believes that Improv scenes should be rooted in honest reactions, active listening, and a strong point of view. Her weekdays are spent teaching 6-8th grade Language Arts and directing middle school plays (the most fun part of her job!). Aside from Improv, her hobbies include writing, painting, and talking to and about her dog, Harris.

Jessie has been dreaming of doing improv since her first year of college, but was too chicken to try out for her university's troupe. Finally, in February of 2014 (nearly two decades later) she worked up the courage to take an Improv 101 class, and it was love at first "yes, and."  Jessie finds improvisation to be very helpful in her daily life as a commercial property manager and part-time petsitter. Her proudest moment was when Alex Trebek called her "not a well person".

Kyle is a Local Tusconian that has a deep love of comedy. No seriously, this idiot has puns tattooed on his leg. High energy goofy comedy is his favorite thing to do, and he hopes you will enjoy it just as much!