HEADLINERS
The 2024 Asheville Improv Festival
is so lucky to have this INCREDIBLE lineup of improv and comedy talent as this year’s headliners including 3Peat, Jill Bernard, Carla and Craig Cackowski, Ithamar Enriquez, Jennifer Estlin, Hodgepodge & Mick Napier!
They will grace our stages and offer some super fun workshops to festival attendees and performers. Read more about these legends below.
About Our Amazing Headliners
3Peat is a critically acclaimed group of improv/sketch/standup artists who met while performing and teaching at iO and Second City in Chicago. Since their time in Chicago, the cast has continued touring together and gone on to work on a number of different film and TV projects like The Blackening, South Side, The Amber Ruffin Show, The Late Show, The Upshaws, Comedy Central, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Tab Time, and more!
Made up of the absurdly talented John Thibodeaux, Nnamdi Ngwe, Patrick Rowland, Lisa Beasley, Allison Blair, Shantira Jackson, and Dewayne Perkins, 3Peat’s members brim with a wide array of acting, comedy and writing credentials which include Second City Touring Company and revues; iO Theatre, A Black Lady Sketch Show, The Patrick Rowland Sketch Show, Chicago MED, Big Mouth, Wait Wait..Don't Tell Me, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Break with Michelle Wolf JUST TO NAME A PALTRY FEW!
Jill Bernard (she/her) has been performing with ComedySportz-Twin Cities since 1993, and is a founding member of HUGE Theater in Minneapolis. Her one-woman improv piece, Drum Machine, has been featured in over forty improv festivals. She has taught and performed improv in Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and in over forty of the United States; and also on an episode of MTV “Made.”
Carla Cackowski is an improviser and writer living in Los Angeles. She taught improvisation and directed sketch shows at The Second City Hollywood for over a decade and was the Co-Artistic Director at Curious Comedy Theater in Portland prior to becoming the Artistic Director at Mi’s Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica. She has written for kids TV shows distributed by DreamWorks Television, PBS Kids, and Nickelodeon and was a frequent guest improvisor on SPONTANEANTION with Paul F. Tompkins and Alchemy This with Kevin Pollak.
Craig Cackowski is an actor, improvisor and teacher based in Los Angeles. He was involved with the iO and iO West (RIP) theaters from 1992-2018, and was the three-time winner of the Del Close Award as Teacher of the Year at iO West. He has played numerous improv festivals around the US with his long-running three-man troupe Dasariski (with Bob Dassie and Rich Talarico) Ntv and his duo Orange Tuxedo (with his wife Carla!). While in Chicago, he appeared in and co-wrote 5 revues for The Second City, and helped create such improv forms as JTS Brown and Close Quarters. As an actor, he has been seen in recurring roles on such shows as Community, Veep, Drunk History, and Mindy Kaling’s Sex Lives Of College Girls. He may be heard frequently on such podcasts as The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Kevin Pollak’s Alchemy This and his own podcast Craig’s List, in which he makes Carla watch his 100 favorite movies.
Orange Tuxedo is a two person improv show from a husband and wife out of Los Angeles. They focus on creating grounded relationships created by memorable characters. If you like comedy, you may have seen Craig wear various mustaches and costume pieces on Comedy Central’s Drunk History. If you like drunken history, you may have seen Carla drink various beers on Instagram. They have traveled nationally to teach and perform at Austin for the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival (2015), SF Sketchfest (San Francisco 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), Phoenix Improv Festival (2016), Del Close Marathon (NYC 2016), Stumptown Improv Fest (Portland 2016, 2017), Detroit Improv Festival (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022), IF Cincinnati (2016), Denver Improv Festival (2016), Providence Improv Festival (2017), Orange County Improv Fest (2017, 2018), San Francisco Improv Festival (2017), Seattle Festival of Improvisation (2018), Rise Comedy Festival (Denver, 2022), Last Best Comedy Festival in Montana (2023), Sarasota Improv Festival (2018, 2019, 2023), and The Last Word Comedy Festival in Williamsburg (2024). International shows and workshops include Free Association in London, UK (2016), Vancouver International Improv Festival (2018), Copenhagen International Improv Festival (2019), Warsaw Improv Festival (2019), and Das Improv Fest in Berlin (2023).
Ithamar Enriquez is an alum of The Second City Chicago and has been a guest performer at The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade and as guest host of The Jim Henson Company’s Puppet Up! His TV and film appearances include: WandaVision, Miracle Workers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lady Bird, The Conners, Arrested Development, 9-1-1, The Office and A Series of Unfortunate Events. His voice can also be heard on American Dad, Netflix’s Chicago Party Aunt and Nick Jr.’s Pop Up Problem Solvers. His live solo show, Ithamar Has Nothing To Say, has played all over the country and became a web series produced by Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
Jennifer Estlin has been involved in the entertainment business as an actress and producer since 1986. Following her graduation from Northwestern University’s School of Speech in 1987, she traveled to Edinburgh Scotland with the production of André Gregory's Alice! directed by David Schwimmer. Afterward, she spent three months traveling all over Europe until deciding to settle for a while in Paris, where she earned her living singing on the Parisian Metro for close to a year.
Upon returning to Chicago, Jennifer spent several years working in many of Chicago’s theatres including The Annoyance, Northlight, and The Body Politic. She toured for two years with Second City’s National Touring company and was a company member on a Second City resident stage prior to moving to New York in 1994. There, she continued her career by working in regional theatres around the country, Off-Broadway theatre, film, and television. She returned to Chicago in 2002 to become President, Executive Producer and co-owner of the Annoyance Theatre, and continues to work on film, television and stage.
Jennifer has appeared as recurring characters Judge Cohen on Proven Innocent and Cathy Briscoe on NBC’s Law and Order, and also in shows such as Chicago PD, Empire, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Exit 57. Her film credits include the recent indie film Everything Fun You Could Possibly Do in Aledo Illinois, Volcano, The Eyes, and the award winning short films A Million Miles Away, (Sundance) and The Cure (Slamdance).
Hodgepodge is a collective of seasoned performers from Chicago, comprising female and non-binary artists. They draw on their personal stories to create and inspire their ensemble's work.
Shelby Burton is the Artistic Director of Bughouse Theater and co-producer of "Forward In Comfortable Shoes," a showcase highlighting diverse perspectives in comedy. She has performed at iO Theater, Laugh Out Loud Theater, Improv Acadia, and Comedy Sportz in Chapel Hill, bringing her unique blend of wit and spontaneity to each stage. Shelby is also a dedicated educator, teaching improvisation to students of all ages with an emphasis on creativity, collaboration, and confidence. Additionally, she is a performer in the long-running live show turned podcast, Fowler Family Radio Hour, which can be heard wherever you get your podcasts.
Dee Ryan is a an alumna of The Second City having written and performed three shows on their Second City ETC stage. She toured Nationally and internationally with The Second City Tour Co The Best of Second City and The Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Complete Millennium Musical - 'abridged'. Dee has written, performed and toured her one-woman shows Deeconstruction and Broadguess at such theaters as: The Reston Community Theater in Reston, VA, Flatwater Shakespeare in Lincoln, NE, Pittsburgh Public Theater in Pittsburgh, PA and The UCB Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Dee has taught improvisation for over twenty years at The Second City in Hollywood and Chicago. She is an Adjunct Professor of comedy and improvisation in the Radio, TV and Film department at Northwestern University. In 2017, she taught an English language Shakespeare immersion camp in Beijing, China. Louder Than a Mom, her bi-monthly spoken word storytelling show, celebrated its tenth anniversary this year at Martrys in Chicago. She lived in LA for fifteen years improvising with Stacy's Not Here and The All Girl Revue and wrote for Disney Animated features and others. (Damn, it's hard to get a movie made.) On TV, you may have seen her on The Office as Steve Carrell's improv class member.
Beth Melewski has been an actor and improviser in Chicago for over 25 years. She has performed in multiple shows at iO Chicago and around the city including, Virgin Daiquiri, The Armando Diaz Experience and currently with The Improvised Shakespeare Company and Hodgepodge. Beth was a proud member of The Second City Chicago family where she wrote and performed in the Jeff award nominated shows, “The Second City Guide to the Opera” and “The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life” in addition to the Jeff Award winning “Studs Terkel’s Not Working”. Television credits include Work in Progress (Showtime), Shrink (Peacock), Arrested Development (Netflix), and one season as the host of Chicago Cash Cab (Discovery). She has also lent her voice as Claudia the Witch on the podcast Hello, from the Magic Tavern. Beth loves dogs who have their own Instagram page and is a licensed professional counselor. Buy her a drink and she won’t ask about your childhood.
Liz Allen has been teaching, performing, and coaching improv in Chicago and Las Vegas for the past 31 years. Liz won the Coach of The Year Award at the iO Chicago Theater so many times, they gave up and renamed it. It's now, officially, The Liz Allen Excellence In Teaching Award. At the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in ‘05, Liz directed the first ever long form improv show for The Second City on The Vegas Strip. Liz coached The Commune, the improv ensemble in Mike Birbiglia’s 2016 film, Don’t Think Twice.A sought after master of improvisation, Liz has coached all over the world, a go-to source for directors, artists, CEOs, congressional lawyers, and even a few diplomats. She understands ensemble better than anybody, and believes we're all fighting to connect.Liz is excited to delve into her own scripted work in Tonight I Am My Mother.
Mick Napier is the founder and visionary behind the acclaimed Annoyance Theatre and is known both nationally and internationally as an innovator and creative force in comedy, improvisation, and theater. His belief in the element of risk-taking that is at the core of improvisation influences his work and his direction, inspiring genuine creativity in any project with which he is involved.
With the Annoyance, Mick has spent more than 20 years developing and cultivating a style of work and production that has been both acclaimed and imitated. As a Director and Artistic Consultant for the internationally renowned Second City he made his mark having directed more than 10 revues there, including the 40th and 50th Anniversary revues, and Paradigm Lost, which earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award for direction. Mick’s has also directed such high profile actors and writers as Martin Short (Martin Short & Friends,) Jeff Garlin (I want Someone to Eat Cheese With,) and David & Amy Sedaris in their Obie Award Winning hit One Woman Shoe.
In film, Mick directed and edited Annoyance Productions’ first feature film Fatty Drives the Bus, which was released by Troma Pictures in November 1999. For television, he was writer/performance director for the Cable Ace nominated Exit 57, which aired on Comedy Central for two seasons, Creative Producer on the nationally syndicated sketch TV show The Sports Bar, and for HBO/Comedy Central, he directed the live pilot, T.B.A. His original animations have appeared on the cable programs Tame Show, and R-Rated, as well as in the Chicago Comedy Film Festival.
In addition at The Annoyance, Mick has directed over 20 original productions. Notable ones include Coed Prison Sluts, the longest running musical in Chicago, Splatter Theater, an annual Halloween blood bath, The Tragedy of Balloon Boy, That Darn Antichrist, and more recently The Boy Scout Musical and Swear Jar.
As an actor, Mick has appeared in the films Ice Harvest and Let’s Go to Prison, Watch, and Talent, and on television in The Bear, as a talent judge in the Canadian reality show Next Comedy Legend, and in Shrink, a SeeSo television series. The documentary Second to None chronicles Mick’s process of directing a show for The Second City.
Mick’s first book, “Improvise. Scene from the Inside Out” (Heinemann, 2004) reached its 10th printing, and is widely regarded as a seminal work on the subject of Improvisation. It was re-issued with three additional chapters in 2016 under Meriwether Publishing. Meriwether published Mick’s second book, “Behind the Scenes: Improvising Long Form“, in 2016, as well.
Mick worked with many companies and organizations over the past 15 years in areas such as Communication, Collaboration, Innovation, Leadership, and Presentation.
Mick also enjoys a mentalist act with his partner and partner, Jennifer Estlin; they go by the name Napier & Estlin.