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 Fontana Butterfield has been acting since the age of 6 and yes, it is her real name. She was born in San Francisco on July 4th and graduated from SFSU then went on to study the Meisner method at the Laura Henry Studio in L.A. She has been with Big City Improv since almost the beginning and is also a member of Shotgun Players where so far she has performed in EAT, The Miser and Cyrano de Bergerac. Fontana credits her sanity to improv which is the most fun you can have that's apparently still legal.
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 Judith Goodman was born in the flounder (as in the fish) capitol of the United States (Quincy, Massachusetts). There she got her start in theater with Diane Purdy's Children's Theater Troupe. She is embarrassed to admit that her first role as an actor was as a generic princess in the Diane Purdy original of "To Please a Prince". (Years later Judy will make amends to women everywhere by founding an all women's comedy troupe at Cornell University.) Growing up in Quincy, Judy participated with her local community and school theater troupes. When she enrolled at Cornell University in the Fall of 1992 she soon became a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Skits-O-Phrenics. In 1994 while at Cornell Universtiy Judy founded an all women's improv, sketch and stand-up troupe "Exxit Only". After graduating from Cornell University in May of 1996 Judy returned to Boston. There she briefly joined Improv Boston but soon headed to Australia.
While in Australia Judy worked on the production side of the Melbourne Comedy Festival and did a little stand-up comedy here and there. After moving to San Francisco at the end of 1997 she soon started exploring the comedy scene in San Francisco. She briefly became a member of the sketch/improv troupe Johnny Kats. Since 2000 Judy has been a member of Big City Improv. Judy loves being part of a cast of such funny, talented and genuinely good people. Yes, we are really having a great time on stage!
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 Bob Lieberman started improvising back in 1986 with the L.A. Connection. He moved from L.A. to San Francisco in 1990 and has since worked with theatre companies (usually scripted) throughout the Bay Area, including Aurora (The Entertainer), Berkeley Rep (understudying Geoff Hoyle for Rhinoceros), Playhouse West (How the Other Half Loves), and CenterREP (Don't Dress for Dinner), among many others.
His facility with accents and dialects have allowed him to perform characters with Russian, German, Scottish, Cockney, British, Irish, Alabaman and Brooklyn accents.
In addition to his stage work, Bob has done a variety of on-camera and voice-over work for commercials and corporate videos. Most folks are quick to recognize him as the Pine Sol lady.
Bob has a knack for being in the proximity of greatness: originally from Syosset, New York (home of Natalie Portman), he attended high school in Chatsworth, California (where, if he'd been born three years earlier, he would have been classmates with 2-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer and Oscar-nominee Mare Winningham). Later, as a member of the L.A. Connection, he performed with future Friends star Matthew Perry. And, from certain angles, he's a dead-ringer for Swingers' Jon Favreau.
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 Andrew Merit has improvised since 2001 with many Bay Area improv troupes including BATS Improv, Secret Improv Society and Go Fish. His scripted theater credits include a starring role as Patrick Rowan in the Willows Theater production of The Kentucky Cycle. He currently does commercial and voice-over work when he gets picked; along with an occasional appearance on a popular Japanese television show—seriously.
He has pioneered new improv formats including a fully-improvised murder mystery, an improvised holiday story and more.
Andrew is a teacher, director and all around enjoyer of improvisation. He’s embarrassingly excited to have joined the cast of Big City Improv.
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 Joël Micucci has performed with notable improv groups such as BATS Improv, Flash Family, Underdog, Emotional Hospital, and Unscripted Theatre. He can be seen on HGTV’s home improvement shows Curb Appeal and Landscape Smart or somewhere in the city building a Green eco-friendly home. He’s originally from Massachusetts but thinks San Francisco is wicked cool.
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 Rebecca, a native of Brooklyn, New York, currently resides in Oakland, California. She credits improv with keeping her from poking her eyes out at various points in her life. She was a member of the S.I.K.O.S. (Smith Improv Komedy Organization of Smith) at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she also performed in the Vagina Monologues and in assorted student-written productions. She has also performed and collaborated with the Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover, Vermont and in New York, in mask, puppetry, and circus shows. She has taught theater to rowdy teenagers with the "I Have A Dream Program" in New York in 2001 and with the San Francisco Mime Troupe's Youth Theater Project in 2003. When not doing improv, Rebecca keeps herself busy procrastinating, doing crossword puzzles, and contemplating women's shoes.
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 Courtney Shea was born and raised on the "other coast" in the city of Boston, home of Dunkin' Donuts and big hair. She has officially been an improviser since 1998, but anyone who knows her would say her improv career started at birth.
She began her official career at Boston College as a member of "My Mother's Fleabag", and spent some time performing with Improv Boston before relocating to the west coast. The past few years as an SF resident she did some performing with Pan Theater, and East Bay Improv.
To add to her training, Courtney spends her days as a Pediatric Nurse, but when she is on stage, she is off duty, so don't get sick.
She loves Big City, and although it took her a long time to find them, she feels this troupe was worth the wait.
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 Marc has been a member of Big City Improv since the beginning of 2005. His first taste of improv was had in a class taught by the troupe's very own Jayne Entwistle and Fontana Butterfield. It was soon apparent that making stuff up was truly his forte! With a background in music, Marc is not afraid to break out in song at the drop of a hat, accompanied by what some would call modern dance, others a semi-rhythmic epileptic fit. Marc used these skills to win the monthly Zeppelin Beach Improv Slam Singing Contest in July, not only walking away with bragging rights, but $100 as well! He plans to spearhead the revitalization and modernization of the improvisational scatting movement, and is currently working on forming San Francisco's very first all male ensemble of concert whistlers.
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Photographs
by Anne Harris |
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