Mental
Floss was a popular offshoot of the early history of Improvisation
located right here in South Florida. The Mental Floss Comedy Improv
Theatre Company was founded in 1986 by Miami actor Sandy Mielke,
who had worked with the well known Los Angeles Improv troupe,
the LA Connection. Mental Floss fourished for six years, but foundered
in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. A number of former Mental
Floss members remain active in the South Florida acting community,
including Wayne Legette and Maribeth Graham. Nick Santa Maria
has had success in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows as well as
national tours. Mark McCracken is a professional actor in Los
Angeles, and appeared as Captain Ed "Too Tall" Freeman
in We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson. This group dissolved
in 1992 and several of their members banded together to form Laughing
Gas, including Gerald Owens who continues to perform to this day.
Comedy Squad: In West Palm Beach, the early 1990's spawned
the popular Comedy Squad improv troupe, which performed for several
years at art and music-oriented bars before they broke up. A number
of male cast members decamped for New York, and several remaining
performers wanted to create a new group. As it happens, these
actors were all women, and rather inadvertently evolved into South
Florida's only all-female troupe, Big Purse (and Matching
Shoes). They performed in West Palm Beach, then shifted south
to the Fort Lauderdale area. They were aggressive writers, and
created many edgy and intelligent sketches with a delightfully
subversive feminist slant (who says feminists can't be funny?).
When Big Purse split up, two core members, Elena Maria Garcia
and Maggie Marigold, put together a new company, Separate Checks
(they allowed some men in this time). They have a different approach,
in that they allow the audience to select the show lineup from
a menu of theater games.
Comedy Sportz: Actor Pat Batastini
organized a franchise of this national improvisational comedy
show in Fort Lauderdale. Though this group was short-lived, it
had a run at the now-defunct Comic Strip Comedy Club.
Local troupes have actors that have some
direct affiliations with the history of improv:
Laughing Gas: Todd Rice graduated
from The Second City training program and trained with Del Close
at ImprovOlympic. Cesar Gracia has moved on to New York and trained
in sketch writing at Second City New York and at the UCB Theatre.
Danny Paul appeared in In a Fix on The Learning Channel.
Veronica Puleo has moved to Los Angeles and trained with the Groundlings
and performed with Jim Belushi of Second City in an episode of
According to Jim. Alum Brian Breiter appears in Los Angeles
with the Liquid Radio Players and has appeared on The Man Show
on Comedy Central as well as having trained with the Groundlings.
Another alum, Laura Sebastian, also trained at the Second City
in Chicago.
For information on Laughing Gas, you can go to their site by clicking
here or calling them for further information at (305) 461-1161.
Separate Checks: Both Elena Maria
Garcia and Maggie Marigold were members of the all female Big
Purse and are active in the South Florida acting community.
Impromedy: Ozzie Quintana graduated
from the Players Workshop of Second City. Yamil Piedra has moved
to Los Angeles and has had several significant appearances including
in Boston Legal, Las Vegas and Justin to Kelly.
Several other cast members are heavily involved in the theater
acting community and often appear in locally produced films and
plays.
For information on Impromedy, you can
go to their site by clicking
here.
More information on Laughing Gas, Separate Checks, Impromedy and other local troupes
is available on our Local Troupes page.
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