AJ Swamy likes to incorporate now defunct department stores into his improv. Please keep a lookout for a Caldor or Bradlees drop. Jamesway as well. He also plays guitar as musical accompaniment. He’s been doing improv for an amount of time. He also loves his wife and dog Laila. Laila is not his wife, just his dog.
Once upon a time,
Dakota Reider wasn't part of ComedySportz Jersey Shore. Then he was. We're in THAT part of his life story now. What we don't have from Dakota yet, though, is a real bio. So he has this bio instead. That's how it goes.
Dylan Manigian is a stand up comedian and actor, who performs with CSz and Asbury Improv. Follow him
@DylanManigian on Twitter or @laughatdylan on Facebook. And catch him hosting Trivia on Tuesdays at The Black Swan in Asbury Park and Bingo Wednesdays at The Goat in Union Beach. You have your orders. What are you waiting for?
Elle River is an aspiring cat-lady from Mythical Central Jersey who is thrilled to be part of Comedy Sportz! When Elle’s not playing make believe on stage, you can find her singing like a sad ghost as one half of Dakota & Elle Music, donning a ballgown as non-copyrighted royalty for Princess Party Playtime, or panic-eating peanut butter in the upstairs closet.
Emily Olson has always had a penchant for performing, but her theatrics don’t seem to impress any fish in her day job as a marine biologist. You might recognize her from the crowd in that scene from that one movie. She will fight you for the last slice of pizza.
Emily Zargan has been performing and doing tech for improv since 2016 and also plays with the Lancaster Improv Players TourCo team. When not on stage, Emily enjoys fostering baby animals, traveling and deep-diving YouTube.
Joe Coughlin is the creator and host of Movie Scrapple, a live, improvised movie riffing show that you can find in recorded form on YouTube., You can find him on Twitter @inturnaround if you want him to be on your podcast (he’ll probably say yes, especially if you have a mozzarella stick budget).
Julie Sinkoff loves to laugh and sing! She began improv with CSz Philly. When she isn’t performing in ComedySportz, she sings with her quartet, Up & Away! FunFact: Julie and her husband Mike got engaged on a ComedySportz stage!
There are several ComedySportz Jersey Shore players who didn't yet provide bios for the new website. Is
Kevin O'Donnell among them? Who are we to say?
Krista Vaeth has been making people laugh since birth; her parents even called her “Krista Chaos.” She fell in love with improv after her first class with Death By Improv in 2013. She is a member of Asbury Park Improv, who enjoys experimenting with different voices, accents and impressions.
Podcaster, Internet person, and dad
Lex Friedman started doing improv when he was 10, and he won't stop, no matter how much we beg. He studied at The Groundlings in LA, and also performs with Death By Improv. You can follow him on Mastodon, which is like Twitter but harder, at
@lexfri, but no pressure.
Living skeleton
Matt Farrell got involved with improv back in 2016, and it has been his hobby of choice for a life of undead eternity. To fill in the gaps, he watches various star-related programming (wars/trek/gate/battle) and plays board games.
Mel Gallagher (she/her) is a mom of 3 daughters, a Ravenclaw, and has a weakness for soft chocolate chip cookies. In her spare time, she likes naps, food, podcasting, and shopping. Her comedic influences include Redd Foxx, Melissa McCarthy, Chris Rock and Bernie Mac. Despite the rumors, she is not married to Chris Hemsworth. Follow her on Instagram at
@y_as_in_jello.
Mick Murtha: Raconteur! Gadfly! Bon vivant! He’s all these, and probably a bunch of other words he doesn’t understand. Mick has been performing improv since 2010, performing short form improv throughout New Jersey and up and down the east coast with Death By Improv, longform and sketch with Howdy Stranger, and feats of strength at disreputable carnivals nationwide!
Starting in Orlando with Disney, Universal, and Sak Theatre,
Mike O'Keeffe has 30 years of performing and teaching improv worldwide and has done regional shows with former troupe-mate Wayne Brady. Recently, he presented a TED Talk on the concept of “Play” called “Using Improv to Become a Better Human.”
Mitch Albala was inspired by his wife Mona to pursue improv. After studying under many masters, including Improv Jam, Death by Improv, and North Coast, he still doesn’t know what he’s doing. He enjoys gaming, travel, and the occasional GISH.
Mona Carol-Albala has been improvising since February of 2016. She is a member of Death by Improv in Central NJ, and the all-female ZoomProv troupe Dolly Lana. When not on the improv stage, she loves to travel, eat yummy foods, and sing barbershop acapella harmony with Liberty Oak Chorus, and her quartet Amethyst. She is enjoying performing on the ComedySportz stage with her husband Mitch.
Nick Saint Onge has been doing improv for more than half his life and may eventually get better at it if he learns how to listen or be funny. He has no current plans for either, but anything is possible in improv. Nick studied design for some reason and enjoys sometimes having money. He can be reached by using a step stool or small ladder.
Nicole Fiala has been studying improv since 2015. She took her first improv class at Temple University while an undergrad. When not on stage, Nicole is an elementary school teacher in Philadelphia. In her free time, she loves to read, run, bake, cheer on the Eagles, eat “wooder” ice, and never misses an opportunity to make a pun!
Tired of riding out the fame from his role of “the Sheriff” in his junior high performance of Peril at Pumpernickel Pass,
Phil Gravuer decided to study improv at ComedySportz Philadelphia, became an inaugural member of the CSz Philly Minor League, and is ecstatic to be here at ComedySportz Jersey Shore.
Reese Towler has been hopping around on stages since she was 4yrs old. She came to ComedySportz in 2022 not knowing what she was getting into and has been held captive by the improv comedy gods ever since. From dance to theater, to spoken word now improv, she’s always ready to take on a new challenge in the lights and behind the scenes. Believe it or not, she also has at least 3 friends who are shorter than her.
Ria Torricelli makes stuff up for a living. She also runs this joint, much to the dismay of her lonely cats. Her daughters are funnier than she is but they’ll have nothing to do with any of this, so she just repeats their material louder and a little differently.
Ryan McCrone has been performing improv since his time in college. After coming back to New Jersey, he was lucky enough to join Death By Improv as well as Asbury Park Improv. When he’s not on stage he’s probably annoying his dog by flipping her on her back and giving her belly rubs.
Sometimes, when
Sarah Cornacoff is asked to write a bio, she has a funny way of responding: She instead does NOT write a bio. That's why she instead has THIS bio. At least for now. Sarah invented the cure for the common cold, but she hasn't told anyone what it is yet.
Scott Mihalick discovered improv several years ago and, once he started, he hasn’t stopped. He comes to CSz Jersey Shore from blah blah blah blah blah. He most enjoys yadda yadda etcetera words words words. Is anyone really reading this? He is most proud of wabba sabba doines doines doines. Oxford Comma.
Sean Mako was asked to write a bio.
Did Sean write a bio? He did not. Did someone else on his behalf? That depends on whether you consider this here thing... "a bio." We report, you decide.
Susan Kleiner makes things up on the spot as a member of CSz and Central Jersey’s Death By Improv, as well as in her day job as a lawyer. Her teenage daughters tell her she isn’t cool if she refers to herself as “the cool mom.” As if.
Trish Tyler studied at ComedySportz in New York as well as Chicago. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory. When she’s not being upstaged by her son, Henry, she also plays with “It’s Improv Baby!” and Dolly Lana. She’s getting a Masters in Comedy Writing.
