Contributors

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Lindsey Barrow has performed at Nerdist, UCB, iO, Second City, and all around the city of Los Angeles doing stand up, sketch, and improv. She’s performed improv and sketch for over ten years and is the current Artistic Director at The Nerdist School. You can see her on television on shows like Speechless,  Casual, and in commercials that are too many to count. Lindsey is great at writing bios. Just ask this one.

Lindsey is currently repped commercially by Laura Soo Hoo at Reign and theatrically by Ross Grossman at Affinity Artists and Gen Kiyooka at Rectangle Management.

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Amy Albert is a comedian writer lady person. She is a sketch comic who lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Nick, dog baby, Dave and real life girl baby, Bo. Amy is a member of sketch team The Mutiny who were the recipients of the Del Close Awards for Best Scripted Show and performed at the Comedy Central Stages. Amy wrote a web series called “Assistance” about being a Hollywood assistant to an actress that was a 2015 LA Webfest award winner for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy, Ensemble in a Comedy and Outstanding Comedy Series.
Amy has also written and starred in a one person musical character show called Delilah Dix-America’s Showgirl, which toured all over the US and UK in venues like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Women in Comedy Festival, Los Angeles Comedy Festival and Ars Nova in New York where she was once referred to as a “really talented broad”. It was at that moment she discovered her love for the word “broad”.
Amy is a seasoned improv performer who trained through UCB, iO West and The PIT and performed on house improv and musical improv teams at these theaters for many glorious years. She is also a proud member of The Story Pirates, a non-profit children’s theater company that uses kids stories and turns them into musical sketch comedy. It’s the best thing, like pretty much ever.
Her writing credits include web series “The Secret Life of Otters”, contributing writer for The Buzzkill Magazine and was awarded Writer of the Year for 2015. She also contributes to The After Party Magazine, Crying Into My Cake-The True Life Stories of a Kids Birthday Party Clown, and as of late Holy Crap I’m Your Mom, a mom blog written from the POV of a former party girl lush turned parent. She performed stand up for 7 years before deciding it wasn’t for her, which is a good sign she really gives new things the good old college try. You may have seen her in a bunch of commercials for places like Golden Corral, GE, Straight Talk Wireless, LG, Meijers or the Kansas Lottery, but if you haven’t, it’s probably because you’re a Hulu type of person.

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Leann is a writer and director from Los Angeles. She is currently a writer for Netflix’s Dear White People. Past writing credits include Funny or Die, UCBComedy, Buzzfeed, CBS and has directed sketch for Funny or Die, CollegeHumor, Buzzfeed, and Cracked.

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Jaylene is a Bay Area native turned Angeleno, which initially felt weird to say, but LA’s food scene is slowly winning her over.
After completing a long educational career – a BA in Biology, a Master of Theological Studies, and a MBA with a Nonprofit Management emphasis – Jaylene worked for several years in the Bay Area nonprofit sector.
She occasionally moonlights as a session musician and a writer (both on her own and for outlets like McSweeney’s), but her true crowning achievement in life was winning a Reading Rainbow contest as an 8-year-old, and has spent most of her time trying to live up to that.
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Rebecca is a writer and performer, she graduated from Suffolk University with degree in Theatre Arts. Rebecca has also studied at The Improv Asylum, Improv Boston, The Second City Chicago, i.O. Chicago, UBC and The Nerdist School.

Rebecca co-wrote and directed A Mother of A Memoir and A Drinkcart Named Desire, both performed at The Second City Chicago. She is one half of the character improv team, The Wal-Mart Ladies. Rebecca is also a member of Short Stop, a Nerdist School House Ensemble.

In her spare time, Rebecca loves to binge watch shows that are 10 years old, which annoys everyone around her. She loves dogs, her family, friends and everyone reading this.

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Rachel Gagnon is a writer and editor based in San Francisco, CA. She’s
written a lot of words on the internet–some were about art, some were
buttons you might have clicked on a popular social network. She’s been
a contributing writer for Art21 since 2008, and gets pleasure from
dragging people to museums.

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Kirby Howell-Baptiste is an actor and writer that proudly hails from North London. She began acting at The Anna Scher Theatre, at the age of 12, when her Mother thought it best for her to interact with things other than Barbie dolls. Since moving to Los Angeles, Kirby has appeared in House of Lies (Showtime), Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC), and Six Guys One Car (Comedy Central), and is a recurring character on the Judd Apatow/Lesley Arfin/Paul Rust show, LOVE (Netflix). You can see Kirby performing on Harold Night with Nomi Malone at UCB Franklin. If that’s just not enough, Kirby also performs at various indie shows with teams including Essence, an all black, all female group, and Potato Potato. For food based comedy, check Kirby out on the 2 (wo)man team 2 Hot Dogs with fellow UCBer Natalie Palamides.

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Steph Garcia is a writer and performer originally from the great state of New Jersey. She was a writer for the CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase, performs sketch at The Nerdist School with The Money Pit, and is super jazzed about all this HOT GOSS. Her work has been featured at the Women in Comedy Festival, LA Web Fest, NYC Sketch Fest and the NY Television Festival. She was part of the team that won the 2011 Best Film Winner at the NY 48 Hour Film Festival “Nanny Cam” and she played a waitress on a soap opera a bunch of times. Also, she told me to tell you that she said hi.

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Shannon Joy Rodgers is from Austin,TX living in Los Angeles,CA. She’s been featured on TruTV’s Fameless and Adam Ruins Everything, Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Birthday Boys, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan. She also grew up as a rollerblader, skating in competitions and videos. Shannon’s sketch comedy and skating can be seen on College Humor, Funny or Die, and Youtube.

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Gwen is a writer, actor, and activist from New Jersey and New Mexico, aka New Jersico for short. She will happily tell you about the best breakfast foods in both of her home states. Gwen performs regularly at UCB and other stages around Los Angeles. She’s written for multiple TV shows on Bravo, MTV, and truTV, and is a contributing writer for Reductress.

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Lexi Notabartolo is a writer, performer, director, and researcher originally from places where there are casinos. Yes, all of them.

A recurring sketch performer on TruTv’s “How To Be A Grown Up,” Lexi has written for Warner Brothers’ animated Looney Tunes series “Wabbit” and has adapted several books and web properties for television. Her writing for TV and film has been in the top 20% of Nicholls Fellowship applicants and the Second Round at the Austin Film Festival.

A former policy wonk and Fulbright researcher in the Republic of Georgia, Lexi graduated from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, with an honors degree in Political Studies. Lexi spent several years as a federal lobbyist in Washington, D.C ., came perilously close to getting a Ph.D, and spent an unreasonable amount of time traveling as an internationally competitive debater. Her academic writing has been published in several peer-reviewed journals.

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Nadia Osman is a writer and performer in Los Angeles. She is the co-writer of Mad Men: The Musical (featured in Vulture, Bustle, and LA Weekly) and Walter White and the Amazing Blue Crystal Meth (featured in Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, Gothamist and more). Nadia holds a B.A. in History from UC Irvine, and is a graduate of the UCLA Writer’s Program. In 2009, she started studying sketch and improv at UCB, working with teachers like Brian Huskey, Chad Carter, Anthony King, Joe Wengert, Nick Wiger and many more. Previously, Nadia wrote videos for UCB Digital team Sneak Thief! Other UCB credits include Tournament of Nerds, Les Sizzlerables, The 68th Annual Tony Awards Dress Rehearsal, A Bing Crosby Christmas Christ-tacular, Teddy Roosevelt’s Presidential Funk Pad, Bombs Away!, Quick and Funny Musicals, Sketch Cram, Let’s Do This, UCB Cagematch, the Del Close Marathon in New York City, and much more. She also performs improv at iO West, Second City and various indie improv shows around town. Nadia loves Disney theme parks and eating sandwiches.

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Emily is a writer and actress originally from El Paso, TX. She’s studied with The Second City and The Nerdist School, and her work has appeared in the anthology, All The Weight of Our Dreams: Autism and Race. Her writing tackles issues of Borderland/Chicanx identity, single motherhood, and other matters facing women and POC. There are exactly five succulent plants alive, if not thriving, under her care.

Emily is currently on her fifth full go of MAD MEN. There. She said it.

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Our anonymous contributor, Polly Pissed Off writes exclusive content for our newsletter about shitty sexism she encounters in her workplace. Sign up for the newsletter to read her secret thoughts!

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Jana Schmieding is an indigenous activist, educator, and comedy writer/performer in Los Angeles. She’s written for Reductress and Bust.com. You can catch her with an early 90’s hair-style in Season 3 of Broad City. Follow her on Twitter @janaunplgd.