FIST 2025: Who’s Who
This year’s Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament (FIST) will have 71 teams and 265 performers! Who will succeed Kinfolk as the next FIST champions? The tournament starts Thursday, Mar. 20!
23 Skidoo!
We do 23 scenes (or more)! We have to leave NOW!
Cast: Alissa Platz, Isabelle Solomon, Jamal Newman, Stacey Axler
7 Layer Dip
One health care hero, two improv rookies, and seven layers!! YOU DO THE MATH!
Cast: Annie Lentz, Ashleigh Meade, Becky Steffen, Lindsay Klein
77 Inch TV
We bring the same sense of amazement you get when you first use your 77 inch TV. Don’t have one? Watch us and you’ll know what it’s like!
Cast: Brandon May, Jeremy Lynch, Matt O’Neill, Patrick Johnson
A step for mankind
We listen, we understand, we perform.
Cast: Gina Masino, Nora Charles, Stew Gray III, Yegór Kryukov
Abandoned Stepchildren
Abandoned Stepchildren: less a cohesive troupe and more a collection of mismatched socks found behind the dryer.
Cast: Bri Tollie, Dave Barak, Jared Reeves, Pat Lewis
Aftershocks
Improv events you’ll be feeling for days afterwards.
Cast: Cat Hayes, Dan Kois, Mandy Murphy, Mark Chalfant
All Fun and Games
We’re just here for the fun and games!
Cast: Ben Perone, Caroline Wolverton, Natasha Khan, Virginia Gorsevski
Aloe Vera
Apply once daily for laughter.
Cast: Danielle Steger, Eddison Wilkinson, Erick Acuña, Madeline Dozier
Amusement Park Lollipop
Remember as a kid when you wanted that big circular lollipop at the amusement park, but your parents didn’t let you? This is that lollipop.
Cast: Clyde Thompson, Joey Scully, Natalie Knazik, Stephen Gabauer
Ant Language
Small, but mighty…and sometimes funny.
Cast: Danielle Toth, Leo Versel, Marc Rigas, Matthew Harper
Awkward AF
We’re all about removing the sting of remembering life’s awkward moments with more awkwardness (and laughter)!
Cast: Anna Nelson, Diana Lewkowicz, Matt Alexander
Broken Frozen Custard Machine
Delicious humor, our custard doesn’t yolk around.
Cast: Dave Mancini, Natasha Herrick, Remy Chappetta, Sharada Strasmore
Caustic Balsam
10 out of 10 veterinarians from the 1940’s recommend Caustic Balsam for all of your comedic needs.
Cast: Catherine Mullins, Jack Barnes, Jonah Gordon, Sam Ruback
CIA: Crush Ick Analysis
Got a crush? We’ll stop at nothing to find the ick that was there all along.
Cast: Abby Haverty, Gwendolyn Bogard, Mia Bloomfield
Connections
No subscription required.
Cast: Alex Wilkinson, Anna Burke, Caitlin Brady, James Nugent
D.E. Improv
The I stands for improv, but we’re not sure about the D.E. Can you help us?
Cast: Genevieve Warner, Richard Johnson, Theresa Hofmann, Zhaokang Ong
Daddy’s Home!
Who’s your daddy? Really, who? You’re invited to story time with Daddy’s Home. Remember children, never assume who’s daddy and who’s not!
Cast: Aubrey Peterson, Bethany Stokes, Devin Hiett, Turner Meeks
Dairy Alternatives
Chaotic, serious, southern, spicy, different.
Cast: Joel Larin, Julia Marcus, Kate Gilbert, Shashaank Srinivasan
DaVinci
Four creative women of diverse disciplines connect dots unseen.
Cast: Chelsea Herrick, Eileen Haley, Holly Jones, Lisa Schreihart
Director’s Cut: What’s Next?
An improv scene rewritten in real-time! Genre flips, wild twists, audience choices—chaos controlled by the Director!
Cast: Chris Ulrich, Colin McIntyre, Joe Randazzo, Mike Lawrence
Dr. Whom
Just a bunch of who-ligans having fun!
Cast: Adina Lasser, Chris Olinger, Ian Stout, Kelsey Peters
The Dragons
Get for some fun and silly improv scenes set in a strong base reality.
Cast: Carlic Huynh, Erika Wind, Jasper Harvey
Ducks in a Row
We do not have our ducks in a row.
Cast: Abby Cohen, Elijah Giddens, James Gao
Everything Bagel
All the flavors. No regrets.
Cast: Ben Lockshin, Marjanna Smith, Misty Porter, Rose Buchbinder
Excalibur
Join our heroes on a quest worthy of King Arthur’s Court.
Cast: Chris Lewitzke, Christina Malliris, Mark Benjamin
Experimental Standup
Can I get a BIG EMOTION? I want THE DRAMA! All of it. I’m Dr. Gross, finally! I stand ready take your tea, and spin it into STAGE GOLD 😀
Cast: Julia Gross
The Factory
Our factory is ready to create the latest invention. We just need an audience member to tell us what it is!
Cast: Jen Uschold, KM “Monster” Bell, Mazyar Emami, Shawn Logue
Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
Conceptual beans
Cast: Carly Kraybill, Eli Okun, Joseph Sandoval-Bushur, Nora Dell
FIST ME
Fun. Fist. Felt.
Cast: Adam Levine, David Lapkoff, Ryan McClure
Foggy Bottom Bad Boyz
Half of GW’s [insert here] due to a civil war started by us (the bad boyz) out of boredom. We don’t follow the rules…except when required.
Cast: Aidan Puchalik, Eliza Craft, Lorenzo Limarzi, Simon Grossman
Food Court
Three friends, one food court, one unforgettable night!
Cast: Derek Polka, Jacksón Smith, Nicole Barrett
For Funsies
For Funsies is a not-that-serious improv group that builds stories from your silliest and funnest moments.
Cast: Abby Brown, David Cranberg, Kass Colón, Rachel Park
Four Pillars
Four shipwreck survivors from different ships swap stories.
Cast: Arhan Gunel, Dan Holm, Patrick Barlow, Yotam Gingold
Gimme Gimme
Gimme gimme gimme a word before midnight! Won’t somebody help us build a new improv scene?
Cast: Betsy Milarcik, Colleen Ryan, Kacie Peterson
Group B
We believe in Medicaid expansion, but not on the state level. Scene.
Cast: Daniel Binder, Declan O’Shea, Ella Walsh, Marlena Pegolo
The Hannah Piper Project
www.whatisthehannahpiperproject.com
Cast: Hannah Piper
The Haunting of WIT House
A show that’s to die for!
Cast: Emerson French, Emily Bramowitz, Melissa Gibson, Rachel Sloan
Heavyweight
Seriously in touch with our feelings.
Cast: Chizo Nwagwu, Daniel Barrera Ortega, Geoff Withuhjee, Krystal Ali
Heist Heist Baby
A successful heist can take years of meticulous planning but sometimes you have to improvise.
Cast: Amber Bellsdale, Elissa Heller, Kunal Duggal, Peter Tzeng
HIIT Happens
What happens when a Highly Inventive Improv Troupe does High Intensity Interval Training & an improv show at the same time? HIIT Happens!
Cast: Jacquel Tomlin, John Sener, Memphis Worley, Shubham Bhardwaj
JJEF, Not Geoff
Not Geoff. No, not that Jeff either.
Cast: Elisabeth Mabus, Fiona Shen-Bayh, Jenny DelVecchio, Justin Bray
Judith Light
The True Boss.
Cast: Jason Walther, Meghan Faulkner, Neil Baron, Paul Detrick
Just One Bed
We made it, now we must lie in it.
Cast: Alyse Calcagno, Bradley Galvin, Kenneth Bender
K-BAM!
K-BAM! We just learned game, and our inbox is blowin’ up. *insert sunglasses emoji*
Cast: Adam Rice, Bryan Lisman, Katherine Mash, Meghan Burns
Last-Minute Fumbles
We might be fumbling into the improv scene but we’re doing it in style. FIST isn’t ready for us—honestly, neither are we!
Cast: Brian Jimenez, Carlos Quinones, Jake Rosario, Orrin Konheim
The Legend of Badda-Bing
A legendary improv team.
Cast: Armin Haracic, Avalon Warner-Gonzales, Kelly Shannon, Niv Elis
Life’s A Bit
Two Colorado transplants bringing you mindful improv. We’ll find the funny together!
Cast: Dakota Kohfield, Tanner Kohfield
Limerence
Delightfully delulu.
Cast: Grace Campion, Kevin Eggleston, Mason Heilman, Stephanie Wester
Live in Infamy: LIVE!
Whether you were on the local news or the Jumbotron, everyone has their most famous 15 minutes—we spin your story into a wild 16th minute!
Cast: Elizabeth Cutler, Jason Re, John Carroll, Sarah Herhold
Magnetic Repulsion
Opposites don’t always attract.
Cast: Chris D’Silva, Jeff Bollen, Paul Hitlin, Vito Prime
Messrs. Peanut
Allow the Messrs. Peanut to charm and amaze you with their love of whimsy! You’ll go nuts for their improv.
Cast: Fred Gilbert, Katie Garbart, Sam Sanders, Stephen Major
Mid-Size Sedan
We don’t rehearse—just like traffic.
Cast: Clint Pettit, Kate Fridley, Max Hauptman, Meera Kallupura
Mr. Feeny Todd
The demon barber of Boy Meats World: THE MUSICAL!
Cast: Anna Claire Walker, David Shadburn, Jordana Mishory, Ryan Campbell
The Muppets TV Series (2015)
Four former college improv teammates reunite and they can save the town if they just put on the best show ever seen.
Cast: Henry Trochlil, Jake Lester, Joey Prince, Liz Fairfax
Pandora’s Inbox
Opening Pandora’s Inbox will unleash comedic chaos and long-form improv gold!
Cast: Angie Wilt, Grant Faber, Luke Swinford, Sean McDonnell
Participation Prize
We’re new to improv and still getting over our stage fright. Maybe we’ll try a fun format or maybe we’ll be…basic. A surprise even for us!
Cast: Adriana Salerno, Michela Del Mastro, Mira Azarm
Penguin Magic
It’s in the name. We are a magic penguin. But we won’t tell you which magic.
Cast: Adi Kamdar, Chris Lash, Kate Symes, Stanley Seiden
Pigeon
Surprisingly competent at this one thing.
Cast: Hassan Halim, Nick Martinez, Olu Okusaga, Ryan Pierannunzi
RBF
Living in the burbs can give you Reston B**** Face
Cast: Matt Gagliardo, Nina Unger, Sharon Tengolics, Wes Gurney
receSs
We’re a ragtag group of unlikely friends that make up half of GW’s oldest improv and sketch club, which is celebrating its 35th year!
Cast: Anika Bidoshi, Danny Duncan, Emma Montalvo, Ritika Sinha-Chaudhuri
Responsible Adults
What baby?
Cast: Abby Kameny, Beth Ruedi, Jackie Cheng, Lucas Feldman
Right Behind You
Comedy that sneaks up on you, takes your wallet, taps you on the shoulder and gives you your wallet back.
Cast: Cassie Hoffman, Chris Clark, Matt Strote, Morgan Burris
S.E.L.F. Love
S.E.L.F Love is your motivational poster come to life. Therapy is expensive. We’re free.
Cast: Eva Lewis, Francesca Washington, Lori Pitts, Shawn Peabody
Shibacle
Beware. Shibacle.
Cast: Allison Yolo, Jared Smith, Mikail Faalasli, Samiyyah Ali
Something Wacky
It’s all in the name!
Cast: Billy Maloy, Lisa Saladino, Matt Knapper, Simone Gannage
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Step fully into the show, the train’s departing.
Cast: Henry Ring, JoJo Franzen, Mikki Smith, Nick Tschernia
Sweet Tooth
Sweet Tooth is fueled by curiosity and mischief and serves up fast, playful and unexpected improv with a sugar rush of wit and whimsy play.
Cast: Aaron Harris, Darnell Eaton, Macey Schiff, Tandra Turner
Towanda
From a small town in Pennsylvania to an Amazon woman raging across the DMV, Towanda brings intense hilarity, femininity, and aggression.
Cast: Abby Fu, Catherine Grothus, Dina Finkel, Kristin Brown
The Unofficial Late Night Show
A Late Night Show right here in DC? You bet! Sure, we might not have been hired by NBC, but that sounds like their problem & your benefit!
Cast: Allen Abbott, Amelia Cameron, Elijah Rakha-Sheketoff
Wildcats
15 yards from the spot of the foul, first and goal Wildcats.
Cast: Brent Buxton, Davis Langhoff, Emmy Harvey-Parker, Genevieve Dabrowski
Your Wildest Dreams
See your deepest desires, your hidden nightmares, and your zaniest exploits come to life only in Your Wildest Dreams!
Cast: Carolyn Clendenin, Izzy Hartnett, Liz Schurgin, Madison Schneider