FIST 2026: Who’s Who
This year’s Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament (FIST) will have 74 teams and 278 performers! Who will succeed Shibacle as the next FIST champions? The tournament starts Friday, Mar. 13!
¡Soy Aquí Now!
Have you ever put “Spanish speaker” on your resume, but all you can say is, “soy aqui now?” Tell us about a time you stretched the truth!
Cast: Adam Rice, Jarrod Bracey, Meera Kallupura, Meghan Burns
4SDI=4 strangers doin improv
This is the true story of 4 strangers picked to do improv. Find out what happens when we stop being polite & start getting improvisational.
Cast: Jason Miller, Jesse Rubin-McCarry, Mike Mozier, Tom Oberdorfer
Abercrombie Zombie
Four zombies met in a Level 4 improv class, went to the mall, and got some nice threads. As they say, the rest is brainssssssssss.
Cast: Dan Kois, David Backer, Elisabeth Mabus, Gregory Krasnoff
Are we the assholes?
With Reddit as our guide, we will all become moral philosophers and you determine who, in fact, is the AH.
Cast: Alex Gurvich, Anna Lorch, Chau Ngo, Patrick Greene
Bad Tummy
Friends spiritually connected by their love of long-form improv and debilitating gastrointestinal issues.
Cast: Adam Landa, Jonny Greengarden, Natalie Marques, Rohan Narayanan
Besties Intentions
Best buddies join forces to help. These two are ready, willing and completely ill-equipped to lend a hand, when and where nobody asks.
Cast: Hilary Joel, Peg Jobst
Between The Cracks
UMD’s best and brightest go in deep into improv to pull out laughter from the most hard to reach place, Between The Cracks.
Cast: Alex Blackburn, Anish Chinni, Eitan Amster, Gary Gibbs II
The Blank Family
Putting the diss in dysfunction, this is the family reunion you don’t want to miss.
Cast: Andrew McIntyre, Jay Taylor, Patrick Russo, Victor Egbe
The Bold and the Beautiful
Former college improv team that crawls out of the shadows once a year to try again.
Cast: Henry Trochlil, Jake Lester, Joey Prince
Breakfast Schnitzel
We are an improv trio from DC where we use the monoscene as a vessel to bring short stories from the audience to life!
Cast: AJ Minite, Paul Soto
Bronze Medal
It’s the bronze age, b*tches!
Cast: Bill Nelson, Caitlin Brady, Eli Okun, JoJo Franzen
Buddy System
There is only one way to survive a field trip: stick together! See what happens when we try to follow the…Buddy System.
Cast: Brent Buxton, James Nugent, Matt O’Neill, Matt Strote
Calamity: The Show
Improv, because we are bad at learning lines.
Cast: Brandon Moon, Katie Bull, Tommy Maxson, Trace Hollenbeck
Cerberus
Because three heads are more than one, we bring the passion of at least three to four hungry raccoons in a dumpster.
Cast: Genevieve Warner, Lisa Schreihart, Natalie Knazik, Vito Prime
Circle Here
Going 60 in a 45. Netflix password sharing. Doing laundry while WFH. Give us your slightly unethical life hacks, we’ll support them always.
Cast: David Lapkoff, Hannah Piper, Lori Pitts, Shawn Peabody
Community Pool
They’ve gone off the deep end.
Cast: Nicole Barrett, Stacey Axler, Vasant Joseph
dank meme crime scene
You don’t know what that weird meme is about? Neither do we, but it’s not going to stop us from giving you a most unqualified answer.
Cast: Adriana Salerno, Christine Alexander, Mira Azarm
Deep Sea Astronauts
As our Deep Sea Astronauts enter the abyss, the abyss looks back. It’s confused.
Cast: Alyse Calcagno, Colin McIntyre, Michael Lawrence, Steve Major
Dish!
Serving comedy inspired by what you savor most.
Cast: Chioke Barkari, David Dickerson, Lore Leupold, Nora E Picasso Uvalle
Don’t You Dare
The most rebellious improvisers in town will double-dog-dare you not to vote for them.
Cast: Alissa Platz-Engler, Avalon Warner-Gonzales, John Carroll, Sam Sanders
The Eleventh Hour
Have you ever done anything at the last minute? So have we!
Cast: Emerson French, Rachel Sloan
Epistolary Affairs
Inspired by Jane Austen’s works, Epistolary Affairs tells stories with high drama, scandal, and copious letter writing.
Cast: Elissa Heller, James Corti, Matt Knapper, Sophia Peerzada
The Feminine Merge
You’re in our lane now.
Cast: Lauryn Beer, Peri Sheinin, Rachel Johns, Sharada Strasmore
First Kiss
Tell us about your first kiss. We promise this will be wholesome.
Cast: Christina Dabney, Jamal Newman, Jordana Mishory, Turner Meeks
Go To Bed
Inspired by the objects that watch us sleep.
Cast: Joe Randazzo, Paul Hitlin, Sabrina Shahmir, Sara Rouhi
Gucci drip that slaps
A group of four main characters. We’re not cheugy, but we are bringing low key brat energy to the masses, no cap.
Cast: Bill Boorman, James Damon, Noah Kraft, Sam Blackman
Heavy Cream
4 mutual emergency contacts tap-dance between the comfy and absurd for the sake of mental health. Audience laughter is the cherry on top!
Cast: Catherine Castillo, Elijah Giddens, Hana Farnese, Justin Bray
Jury’s Out of Bread
Witty, relevant and not too lawyerly.
Cast: Abby Fu, Kacie Peterson, Meredith Garagiola, Mikki Smith
Just One Bed
High-energy improv: goofy characters, playful relationships, and fearless left turns — never sure where it’s going, and we love that.
Cast: Ahsan Butt, Bradley Galvin, Garima Singal, Jared Leute
KABOOM
Four off-world contestants in a strange Earth competition; consequences back home. Light framing—priority is grounded, committed improv.
Cast: Abby Haverty, Craig Gagel, Genevieve Dabrowski, Mikail Faalasli
L’Enfant, L’Enfant
Pierre Charles L’Enfant LIVE ON STAGE!
Cast: Betsy Milarcik, Jonathan Murphy, Mark Chalfant, Paul Detrick
Lake Effect
Friends from Level 1 taking a chance and giving this a try!
Cast: Alison Cardy, Kristin Mitra-Zuhl, Michael Martin, Shannon Kane
Lipshtick
Lipshtick: Bold, messy, and fun. We take your suggestions and shmear them into an improv extravaganza. Sealed with a kiss.
Cast: Chia Chang, Chris Olinger, Elisa Cohen, Erika Wind
MARJ
Not Marjorie, just MARJ.
Cast: Allison Wilson, Jillian Cardillo, Misty Porter, Ryan Pierannunzi
Marjanna & Joey… LIVE!
Your favorite band is here to perform. Learn the drama behind their lyrics. Ever heard of Fleetwood Mac? We’ve got that but worse. Live!
Cast: Joey Scully, Marjanna Smith
Midlife Crises
Three midlife crises, live.
Cast: Arhan Gunel, Xue Yu, Yotam Gingold
Mock Tales
What if that one urban legend or family rumor were true? And what if there were a mockumentary crew there to prove it?
Cast: Amber Bellsdale, Dave Barak, Hannah Lord, Peter Tzeng
Molly!
Fast, fearless, and a little unhinged.
Cast: Adina Lasser, Elizabeth Cutler, Kaelan Fleury, Mason Heilman
Natural Stupidity
“I think, therefore I am… confused.”
Cast: Amélie Lamont, Hassan Abdelhalim, Kat Winkler, Leilani Clendenin
No Nonsense
Only very serious business.
Cast: Gwendolyn Bogard, Peter Bird, Sam Ruback, Sarah Herhold
Notes App Diaries
Unhinged thoughts, unfinished lists, and absolutely zero context.
Cast: Carolyn Clendenin, CJ Libassi, Izzy Hartnett, Rose Buchbinder
Occupational Hazard
Where overconfidence meets incompetence!
Cast: David Cranberg, Diana Alexander, Madison Schneider
Oh! For cryin’ out loud!
Ope! Coming to you from Midwest City these unlikely pals couldn’t craft their way out of a paper bag but gosh darn it they’ll try!
Cast: David Pomeroy, Emily Welsh, MJ Jameson, Sophia Hines
One Improv After Another
We’re sitting on plastic in a container and we’ve still got jokes.
Cast: Daniel Causey, Greg Lipper, Rachel Kloecker, Sam Hollon
Oops! All Gender!
Pronouns sold separately.
Cast: Elaine Wiley, Jenny Snider, Mason Oberle, Tommy Kelleher
Play It Forward
Improv is fun and kindness is fun, so kind improv is extra fun.
Cast: Camilo García, Jason Fliegel, Keven Schreiber, Memphis Worley
Please Listen to my Podcast
Find us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Cast: Abby Brown, Fiona Leary, Kate Fridley
The Premise Keepers
Two seasoned veterans, two brave first-timers, four gremlins out past their bedtime.
Cast: Dorothy Neher, Katie Kuhn, Sadie Dingfelder
Punk Factory
Three fearless students. One chill teacher. Zero questionable choices.
Cast: Erick Acuña, John Paul Snead, Mikko Abarcar, Travis West
Quacker Factory
Shopping Brought to Life.
Cast: Allan Eakin, Colleen Ryan, Elise Marsan, Kevin Seefried
Realtalk!
Four Strangers Meet Over Zoom: It’s About To Get Real.
Cast: Elizabeth Abraham, Meredith Healy, Michael Mobley, Zorka Cordova
REDACTED
Reveal your deepest, darkest secret. Don’t worry, we have security clearances.
Cast: Cat Hayes, Erik Wells, Ian Stout, Josh Jackson
She’s SO Nice
Recovering people pleasers go a little feral, if that’s ok with you.
Cast: Lauren Gabel, Macey Schiff, Marcy Coburn, Stephanie Wester
sketchy decision
how did we get here? where is here? Can you pass the script? wait, there is no script? oh. hey, look, lights are on, hi! hellooooo welcome!
Cast: Elijah Rakha-Sheketoff, Maile Paulmeier, Natalie Leveque, Renee Ritchey
Smooth Move
So smooth or else forget about it.
Cast: Allison Yolo, Chels Shorte, Rae Lang, Tom Di Liberto
Something Somewhere at Sometime
Watching everything everywhere all at once is too much, so you should just watch Something Somewhere at Sometime.
Cast: Jake Rosario, Jeanna Kim, Patrick Hsieh, Zhaokang Ong
Split Work Hand Off Tag Team
Running on a tight schedule.
Cast: Kristina Martinez, Krystal Ali, Neil Baron, Samiyyah Ali
The Steve Guttenberg Bible
Four people desperate to sublimate their anxiety disorders into audience laughter.
Cast: Adam Pollins, Allison Le, Dara Freeman, Matt Jacobsen
Stinky Cheese
Stinky Cheese…who cut it?
Cast: Emily Murphy, India Banks, Sean Letendre
This Could Have Been an Email
A show that could have been a text, a slack message, or a strongly worded group chat.
Cast: Alex Wilkinson, Anna Burke, Henry Ring, Nick Tschernia
thot dogs
We have gumption. We have mettle. We can be truculent. We are thots. Some of us have dogs. One of us has cats.
Cast: Abby Kameny, Jackie Cheng, Ken Bender, Lucas Feldman
Three Uncles
One unforgettable journey.
Cast: Carly Kraybill, Daniel Barrera Ortega, Nora Dell
Total Strangers
We are total strangers who decided to do improv together in less than a few days-that’s it, that’s the tweet.
Cast: Henri Emmet, Janie Anderson, Jason Varndell, Nathan Naidu
Travel Pants
These travel experts know how to pack…a punch!
Cast: Allison Crha, Julia Alford, Lynn Thompson, Nathan Strand
Unnecessary Improvement Machine
If you’re experiencing issues with your Unnecessary Improvement Machine, try pointing and laughing.
Cast: Ariana Colder, Billie Solley, Ricky Munoz
We Brought You Dinner
Throw out that reheated calamari, we’re coming over for dinner! Everybody knows each other and likes each other! Everything is fine!
Cast: Bryan Lisman, Clint Pettit, Katherine Mash, Maja Côté
West by Westwest
You lost? We point you in the right left direction.
Cast: Catherine Mullins, Jeff Bollen, M.J. Welch, Sam Jackson
What a Cluster!
[P4E] Basically we’re a messy cluster of people looking to entertain.
Cast: Angie Wilt, Grant Faber, Tayler Jones, Tim Wroble
Who is Tony?
Granola mommas.
Cast: Lindsey Brewer, Susan Higgins, Tyler Bolo, Vibhu Ambil
Whoa!
Come whoa with us.
Cast: Bethany Stokes, Cassie Hoffman, David Shadburn, Jared Smith
Why Not
It just doesn’t matter.
Cast: Bri Tollie, Dalia Zall, Nancy Shocket, Oscar Waldman
You Better Call Tyrone
Performing the DC debut of “The Tyrone” — which started as a harold, then we made it way Blacker.
Cast: Arie Rich, Eva Lewis, Lee Bennet III, Stephanie Rae
Your Favorite Exes
No need to stalk us on Instagram. Yes, we broke up, Yes, we’re here to play about it.
Cast: Devin Hiett, Jack Barnes, Kelsey Peters, Simone Webster
Zesty!
Improvisers who love to improvise!
Cast: Carlic Huynh, Giovanni Diviacchi, Jef Chi