ShareThisPatrick McKenna, Director
Patrick McKenna says that he is delighted to be working with Stir-Friday Night! on this hilarious show. Last year he directed scores of shows for the Second City Communications. In the past few years he directed the hit shows, Idiot Tango and 58!, at the Annoyance Theater which notably won the award for “Outstanding Musical” at the New York Fringe Festival, but had only three songs. Other shows include Sucker, The Shadow at the Athenaeum, Kill the Messenger at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, and a mess of improvisation shows at the I.O. Chicago, Second City and around the world. He wrote and co-starred in the films Salt, Holy Cow and Twenty Minute Prophet which was a Jury Selection at the Austin Film Festival.
Melissa Canciller
A Chicago native, Melissa Cancilller has performed throughout the city at The Second City, iO Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, BoHo Theatre, and The Silk Road Theatre Project. In addition to being a proud ensemble member of Stir-Friday Night!, she is also a founding member of the comedy troupe Fool for Thought. You may have seen her selling the heck out of Northshore Hospitals, Horseshoe Casino, Kentucky Lottery, and blogging the heck about all things yummy and sweet. Sugar rocks! Melissa hopes that everyone will support and enjoy the arts (of all kinds), especially the efforts of talented Asian Americans everywhere.
Amrita Dhaliwal
Amrita Dhaliwal was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She did spend a few years in Dallas, Texas, which she gives credit for her love of big hair. She later graduated with a B.S. in finance from UIUC –rare for a first generation Indian, and extremely helpful when pursuing a career in acting. She returned to Chicago and immersed herself in improvisation, theatre and life training. She currently lives in Chicago as a full-time actor with her twin sister, Niti, and can be seen performing regularly on a myriad of stages – one dimensional and three dimensional.
Samanta Garcia
Samantha Garcia is a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and has lived and worked all over the world. Since making Chicago her home she has done a lot of cool projects. She is a company member with A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company.
Jin Kim
Jin Kim (represented by Paonessa Talent – paonessatalent.com) once played a virtuous woodcutter in a school play and says he has never looked back. The UNC graduate (Go Heels!) has performed with several companies and productions over the years, including The Awesome 80s Prom, iO (formerly ImprovOlympic), the Chicago Neutrino Project, the Playground, the Chicago Comedy Company, and Chemically Imbalanced Comedy. You can also catch Jin performing improv at Laugh Out Loud, located in Schaumburg. Jin’s voice has also been featured in video games such as Mortal Kombat, John Woo’s Stranglehold, and NFL Blitz.
Christine Lin
Christine Lin is a Chicago actress and model who has appeared on film, television and on stage. She has worked with these theaters: Goodman, Silk Road Theatre Project, SiNNERMAN Ensemble and Halcyon, where she is an artistic associate. Upcoming shows include Halcyon’s Trickster and Iphigenia…(a rave fable) at the Greenhouse Theatre. Lin has studied at Steppenwolf West Ensemble Intensive Program, Second City Training Center’s Conservatory – Improv, and Duke University – Pratt School of Engineering.
Harrison Pak
Harrison Pak currently serves as the Artistic Director of SFN. Born in Chindo, S. Korea, Harrison grew up with all the pressures of being the first-born son and rebelled by picking up his life from Texas and starting anew in Chicago six years ago. And he says hasn’t regretted it since. Well, for the most part… Pak is a graduate of the Improv, Writing, Conservatory and Directing Programs at Second City and is a founding member of Fool for Thought, an awesome sketch comedy group. He also directed the Reader Recommended and SFN produced, “Rock Out With Your Wok Out” last year. He also directed a silent show entitled, “Silent but Deadly” and the physically exhausting (at least for the cast), “Bloodrush”.
Featuring
Erica Ikeda
Erica Ikeda was born and raised in Tokyo with an American mother and a Japanese father. Erica speaks both English and Japanese fluently. She moved to the U.S for the first time in her life at the age of 18 to pursue acting. She is a recent Cum Laude graduate from DePaul University with a BFA in acting. Erica is also a recognized Advanced Actor Combatant by the SAFD and has served as fight captain for numerous shows at the Theatre School. Erica also performed in a bilingual play with the Wide Eyed Theatre Company in Japan. Erica has trained in basic gymnastics and basic level belly dancing. Recent credits from DePaul include: Electricidad, 1001, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Vinegar Tom, A Street Car Named Desire, Cyrano de Bergerac, Bud not Buddy. She has also appeared in the independent film Far.
Avery Lee
Avery Lee is a graduate of The Annoyance and iO, where he performs with the team Classy D.
Jasbir Singh Vazquez
Jasbir Singh Vazquez is an Indian Argentinean American writer and improviser who has trained at Second City and iO Theater, performing with different comedy troupes around the Chicago area.