In 2016 Kara co-founded the Kickstand Improv Comedy Training Center. She has performed all over the US at festivals such as: The Del Close Marathon in NYC, Out of Bounds in Austin, TX, Stumptown Improv Festival, and at Vancouver International Improv Festival in Vancouver, BC. Currently you can catch Kara improvising in Secret Aardvark and performing in her comedy character shorts “Impressions of Human Beings” @kaymocomedy on Tik Tok.

Paul Stein has directed and produced world premiere plays, comedy events and one-person shows in theaters and festivals across the United States, Canada and Europe. Formerly an Executive Producer for Comedy Central, he supervised over 1,600 live presentations at the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood and worked with such noted performers as W. Kamau Bell, Russell Brand, Wyatt Cenac, Chris Garcia, Nikki Glaser, Ken Jeong, Marc Maron, Randall Park, Jill Soloway, Sarah Silverman, Daniel Tosh, Reggie Watts, and Kristina Wong, to name a few.

Kristen Schier is an actor, improviser, teacher, and clown. She has extensive improv teaching, directing, and performing experience. She holds a BFA in Performing Arts from the University of the Arts where she taught Acting for Non-Majors, Improvisation for the Actor, and first-year Acting Studio. She has toured all over the country teaching and performing at various festivals such as the Seattle Festival of Improvised Theater, Chicago Improv Festival, Vancouver International Improv Festival, Boom Chicago Comedy Festival in Amsterdam, and more. Kristen is the former Co-Artistic Director of Curious Comedy in Portland Oregon and former Improv Producer at the Philly Improv Theater. She has studied improv at Second City, Magnet Theater, and Annoyance. Kristen has also studied Physical Theater, clown, extensively with Pig Iron Theater company and Movement Theater Studio.

Rachel Rosenthal is a professional performer and improv instructor with over 23 years of experience. A recent transplant to Portland from NYC, she has taught at numerous comedy theaters throughout the USA, including Reckless Theatre, Brooklyn Comedy Collective, & The PIT in NYC, where she was awarded Teacher of the Year for her work with 101 improv students. She is a 11+ year cast member of both free-form improv team, Big Bang, and free-style rapping Hip Hop comedy group, North Coast (“Top 10 Comedy Show” -- Time Out NY).

Craig is an improvisor, and teacher in the fair city of Portland Oregon. He enjoys game nights with small groups of friends and is a fan of Dr. Who.

Craig started improvising in 1999 with CSZ Portland, and he’s been performing teaching and coaching ever since. He also Trained and performed at IO Chicago, plus The Annoyance Theater intensives. He has been Teaching performing and training with Kickstand Comedy since 2017 and can be found performing in various projects with Kickstand Comedy and around town.

He has performed with Mondo at the Stumptown Improv festival and Westside Comedy Festival as well as Peachy Chicken at The Stumptown Improv Festival.

Craig gets as much out of performing as teaching and is looking forward to seeing what new voices and exciting entertainment the future of the Improv community in Portland brings!

Roland Mechanik (he/him) has been teaching improv at Kickstand for almost 5 years! Roland graduated with a theater degree from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. He studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade in NYC before moving to Portland and joining up with Kickstand Comedy. Roland has performed at the Stumptown Improv Festival, the Vancouver Improv Festival, and every theater around Portland. In addition to improv, you can catch Roland doing stand-up and weird bits with his mannequin, Muriel. He’s proud to have been the first out trans masc improviser in Portland (as far as he knows)!

You will rarely see Chris wearing a suit. He has always been more interested in “the who” than “the what.” The power of story has influenced his life from a very young age and Chris has incorporated storytelling into the work he does. He earned a Master’s Degree in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University and currently works in the Student Services Department for Portland Public Schools.

Michael Zimmer is an actor, writer, and improviser from Portland, OR. After training at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in NYC he returned to find his comedy home in the Kickstand community. He performs regularly with his improv team Papa? (Westside Comedy Festival, VIIF) and irregularly with other teams (Del Close Marathon, Stumptown Improv Festival).

Justin found improv in 2013 and has been performing ever since. Known for his improv groups J Names and Death Hammer he has performed at SF Sketchfest, Out of Bounds, Del Close Marathon and the Vancouver International Improv Festival.

Michael Knackstedt is a Portland, Oregon-based improviser, actor and writer. Michael has trained at Kickstand Comedy Space, The Liberators Training Center, Curious Comedy Theater, The Ape Theater and Deep End Theater in Portland.