Mainstage
Andrew Bardin
Andrew Bardin is a 28 year-old man-child with comedic impulse symptoms: he can't stop having funny times.
Andrew Bardin was born and raised in the Bay Area, where he hopes to live the rest of his life . He was born and college educated in San Francisco, but has spent the majority of his time in the East Bay. He is a 28 year-old elementary educator, who is passionate about facilitating young developing minds. Andrew is a young man who has never given up his own childhood. He has grown into an adult, with adult responsibility, but he cherishes many aspects of his life necessary to maintaining his happiness: comic books, playing games, cuddling, and improv. To Andrew, part of being a child is having imagination, and improv is an exercise in imagination. He relishes each moment he gets to improv. He started dating his sweetheart, Kat, in high school, and on August 13, 2011, they were wed on stage during a live show. He thanks her deeply for being his best friend and love, and he’s glad they shared that bus ride into New York.
Joe Saam
Joe Saam is a professional improviser and instructor who has been involved with the theatre since he was 14. His improvisational career began in 2007 with Concord’s Rumor Has It Improv, where he spent almost 3 years, studying, performing and teaching different styles of improv. Feeling he had the pulse of what the East Bay was looking for, he founded Trapped In A Rumor Improv in 2009. Joe’s approach to improv is that you always have the opportunity to learn more, to grow as a performer. He has implemented this in his teaching and directing. Joe has a vast library of improv books, his favorites being “Truth In Comedy” and “Improvise: Scene From The Inside Out.” Joe is writing his own book, in hopes of offering a new vision on “how to improvise.”
Joe has lived in the East Bay of California all his life. He was married to his longtime girlfriend, Catherine (our house manager), on Halloween morning, 2010 and is in the process of adopting her two children, whom he loves as his own. He would like to thank his family for their continued support, his improvisers for their dedication, and the Town of Danville for giving Trapped In A Rumor a home.
Kathy Neubecker
Kathy Neubecker started off in the mid-west and was always the goofy kid doing anything for a laugh. In the mid-80s, when she reached her 20s, she thought she would try her hand at standup. Hearing the laughter she was creating made her very happy, but bills made her focus on her career.
During the early 90s, Kathy attended Diablo Valley College to study drama where she felt she had some definite range with character acting. Her schedule became increasingly busy, even more so when she became a mother. She spent much of her time, energy and focus on being a mother. One day in 2009, she saw a posting for improv!
Kathy thought this would be an excellent way to expand on both the areas of comedy and drama. “What a fit,” she thought! Kathy found her home and she loves performing with all her gifted troupe members.