Hey, remember these mothafuckas?
Jaime Castillo (’06)
Jaime graduated from Penn State in 2006 and from the University of Scranton in 2008 with a Master’s in Counseling. While in Scranton he founded and directed the university improv group Kirscheimer!, who during that time performed for the cast of “The Office” and at the Del Close Marathon X. He also studied and performed regularly at the Comedy Dojo under Chris Barnes (Second City, Curb Your Enthusiasm) during his time in Scranton. Jaime continues to write and perform with his good friend and Full Ammo alum Johnathan Fernandez. Their current sketch team, American Meat Science, was selected as a finalist for the Human Giant video contest in 2008. Jaime has been studying at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre since 2008 under the likes of Shannon O’Neill, Zach Woods, Charlie Sanders, and Eugene Cordero. By day he works in Queens as a Residential Psychologist and lives in Manhattan.
Websites: jaimecastillo.tumblr.com
americanmeatscience.tumblr.com
Johnathan Fernandez (’06)
Mr. J has been living in New York City since his departure from Penn State. He currently works at ABC, but loathes it. He is endeavoring to get into producing and writing and almost has his foot in the door to do so. Luck is being an ever-elusive-virginal-mistress-if-ever-there-was-one. He continues to perform improv and is going up through the ranks at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in the city. Also worth mentioning, he is still writing and performing with Jaime Castillo who doubles as his roommate. Hmm, what else… he has a couple of ideas for screenplays that he is toying around with, is going to start up a website with Castillo, and hopefully designed by Ryan Simmons, has a blog: sentimentsinhi-fi.blogspot.com. Oh yeah, he isn’t even the slightest bit funny, which is a problem, considering he is an aspiring comedian, and has limited knowledge of pronouns. He.
Jeremy Rubenstein (’06)
Kim Cicconi (’07)
Kim Cicconi graduated in 2007, despite her better efforts, and spent the subsequent summer feeding manatees and chasing small lizards around the city of Sarasota, Florida. An injunction has been filed against discussing the reasons for Kim’s departure from the Sunshine State, but needless to say she returned to her native Philadelphia suburbs to pursue her dream of steady employment. She is proud to say that, to date, she has only gone through one complete career change. In her dwindling free time, she writes hilarious, ribald jokes for Philly’s comedy cabarets and drifts along the outskirts of the city’s improv scene. She is currently working on a high school-friendly adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross.
Pete Lyon (’07)
Peter Lyon left Full Ammo Improv troupe on a quest to change the world using improv comedy. Failing after an astonishingly pathetic 36 hours, he chose to become a high school history teacher instead. So he’s working on that. He also waits tables at a brew pub. Yup. Pretty glamorous life. The kind of life that only improv can prepare you for. Dream big kids, Dream BIG.
Tim Portnoy (’07)
In the spring of 2007, Timothy Portnoy departed the full ammo improv troupe in a blaze of glory. And also fire. He set off with the intent of making the world a better place and of fullfilling his own heart’s wildest desires. He then spent a year working in an Italian restaurant in Boston. However, Tim is now living in Los Angeles pursuing a career in film, gigs in comedy clubs, and a job at another Italian restaurant.
Sean Collier (’08)
Sean Collier, who’s holdin’ up a lamppost, flippin’ this quarter, tryin’ to make up his mind, graduated from Penn State in May of 2008 with a degree in English and a degree in Theatre Arts, which means he has TWO faux-aged pieces of paper now. Sean works doing things that have nothing to do with anything in hopes of feeding his theater and writing habits; truth be told, he’d love to be a playwright. He’s also eager to increase the number of long-form improv troupes in the Pittsburgh area from “one” to “more than one,” or maybe follow in his father’s footsteps as a marginally successful stand-up comedian with a devoted local following. You can check out his movie opinions, if you’re so inclined, at the fantastic website www.boxofficeprophets.com. Furthermore, Sean’s bio never appeared on this site when he was an active member. He called Johnna a liar in that bio. Sean smells a conspiracy.
Dan Kirchheimer (’08)
One of the originally members of the Full Ammo Improv Troupe, Dan was a man of many faces. With a split interest in both saving the environment, and comedy, Dan’s daily life intertwined both. Rarely seen without a bike beneath him, he could regularly be seen darting all over campus turning off lights in buildings. And he holds the World’s Record for consistently making the most people laugh using only animal facts.
After leaving PSU for his final semester to travel abroad to New Zealand, Dan triumphantly returned to graduate in the summer of 08 with a degree in Energy Business and Finance (yes, it’s a real major). He can occasionally be seen on campus during unannounced surprise visits, annually at the Del Close Marathon in NY, or at his suburban Philadelphia home with his parents, probably hassling his cats.
While currently on the hunt for a job, Dan wants to follow his dream of starting his own business that saves the world and gets him rich/becoming a voice actor. He dabbles in the arts of writing, film editing, and stock trading, but unfortunately has a long road ahead.
Dan will be remembered by his many nicknames, NRT set pieces he wrote his name on, and unfortunately; one horrible, but unforgettable monologue.
Jeff Kornberg (’08)
Jeff Kornberg founded the Full Ammo Improv Troupe in 2004 and stuck with it until he graduated in 2008. He has previously worked for Comedy Central and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and is currently working in Film/TV in New York City. He continues to do improv with his high school group, “And More! Improv”, and writes/performs sketch comedy with his 3 man sketch/improv group ManVsComedy. Jeff also performs original musical comedy which can be found at www.myspace.com/JeffKornberg. He thinks that it is great that you are taking the time to read bios on the alumni section of a college improv troupe’s website.
J. Tom Pogue (’08)
Dustin Yenser (’08)
After completing a student teaching program in Trondheim, Norway, Dustin graduated from Penn State University in December of 2007 with a degree in Secondary Education. He returned home to the Lehigh Valley to pursue a career as a high school social studies teacher. He is currently working as a substitute teacher for three school districts in eastern Pennsylvania. His last performance with Full Ammo came in the summer of 2008 when they participated in UCB’s tenth annual Del Close Improv Marathon. He loves teaching but
is anxious to resume his involvement with the performing arts at an amateur or professional level.
Kelly Fitzpatrick (’09)
GREEEEETINGS!! Mes petits enfants! Kelly hails from the good ol’ steel town of Pittsburgh! She’s a senior in the last leg of her college career, double majoring in theatre and public relations and has a big appetite for making people laugh and creating crazy, new characters with weird voices! Kelly has performed in various student films as well as several shows for No Refund Theatre, Outlaws and other local venues in her hometown. She’s done stand-up before in Pittsburgh and would love to bite the bullet and get out there and do it again! Kelly’s real passion is sketch comedy. In her opinion, there is nothing better than really getting into a character and playing off of the audience! Girlfriend absolutely LIVES for it. She’s enjoyed performing in short form and long form improv shows with Full Ammo as well as performing and writing for annual sketch comedy shows. When she graduates she hopes to buy a moped ..juice it up.. feel the flow… and head on out to California or New York City to pursue a career in TV & Film!
Ryan Simmons (’09)
Ryan graduated with a degree in Media Studies, and yes, it is a bullshit major. Ryan has the distinction of being the first Full Ammo member to complete four FULL years as a member (take THAT, Founder Jeff Kornberg whose first year technically didn’t count as a full year!)
At Penn State, Ryan performed with Full Ammo (as president for 1 year), acted and directed with No Refund Theatre, wrote and performed in the School of Theatre web sitcom 304, performed stand-up with Michael Showalter and Full Ammo members Jeff Kornberg and Tim Portnoy and in general had good times in front of people. He is continuing those good times at the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre in New York City.
Ryan recently completed an internship creating video content for Asylum.com, the web’s largest men’s lifestyle site, and is a now a freelance producer/editor there. Ryan is also currently looking for film/tv production work in and around New York City so, you know, if you know somebody, help a brother out. He always joked in these bios that he’d one day live in a cardboard box in NYC, and now that looks as though it’s coming very close to fruition.
Ryan attributes most, if not all, of his greatest moments at Penn State to joining and performing with Full Ammo Improv and misses it dearly.
http://ryansimmons.tumblr.com
Drew Burton (’09)
Drew Burton is an advertising graduate working on his Masters at the University of Texas in Austin. In the future, He aspires to create subliminal messages that will dictate your product purchases.
After an extended hiatus, Drew enjoyed the opportunity to be back in front of an audience. Thanks to sister Sarah, for introducing him to improv. Lastly, endless thanks to the island of Guam and its delicious fruit for putting life into perspective.
Brad Einstein (’10)
Brad dreamed of one day becoming a sea captain.
Johnna Scrabis (’10)
Victoria Longwell (’10)
Victoria was a Theatre major at Penn State University, and therefore, almost certainly, had no future. In lieu of said looming future, Victoria joined Full Ammo Improv Troupe, where she has learned to laugh in the face of disappointment, poverty, and inevitable disintegration of her dreams. Come laugh with her.
Brendan Hunt (’10)
Brendan was a psychology major. He hopes that whatever he did on stage traumatized the audience enough that they need therapy in the future; this will in turn ensure that he has a successful career as a clinical therapist. He performed with full ammo since spring of ’09 and continued to perform until he graduated and was finally executed for tax evasion. Brendan also did other things at Penn State, but you will need to take him out to dinner if you want to know anything else.
Mark McColey (’10)
Described by his own mother as “the king of bullshit,” Mark first discovered his predisposition to making things up as he goes when he routinely came to class unprepared. Rather than attempt to cure the chronic procrastination that robbed him of preparedness, he continued to use this method to reach post-secondary education. As a result, he’s a decent improvisational actor, but unfortunately does not know his multiplication tables or any states beyond the original thirteen colonies.
Satchel Dennis (’10)
Satchel was a failing theater major; he currently lives in a poor, black neighborhood in inner-city Chicago. Satchel lives with his parents James and Florida Evans and his siblings J.J. and Thelma. Life in the Chicago projects is never easy; however, the Evans family never gives up trying to make the best of things. Life, at least, is never boring while his family fights to keep their heads above water. Satchel is currently attending grad school at USC. He wants to be an actor and move his family out the projects.
Sarah Burton (’10)
After a difficult internal struggle over whether mock trial might just be more fun than improv (wrong), she joined up with Full Ammo in fall 2006, and the laughs haven’t stopped since! Aside from improv, her loves include political science, making children laugh, and books of inspirational quotations. Her favorite childhood story is The Red Pony. It’s about a girl who gets a pony for her birthday and then kills it through negligence. What can she say? Now she knows better and she won’t leave her next pony out in the rain all day, assuming she gets a new pony, which she won’t.
Dan Miller
Dan Miller has been performing with the Full Ammo Improv Troupe since spring of his freshman year. He is currently seeking degree(s) in Economics from the School of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Smeal College of Business. Dan is also the PR Chairman for No Refund Theatre, and enjoys both acting and directing with them. If you see Dan on the street feel free to approach him; although he may be armed and is certainly dangerous. Come to a show and find out more for yourself.
Ashley Arbaiza
Ashley is glad that she has found a group of people who understand her strangeness. She is also thankful that her Grandmother was lying when she said “if you keep making that stupid face someday it will freeze that way.” If that were true she would be shit out of luck. Ashley has been known to go to such extents as to use scotch tape to keep her strange faces in place. If you can’t visualize this ask her and she will show you. When Ashley isn’t making unattractive faces she can be found in the art building painting which will hopefully make her a living someday. If that doesn’t work out she will probably keep painting anyway.
Tim Stonelake
Tim Stonelake is old. If you need an improviser at 6:00 in the morning, he’s your man. His favorite food is spinach, and he tries to eat it every day. His hobbies include: being a nerd, trying to play guitar, swimming until he complains about his bad shoulder (see ‘old’ above), visiting people who live in actual cities, and being happy.
Trish Sabolick
Trish Sabolick is a Junior, in the College of Communications. Ever since she was a new born, her dream drop was to be in advertising. Selling ad spots, creating unethical consumer markets…. these processes were like mothers milk- mesmerizing, yet delicious. Along with learning how to manipulate the public mind, Trish is on a constant search for truth and true love. While a hopeless romantic, she deals daily with being romantically hopeless. She eats away her pain with edibles such as chocolate, and babies. During a search for something to do with her abundant free time, Trish had to choose between an a cappella group or Full Ammo. Unfortunately for her, the choice is yours. You have one hour.
Byron Fay
The love child of Crocodile Dundee and a desert emu, Byron “the token Aussie” Fay was born on the same day Steve Erwin’s heart was harpooned by the stingray queen, leading many in the outback to believe him to be a reincarnation of the holy one. Soon after birth he was stolen by a dingo pack and left in a Coolibah tree. There he was adopted by an altruistic koala who took the infant into her pouch and raised him as her own. Around puberty, however, his emu features began to show, and so, begrudgingly, it was determined that he must be returned to his own. Soon after Byron was invited to join FULL AMMO!, and has been trying his hand at improv ever since.
Dennis McNamara
Dennis McNamara is from Massachusetts. He was raised in a modest shack high atop the dunes of Cape Cod, where he was taught to survey lobster traps and tie various knots by his grandfather. He enjoys nautical things and lighthouses.
Tim Hartman
Tim didn’t have friends until he joined the Full Ammo Improv Troupe. Now he is swarmed by cool people who are genuinely interested in talking to him. He played football for a while, but broke his leg and, like many a pansy before him, turned to theatre school for guidance. Tim worked at a renaissance faire for a couple of years, and looks really cool wielding a broadsword. He likes improvising enough to pursue a career out of it, either as a performer or as a pickpocket. His biggest fears are raptors and loneliness.
FULL AMMO IMPROV 