Arcade Academy Instructors – Session 5

On stage and off, our teachers are experienced, welcoming, and very funny. Meet the instructors who are actively teaching our most recent or upcoming sessions.

Brittany Alexis

Brittany Alexis is an up and coming comic in the Pittsburgh comedy scene. She has performed on stages across the city including Burning Bridges Comedy Club, the Improv, Arcade Comedy Theater, and the Byham Theater and has opened for the likes of Franqi French. She began her comedy journey to become a better public speaker but fell in love with the craft. She is very excited to be teaching stand-up comedy and hopes that whether you’re taking this class to get over stage fright or tape your Netflix special, you learn a lot and have fun doing it!

Raina Deerwater

A relative newcomer to Pittsburgh, Raina Deerwater has been performing long form improv at Arcade since 2021. She studied at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles where she performed on UCB team Rat King as well as indie team Ashley Quit. In Pittsburgh, Raina regularly coaches and performs on teams Fondue For Two, Barbara A Mother, and Arcade house team Grandpa.

Scott Hughes

Scott Hughes is an improviser, educator, and pianist who’s been making things up since he was tall enough to reach the keys. Now he’s much bigger, and he’s had the chance to study, teach, and play with some of the best performers all over, from University of the Arts, Temple University, ComedySportz, Philly Improv Theater, The Magnet, and iO. When he’s not on stage with Choir Consequences, you’ll find him improvising with comparable audacity in the kitchen, in business meetings, and and along the unfolding trajectory of his own life.

Sara Kantner

Arcade Academy alum, Sara Kantner, has been making people laugh since 1988. She started her onstage comedy journey in 2015 and has performed for kids, anglophiles, and regular folks. A delightfully well-rounded comedian and person, Sara has performed with children’s improv troupe Penny Arcade, written and acted in sketch shows like Looking for Parking, and dabbled in the art of stand-up comedy. She frequently performs in long-form improv sets and has been a member of Arcade teams, Power Surge, Change Machine, World Class Track Meet, and Side Quest. She also coaches both short-form and long-form improv teams – bringing along a wealth of knowledge from the incredible teachers that she’s had along this journey. One of her comedy career highlights is teaching kids improv skills that can help them embrace the changes and challenges of life. She brings some of that childlike wonder to her character Trombone, a cult favorite.

Tyler Ray Kendrick

What can be said about Tyler Ray Kendrick that hasn’t already been said about the Arby’s on McKnight road? For the last several years he has performed in all the major comedy markets in the US New York City, Los Angeles, and Bridgeville Pennsylvania. Mr. Tall, dark and grandson himself. He’s a lover and a fighter. A lover of Pho and a fighter for human rights. Just a real Gen X’er trapped in a millennial’s body. He was voted Best Comedian in  2022 Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best of the Burgh’.

Kevin O’Brien

Kevin O’Brien is a musician and educator who has been part of the Pittsburgh comedy scene since 2014. As an improviser, Kevin has performed regularly on numerous house and indie long form, short form, and musical improv teams around the city and in festivals around the country (most notably The Ted City Yodelers; Your Life: The Musical; Miniature Table Concerts; Kill Screen, and Moop Troop). Currently, you can see Kevin perform regularly at Arcade as a cast member of Danger Stage and Co-Workers. As a coach, Kevin also regularly works with a variety of numerous house and indie long form, short form, and musical improv teams (including Select Start; Barbara, A Mother; Choir Consequences, and String & the Beans). As a writer, Kevin has produced several sketch shows for Arcade Comedy Theater and Fringe Festivals around the east coast. As a teacher, Kevin has brought musical improv workshops to festivals and since 2018 regularly teaches short form improv, musical improv, and sketch classes at Arcade. Since 2016, Kevin has also worked as a Stage Manager at Arcade, where you can hear his booming pre-show announcements voice and his sing-song call of “THIS IS PLACES!”

Frank McDade

Frank McDade is a writer, producer, performer, puppeteer, and business guy with over a decade of bringing fun, creativity, and strategic ideas to the comedy world. In 2009, he started studying improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC before moving to Chicago to study at iO and work in the marketing department for the B2B division of the famed comedy theater, The Second City. Frank has mastered both long-form and short-form improv, written many sketches for video and stage, dabbled in clowning but couldn’t master the pratfall, co-produced and wrote for a transmedia web series “I Made America”, completed two TV pilots that he swears he’ll submit to festivals one day, ran many creative corporate workshops, puppeteers in his puppet comedy group “Stranded with Strangers”, and is currently writing a near-finished book called Playtivity that demonstrates how improv comedy + toys + design thinking come together to impact business. Frank can currently be found performing, producing, coaching, writing, and teaching at Arcade Comedy Theater where he has helped bring many Sketchvilles and the recent Sketch Comedy Lab to life.

Cynthia Dallas

Kevin O’Brien
Larry Phillis
Renee Rabenold
Taja Sims
Matt Solter
Scott Trampus
Zivan Vasquez
Sarah Wojdylak