Teachers
Bandit Theater is proud to work with a wonderful team of teaching artists. If you love working with new improvisers and want to teach with us, we would be thrilled to hear from you! Tune back in to this page for opportunities to work with us and our students.
Improv Training Program
Annie Barry
(She/Her) Annie Barry is the Founder and Artistic Director at Bandit. She has been performing improv and comedy for over a decade. She is delighted to be performing on "Swipe Right" and "Gram Worthy". She loves playing make believe in a world that discourages it in adults. She currently directs, "The Reader" and teaches improv at Seattle Children's Theater in a partnership with Bandit. She is a vegan, please don't hate her.
Coonoor Behal
(She/Her) Coonoor hails from rural Ohio and first fell in love with watching longform improv while attending college in NYC and interning at Late Night with Conan O'Brien. One graduate degree and several pointless jobs later, she finally took the plunge herself and began her own improv career at Washington Improv Theatre in Washington DC, where she performed on Harold and house ensembles and taught for many years. During this time, she also completed Upright Citizen Brigade's NYC improv curriculum and was accepted to their Advanced Study Improv program. She's a veteran of many improv festivals, including the Del Close Marathon, the New York Improv Festival, and the Boston Comedy Arts Festival. Since moving to Seattle in 2016, she has been active with indie improv groups like IMNDC, Captain, and Bitches. She performs with Bandit's The Awkward Show. In her non-improv time, Coonoor makes her living as an innovation and design strategy consultant and workshop facilitator.
Jaime Lazich
(They/Them) Jaime initially fell in love with improv via podcast (With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus) and through this podcast obsession quickly learned, "Hey, these people think just like I do!" In 2018 Jaime had an existential shower, their finite mortality readily hitting them over their head: They realized that they had been living a guarded life, and needed to start living outside the confines of their comfort zone. They started going on more dates, they went to Taiwan, and they signed up for their first improv class at Jet City Improv. They immediately knew that improv was now going to be a part of their life. Jaime started taking classes with Bandit Theater in 2019, and was cast on The Reader in 2020. They started teaching with Bandit in 2022, accompanying others on their journey of discovering how much fun it is to make stuff up. They are so much better at eye contact and listening and confidence and attention and imperfection thanks to improv.
Purnam Jantrania
(He/Him) Purnam is fond of slow-building, contemplative improv scenes that delight audience members who are still awake. He performs in the cast of Bandit Theater’s Mad Science and with improv team Yeah Okay, and is thrilled to be part of two supportive, energetic, and talented teams.
Matthew Joseph
(He/Him) Originally from Connecticut Matthew has been doing improv comedy for 10 years. While getting his BFA in Acting at Central Connecticut State University he had his first improv experience on a whim by joining the schools improv team on a trip to New York City for a workshop with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade. After discovering he never had to learn another line again, Matthew was immediately hooked. He did most of his training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center in NYC where he learned long form game based improv. After being involved with multiple indie teams in CT he moved to Seattle in 2016. He took a brief break from improv until 2018 where he got involved with Bandit Theater. Matthew is currently on the cast of Swipe Right and is involved in all video, photo, and technical aspects of Bandit. He also plays around town with his indie team The Bad Boys of Ballard. He is the singer/guitarist with the rock band Bad Honey and works full time in Film Production.
Kevin McVey
Education Lead
(He/Him) Kevin is an improviser and educator with over a decade of experience on stage and in the classroom. Prior to Bandit Theater, Kevin was a teacher at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science where his experiential curriculum design applied the practice of improv to STEM and won numerous departmental awards. Today, Kevin performs on the cast of Mad Science with Bandit Theater and co-produces the comedy mashup Ten Percent Luck with his indie team Yeah Okay. Kevin believes that everyone has a unique voice in improv and delights in supporting new improvisers as they find theirs.
Yolanda Suarez
(She/Her) Yolanda is stupid excited to teach improv with Bandit Theater. Yolanda studied at UCB Theatre in NYC where she learned to love, hate, and love (again) "GAME!" She moved to Seattle and formed two indie improv teams, Rock Bottom and Captain. She performs with Bandit Theater's group Mad Science. She will always accept an invitation to Karaoke!!
Lynn Trickey
(She/Her) Lynn got her first taste of improv at age 14 through rejection. She didn’t get into the play she auditioned for in the Seattle Children’s Theater Summer Session, but the kind folks at SCT threw her a bone and offered her a slot in the improv show. She instantly fell in love… with improv, she was a late bloomer and far too awkward for anything else at that age. After college in California, Lynn began studying more seriously at The Groundlings, iO West and UCB LA, performing across Los Angeles and with Second City Theatricals on Norwegian Cruise Lines. Lynn began coaching Harold Teams at iO West where she discovered a passion for building group dynamic and team energy.
Sketch Writing Program
Jeffrey Nickels
(He/Him) Jeffrey is a Seattle-based sketch comedy writer and performer. His sketch journey began 13 years ago, producing Ubiquitous They's sketch comedy show at the University of Puget Sound. Since then, he has worked with numerous groups through the Pocket Theater's Summit program, helping guide new sketch teams through their first show, as well as written and performed with Seattle sketch teams Part Plant and Time Bath, and co-produced the horror sketch show Slick Tarp. Most recently, Jeffrey continued a series of post-apocalyptic solo performances at Seattle Sketchfest 2021 with the show New Orbit, to much acclaim. He hopes you've been well and is excited to work with you!
Zak Nelson
(He/Him) Zak has been kicking around the Seattle comedy scene since 2009, and often brings an earnest sense of absurdity to any scene he's in. Born and raised in Seattle, Zak performs sketch comedy with Drop the Root Beer and Run in addition to being a part of the Swipe Right cast. He also is an obsessive soccer fan, lover of pies, and dislikes sweet pickles. If pressed, he would make a really gross juice.