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 Producing Artistic Director of Bandit Theater. She began her improv training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City in 2009, studying with renowned teachers and performers including Will Hines, Brandon Gardner, Gavin Speiller, Erik Tanouye, Chelsea Clarke, and Jordan Klepper.
Annie was later cast on Graceland, one of UCB’s first Lloyd Teams. In 2012, Graceland became the first Lloyd Team to be promoted to Harold Night together as a complete ensemble.
After leaving New York, Annie continued her training and artistic development in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., where she explored relationship-driven improvisation and learned to blend emotionally grounded scene work with game-based long-form comedy.
In 2018, Annie founded Bandit Theater with the goal of cultivating community, fostering creativity, and inspiring personal growth through the art of comedy. She helped develop Bandit’s improv curriculum, teaches improv, and leads the theater’s sketch comedy classes. At Bandit, she has performed in and directed productions including The Reader, Swipe Right, Inkprov Tacoma, and Regency. Her work emphasizes playful collaboration, strong ensemble relationships, memorable characters, and comedy grounded in genuine human connection.
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.
Mary C. Parker
Education Lead
(She/Her) Mary believes we can all benefit from adding a little humor to our lives. She took her first improv class 10 years ago while seeking stress relief from work. Mary has performed with teams in Portland, OR, London, UK, Pittsburgh, PA, and now in Seattle on The Harld Next Door at Bandit. She has appeared at comedy festivals in Richmond, VA, Edinburgh, UK, and Pittsburgh, PA. Mary has taught improv at Kickstand Comedy, and she has been on the Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama and Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts. Mary looks forward to teaching at Bandit and having you in her class!
Eloise O'Loane
(She/Her) Eloise's improv career began in 2021 (though she earned a Business Marketing degree in 2019, so who's to say when it really began) after taking classes in Seattle, where she eventually found her way to Bandit Theater. After playing in Bandit's first Tumbleweeds program, she joined the Mad Science cast. When she is not improvising, Eloise is a writer and performer for the sketch comedy group Good Crash! and a Quizmaster where she hosts trivia in bars across Seattle.
Mason Lok
(He/Him) Mason is very excited to be here! He has been learning improv since 2016, and was formerly a performing member of the Dead Parrot’s Society, WWU’s improv team. He has recently been taking classes with Bandit Theater; he’s enjoying them tremendously; and has been cast in the Tacoma production of Almost Yours. He loves the community here, and he’s incredibly grateful!
Cam Kiernan
(She/Her) Cam Kiernan is a Seattle based improvisor, actress, and comedian with over a decade of experience on stage, on set, and on the mic. Cam started improv in college where she became obsessed with learning all the ins and outs of performing and has since studied the art of improv, stand up, acting, clowning, and so much more. Today, Cam is best known for her stand up comedy appearances in The Big Laugh (Amazon Prime) and Live In Loveland (Tubi) but you can find her performing improv in Seattle with Bandit's Couple's Quiz and stand up across the country with Hotties of Comedy.
Samantha Velucci
(She/Her) Samantha understands life is short and searches for meaning through comedy and companionship. In 2022, she began her improv journey after watching a show in Seattle where Annie told her she makes for a great audience member. She quickly fell in love with improv and sees it as an opportunity to experience new things with every scene. She's thrilled to be performing on "Inkprov" after a recent move to Tacoma. She will get matching tattoos with you, she's a tad impulsive.
CeCe Brantley
(She/Her) Originally from Atlanta, CeCe started her journey with Bandit as a Director for Tumbleweeds. She hopes to bring her deep love for spreading joy and her optimism to teaching. Known for her infectious sense of humor, she leads with playfulness, imagination, and heart. Her ideal day? One where she wakes up giggling and falls asleep laughing. She’s been a part of the Seattle improv scene for three years and is excited to continue igniting creativity.
Melissa Zargon
(She/Her) Melissa was a goofy lil theatre kid who could not sing or be bothered to memorize lines, so naturally found her performance art destiny to be improv comedy. She was on the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) house team (shoutout Jorts Lopez), taught Level 2 at the UCF Improv Academy, helped create a Femprov workshop to teach inclusivity in comedy to college students, and eventually she ditched Florida for Seattle where she found her new home amongst the mountains and at Bandit Theater. These days she is beyond thrilled to be playing in Bandit’s tarot based show, The Reader.
Akilah Powell
(They/Them) Akilah has been doing improv since 2023. Originally starting in Portland and moving to Tacoma and finding Bandit in 2024. In their free time Akilah enjoys listening to their favorite kpop group Ateez and learning Korean. They also love movies and volunteer at the local independent movie theater.
John Watchter
(He/Him) John is a returning to improv after taking break to get his shit together. Before this version, John did longform improv shows with jet city improv, and a weekly improv podcast. Before that he wandered in the wilderness of service jobs, and in the distant mists of history he studied acting in college and tried to work as an actor in Chicago and los Angeles. I know he doesn’t seem that old? now He spends time being a best uncle to a brilliant niece and nephew, trying to do a maximum number of push-ups, zipping around on scooter, and working on a psychology degree. He is very grateful to be a part of the bandit company and this show!