Alumni
Sebastian Inks
Player
2014-2020
Sebastian would like to say hello everyone reading this! He likes improv, pulp fiction and never going to the beach. Sebastian was a Player and Instructor and was a part of More Cowbell and “Bach,” an improv duo with Johnny Kalinowski. Sebastian also created “Underdog Improv” and ran the very successful $#!t Show for two years. Sebastian would also like to say goodbye to everyone reading this and let you know he moved to Chicago in 2020.
Becki Haggard
Player
2019-2020
Born in a time when women were denied education and restrained to the home, she led a 20-ship fleet that stood up to the British monarchy. Becki was a valued member of Mad Cowford who left to pursue a job in the foreign service in 2020.
Rick Spruiell
Founder/Player/Executive Member
2006-2018
Rick began his improv journey as a student in 2004 Extremely timid and easily frightened, Rick usually came out of his shell long enough to make sure there were enough people to put on a show. He belongs to a paranormal investigation team and loves to investigate the paranormal because spirits don’t judge. Rick works by day repairing medical diagnostic equipment because electricity doesn’t judge. The rest of his spare time is usually spent making movies for festivals, making commercials for foreign countries or just generally waiting for his real life to begin. If you should see the cover of the book that is Rick, don’t judge.
Robert Waters
Player/Tech
2016-2017
Robert started his performance career in the 5th grade after being cast as Narrator in “Where the Wild Things Are,” and never looked back! That is, in the sense that he never appeared in another play. He is aware that plays keep coming out but figures “been there, done that.”
He has, for real, eaten a live octopus. He is still not truly certain if it was a cultural delicacy or a common prank on foreigners but nevertheless claims he is 1/128th octopus on his tax returns so he can write off beach trips.
He currently sells 25% of his life to a large corporation to sustain the other 75%.
Robert moved to Minnesota, or one of those other cold Northern states.
Chelsie York
Player
2015-2018
Chelsie is a crazy plant lady from Alabama who wins people over with her southern charm and warm hugs. She started using improv as a form of therapy to give the voices in her head a creative outlet. In the process, people decided she was just weird enough to be funny.
Chelsie left Jacksonville in 2018 to move to Chicago to be with her husband, Nick Davis.
Nick Davis
Player
2011-2018
Nick Davis is a drummer who never attends a formal occasion unless he’s dressed in a cat t-shirt and/or a set of Nintendo power gloves. Firmly obsessed with never holding a world record in anything, Nick brings his three and a half semesters of being a drama major to the mainstage, and his communications degree to the job fair. He enjoys calling his own cell phone from random landlines and having long conversations with himself, discussing dinosaurs, Stephen Baldwin movies, and the state of Delaware (he’s such a good listener).
Nick moved to Chicago in 2017 where he continues to perform.
Sara Goldsmith
Player
2017
Human woman Sara Goldsmith was born in Boston, MA and raised above Rafiki’s arms to take her rightful place as The Lion King. A graduate of The Second City Hollywood Training Center, she has written/performed in numerous sketch revues and has performed with several longform improv troupes in Los Angeles. She can be seen in OBGY Not? Comedy’s original webisodes, some of which have been featured on Elizabeth Banks’s WhoHaha .
Serah Bennett
Player
2015-2016
Serah Bennett spent a stint with Mad Cowford Improv before heading to the University of Florida, where she performed with Theater Strike Force as part of “The Sunday Group.” Besides Improv she loves the theater. She has been in many theater productions in Jacksonville, including Letters to Sala (Young Sala), Room Service (Hilda Manny), and more. She majored in theatre at the University of Florida and has since moved to New York City.
Bobby Parker
Player
2006-2018
Bobby is painfully shy and is a mild stutterer. He is overweight and nearsighted. The most embarrassing moment of his life is updated on a day to day basis. Bobby is willing to use all of these gifts to amuse you. Bobby continues to perform stand-up comedy in the Jacksonville area and beyond.
Patrick Dalton
Player
2015-2017
Patrick is an enigmatic man and little is known about him. He makes a mean guacamole. He ran “Comedy Uncorked” every Wednesday at the Wine Bar in Jacksonville Beach, and was on teams “Dutch” “Bereaving Gustavo” and “More Cowbell.” Patrick moved to Atlanta in 2017.
Alan Caudel
Player
2012-2016
One day, Alan did a random search for online classes and found Mad Cowford Improv. He started taking improv classes, and had so much fun that he had to keep coming back and became a valued performer. He helped create Mad Cowford’s 2012 48 Hour Film Project, “Osha’s Eleven” and award-winning 2013 film “One and Change.”
Alan got married, had a child, and moved to Orlando.
Bill Welch
Player/Founder/Executive Member
2006-2015
Bill was a founding member of Mad Cowford and performed improvisational theatre starting in 2001 with Improv Jacksonville and then with Mad Cowford. Bill had an extensive music background from growing up singing in choir and his performances as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Curly in Oklahoma, and Francis in Forever Plaid in Columbia, SC. Bill was the VP of Marketing, an instructor, and the creator and director of Mad Cowford’s musical improv group, More Cowbell.
Courtney Gardner
Player
2010-2016
Courtney is a girl who is blondish. Unlike other blondish girls, she can read. Like most blondish girls, she began life as a common street thug. Now that she is reformed she strives to bring about world peace with laughter while dominating the world.
Courtney left Jacksonville to pursue acting in Atlanta in 2016.
Creed Bowlen
Player
2011-2015
Creed performed nationally and internationally as an actor and host in television, commercial, print, theatre, theme parks, improv, and seedier exploits, if you believe Google. So, Creed has been around the world and completed his MFA in Acting from the University of Central Florida. Creed was a member of Mad Cowford, including house teams More Cowbell and Toy Box before leaving for the friendly skies as a Delta Flight Attendant.
AJ Hofland
Player
2012-2014
Hailing from the land of Beer and Cheese (Wisconsin), A.J. found himself a nomad, lost in a strange land (North Florida). After suffering mental anguish in trying to figure out what “Salt Life” means, where, actually, is the first coast, and why it takes 40 minutes to get anywhere, he found relief and release in a dairy-centric oasis (Mad Cowford Improv). Armed with a quicker than dim wit and the support of his new friends, A.J. helped create the house team “Beastwood.”
For whatever reason, AJ moved to Oklahoma.
Tim Ceder
2013-2014
Raised among the gentle souls in the Pacific Northwest, Tim stumbled into Jacksonville and exposed himself to Mad Cowford. After progressing through the workshops, both parties liked what they saw. Tim got married and moved to Hawaii, where he continues to perform improv. Tim was a member of the all-attorney improv team “Bar-Prov” with AJ Hofland and John Kalinowski.
Jessica Holmes
Player
2010-2014
Jessica was a member of the house teams “The Baker Act” as well as “Mad Cowford: No Bull.” Jessica was a writer, assistant director, and all around creative person on two Mad Cowford 48 Hour Films: “OSHA’s Eleven” and “One and Change.”
Jessica Landkrohn
Player
2012-2013
Jessica “Babylegs” Landkrohn invests most of her time in her favorite hobbies, which includes challenging her insecurities, acquiring degrees, applying for jobs, and traveling the world thanks to her travel sponsor, Visa.
She, rhetorically, debates NPR hosts while congratulating herself for listening to NPR. Jessica ardently hates cell phone insurance but pays for it. Her sneezes are weak, but her biceps are weaker. Jessica left Jacksonville for a job in Seattle, where she continues to perform improv.
Britney Barber
2011-2013
Britney Barber has been doing stuff since high school. In college, she started doing more stuff, which continued until she graduated and went to Chicago. Britney moved to Florida after having performed improv in in Chicago and Philly. Britney performed with the mainstage cast at the Gainesville Improv Festival and was a member of the house team “One Man Show” with Johnny O’Mara. Britney left Jacksonville to head off to the great, green Northwest land of Seattle, Washington.
Johnny O'Mara
Player
2011-2013
Johnny O’Mara graduated from the University of Florida in 2011 where he improvised with “SHARKPUNCH!” and Theatre Strike Force’s “The Sunday Group” and made sketch comedy with the “The Mustachioed Gentlemen.” During this time, Johnny was part of the team chosen to represent Theatre Strike Force in the College Improv Tournament Finals in Chicago, IL. They lost.
After drowning his sorrows in Fun Dip, and cute cat videos, Johnny moved to Jacksonville. Mad Cowford found him in a gutter and nursed him back to health. Johnny performed with the mainstage cast at the Gainesville Improv Festival and was a part of the group “One Man Show” with Britney Barber. Johnny moved to Chicago to pursue his dreams of being a starving actor and improvisor, and has succeeded.
Jeff Zenisek
2013-2015
Jeff is a tall man. A tennis player. A stand-up comedian. A podcaster. Jeff has great hair. Jeff moved to California.
Scott Smith
Player
2010-2016
Scott joined Mad Cowford shortly after retiring from his ten-year stint as a contract killer for Murder Mystery Players, Inc., contributing to Jacksonville’s ever-escalating homicide rate by making people laugh to death. Prior to directing over forty interactive comedies of intrigue, Scott taught improvisation workshops here in North Florida and performed competitive short-form improv in Daytona Beach. A commercial pilot, Scott knows how to fly by the seat of his pants
David Patton
Player
2008-2010
David taught theatre and religion at St. John’s Country Day School. He has been acting most of his life and had his first television appearance at 4 in a local PSA. He began improvising at ComedySportz Richmond. He earned his Master of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University with his thesis on the “Pedagogy and Ethics of Improvisation Using the Harold” (available online).
David moved to Jacksonville from Chicago where he studied with some of the greats of improv and sketch at IO and the Second City, including Michael Gellman, Bernie Sills, Pat O’Brien, Anne Libera and Charna Halpern. He taught improv and acting in Chicago and is most proud of his time teaching in the Improv Program at Second City Chicago.
David moved to Minnesota in 2010.
Erik Voss
Player
2007-2009
Erik came to us as a teenager, full of talent and love. From the start, Erik blew away audiences with his improv skills. Then, he went to the University of Florida and was a dominant force in groups like Theatre Strike Force, The Sunday Group, and AM Radio. Erik continues to work and perform in Los Angeles. Erik wrote a popular column about “Saturday Night Live” on Splitsider. He can now most frequently found making informative videos about current entertainment at the very popular YouTube Channel “New Rockstars.” Erik is always missed, always loved, and always funny.
James Allen
Player
2008-2010
James Allen was a former child star in Full House and Mr. Belvedere.
He joined Mad Cowford to bring class back to the troupe, which was noticeably lacking before his arrival.
James was a beloved member of Mad Cowford before he moved to Chicago, where he had great success as an improvisor. James now lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Collin Cunninghame
Player
2008-2011
Collin began improvising in 1978 and was later born in 1991. He has never stopped a crime but almost witnessed one once. He feeds on applause and vegetable platters. A framed Aaron Carter autograph is his most prized possession.
All jokes aside, he performs comedy while facing to the left. Collin left Mad Cowford to take UF and Theatre Strike Force by storm, and then headed to Chicago.
Shawn Livesey
Player
2006-2008
Shawn was an original member of Mad Cowford after performing for ImprovJacksonville for the last years of its existence. Shawn was the bad boy of Mad Cowford with his intense and energetic play. He made the ladies swoon. He is a twin. He was in the Navy. Shawn distinguished himself once while miming “sherpa” and having absolutely no idea what it was.
Meagan English
2006-2008
Meagan was on loan to us from New York City for a period of time and quickly established herself as a crowd favorite. Meagan has since moved to where all crowd favorites go: Los Angeles. She will live on in such fairytales as “Jamaican and the Beanstalk” and we hope there might be a word for us in her eventual Oscar speech. Meagan has been featured in a number of nationally appearing commercials.
Taylor Wilson
2007-2008
Taylor was a beloved member of our troupe until the Navy was tired of her consorting with us. She was reassigned for national security reasons and likely knows what really goes on in Area 51.
Steven Bright
Player
2007-2008
Steven was with Mad Cowford during our childhood years, before he went off to travel the world and study medicine. Steven will be remembered for his fantastic performance as a “jaunty boy” in Mad Cowford’s Award Winning short film “Silent Movie: The Musical!”
Blake Stockton
Player
2017-2018
Blake was a player with Mad Cowford Improv and a member of the team “Underdog” with their monthly show at BlueJay Listening Room at the beaches. Blake moved to Atlanta in 2018.
Robert Wical
Player/Tech/Founding Member
2006-2014
Robert was a founding member of Mad Cowford and in charge of technical operations before leaving Mad Cowford for other pursuits. Whenever anyone says “I’m on it” we remember Robert.
Casey Ratchford
Player
2010-2017
Casey was a musician with More Cowbell and occasional performer. Casey scored Mad Cowford’s award winning 48 Hour Film “One and Change.”
Christina Schriver
Player
2015-2018
Christina is an accomplished stand up comedian and improvisor. You can still find her performing locally arranging many open mic and stand-up nights!
James Chafin
Player
2015-2017
Mo McKellop
Player
2009-2011
Spencer Ruizzo
Player
2015-2017
Tony Hansen
Player
2017-2018
Could Be You!
Everyone's journey starts somewhere. Taking a class is the best way to see how improv can benefit you!