Instructor: Zach Ward

Chapel Hill native and proud Carolina graduate, Zach Ward has been performing and directing comedy professionally for over 15 years. Zach owns DSI where he serves as Artistic Director and Executive Producer. He serves as Executive Director for the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival. In the world of comedy, Zach has been employed by the Chicago Improv Festival (Associate Producer), Toronto Improv Festival (Producer), Richmond Improv Festival (Producer) and ComedySportz Chicago.

Zach has received critical acclaim from the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for his performance with DUAL EXHAUST (Critic's Choice, INDY PICK, Top 10 "Most Influential Comedy Duos of the Past Decade") and THE BEATBOX (Critic's Choice, Best Bet, "Top 5 Latenight Shows in Chicago"). Zach can currently be seen performing with MISTER DIPLOMAT, IMPROV SLAM, and SENIOR PGA at the DSI COMEDY THEATER.

Zach has studied the art of improvisation with Todd Stashwick (Burn Mahattan), Mick Napier and Susan Messing (Annoyance), Bob Dassie, Craig Cackowski and TJ Jagodowski (ImprovOlympic), Matt Besser (Upright Citizens Brigade), Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live), Michael Gelman (Second City), and with every student he teaches.

YOUR BEST FRIEND.

Instructor: Tom Keller

Tom has been a proud DSI company member since February 2009. A native of suburban Detroit, he first tried comedy as an undergraduate at Michigan State University, where he would go on to win the campus-wide Last Spartan Standing contest in 2005. He moved to Greensboro, NC, in February 2008 to work as a sportswriter for the News & Record and soon began studying improv with Steve Lesser and Jennie Stencel at The Idiot Box, where he became a member of the theater's featured shortform troupe.

Tom has since had the privilege of studying at DSI under Zach Ward, Paula Pazderka and Harrison Brookie and in workshops with Joe Bill, Jill Bernard, Dave Buckman, Rachel Madorsky, Anthony Atamanuik, Josh Cohen and Eddie Brill. He won DSI's 2010 March Madness tournament as a member of THE TIMBERPUPPIES and the 2010 Dual Duel championship as half of SPARKY ANDERZANDER. He currently appears with the IMPROV SLAM ensemble and house Harold team LORDINGTON, P.I.

As a stand-up, Tom won the Carolina's Funniest Comic competition in 2010 and has been a featured performer at the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival, the Laugh Your Asheville Off Festival, the Laugh Detroit Comedy Festival, the Charleston Comedy Festival and the Laughing Skull Festival in Atlanta. He teaches stand-up and produces the weekly showcase at DSI.

Tom is an avid Michigan State fan, referees youth basketball at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA and works at Laughing Spirit Farm in Saxapahaw.

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