Dojo Comedy Instructors
Murphy has been writing, performing, and living comedy for over ten years, starting with standup and then moving to improv and sketch. He discovered his love for improv after auditioning for a college group and getting fully hooked. In 2008 he started training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and The People's Improv Theater. Murphy has trained with Shannon O'Neill, Kevin Hines, Neil Casey, Billy Merritt, Gavin Speiller, Joe Wengert, Anthony King, Kurt Braunholer, Pat Shay, Rebekka Johnson, Matt Donnelly, and others. He moved back to DC and has been teaching, coaching, directing, and playing in Washington since then. Murphy currently performs improv with Season Six and sketch with Brick Penguin, as well as jumping into a variety of other shows.
Students say:
"Presented info clearly, dug deeply into each topic and question asked."
Stacey Axler began taking improv classes at Dojo Comedy in the winter of 2015 and completed the Dojo Comedy curriculum in 2016. She is currently a member of the Dojo Harold team program. In addition to that, Stacey completed the WIT curriculum in 2017 and has taken multiple other improv classes and workshops. Stacey also performs stand-up comedy, hosts a monthly comedy show, and also hosts a monthly bagel talk show at Dojo Comedy.
Mike Bock is a comedy writer and sketch performer based in Petworth, DC. Starting out his comedy career in 2015, Mike trained in improv at DC Improv and the Washington Improv Theater, and took sketch classes at Dojo Comedy and DC Improv. He is a writer and performer on Dojo's house sketch team Deer Friends, hosts the regular Blackout! Sketch Show at Dojo, and is a regular performer at Wonderland Ballroom's Comedy Potluck show.
Sarah Fell started taking sketch classes in 2009 and has had the bug for sketch ever since. An editor by day, she keeps a keen eye on the written word, especially when structuring jokes, and is a resource of positive and critical feedback. Sarah was a co-founding member of DC sketch group Hand Poured and is currently working on a 2-woman sketch show.
Former student quotes:
"Great perspectives, excellent feedback, real concern for our growth"
Richie's improv journey began in 2013, upon moving to D.C. from LA. He felt an instant affinity and now can't stop won't stop improving. Having studied at Dojo Comedy, WIT, and with instructors from all over, Richie has performed in theaters and festivals all over the East Coast. He performs with a Dojo Harold team, as well as with indie teams Huggy Smalls: the Notorious H.U.G. and Invisible Knapsack. He loves teaching because he gets to help students discover the fun of improv.
Students say: "Gave deeper explanations . . . very specific notes"; "Gave clear reasons why and how certain tools could be used"; "Hitting game really hard was so helpful"
JEN KOVACH
Jen has been writing and performing sketch comedy in DC since 2013. She learned sketch writing classes at Dojo Comedy as well as through workshops with Joe Schiappa, Amanda Xeller, and Murderfist. Jen trained in improv at Washington Improv Theater. After TAing Dojo’s sketch writing classes, Jen began teaching sketch writing classes at Dojo Comedy, which she's been doing since 2015. Because that's apparently not enough for this sketchmonger, Jen also facilitates and hosts Dojo’s monthly sketch jam, and she writes and performs with Dojo’s sketch comedy house team, Frankie. She can also be found writing for Dojo's late night talk show: A Place to Fail with Tim Montgomery. Past credits: Ladies' Sketch Show: 77% As Funny (co-writer) in 2015, 3 Dojo student/alumni sketch shows from 2015-2016 (writer-performer), and several Frankie shows since 2016 (writer-performer).
Students say:
"Jen was great!"
"Taking this class was an awesome experience. Jen and Sarah did a great job of providing helpful feedback while being encouraging to the whole group."
On any given weekend night you can hear the audience cheering “Will! Will! Will!” for Dojo’s #1 tech booth guy. Will went through the Dojo curriculum and joined the house team Maple Sunday in 2017, where he also competed in the Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament. With Maple Sunday he has performed at the Del Close Marathon as well as at various comedy venues around DC.
Will took the Kevin Mullaney improv intensive in 2017 and now also can be found playing on Dogginton S Wanderson.
Martin completed the Dojo improv curriculum in 2017. He has also completed the Washington Improv Theater curriculum and has received instruction from Kevin Mullaney, Connor Ratliff, and other cool teachers. Additionally, Martin has studied sketch at Dojo and with The Second City.
Martin's go-to character is a sad dad. You can see him putting that character to use with the Dojo sketch team Deer Friends, the Dojo improv team Twin Turbo, and other improv groups including Unknown Number, Pizza Party, and Heavy Rotation.
Alex grew up doing theatre in California, but was first introduced to improv in college, where he joined UC Riverside's main team: Improv Anonymous.
After moving to DC in 2016, he went through the Dojo Curriculum and joined house team Twin Turbo before switching Maple Sunday to tackle a new format. Since then he has performed at the Del Close marathon and FIST, runs a bi-monthly topical show called News Done Goodly, and is a regular performer in the Character Show and Melanin pop-up show.
Kelsie Anderson is a DC-based comedy writer and improv and sketch performer. She's been a member of Dojo house sketch team Deer Friends since the group formed in 2018. As creator and manager of the DC comedy blog Comedic Pursuits, her goal is to help everyone do the kind of comedy they love.