Rich Laguna – Founder of Laugh Tracks
Rich, Laugh Tracks creator, was born and raised in Milwaukee. He spent most of his childhood getting into and out of trouble with his sense on humor. He has been performing with ComedySportz since before the turn of the last century and is teaching one of the Improv Workshops there. He also performs with and is an Associate Producer of Dinner Detective Milwaukee. He enjoys writing sketches and shorts in competitive form with Sketch 22 and NYC Midnight. He also can be found on stage with the Shakesparody Players as well as other groups in Milwaukee. On his free time, he tries to eat and sleep.
Beth Lewinski
Beth is a Milwaukee native and you may have seen her in numerous productions and shows (scripted and unscripted) with the Alchemist Theatre, ComedySportz Milwaukee, Radio WHT, Sketch 22, Schmitz and Giggles, V-Core productions, MoJo Dojo, and others. She regularly performs with and is an Associate Producer of Dinner Detective Milwaukee.
David Lane
David lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has been a professionally performing comedian for the last 13 years. He regularly performs with Comedysportz Milwaukee, Mojo Dojo Comedy, and a heretofore unnamed murder-mystery dinner show! (Ooh, how myserious and spooky!) When he’s not improvising his way through shows, he’s often eating pizza, or building computers. He has two new puppy-dogs named Pepper and Oni! His favorite suggestions are ones that you specifically gave — yes, you, the person reading this right now. Maybe your name is Gabby. Thanks Gabby!
JT Backes
J.T. has been the goofy dude practically since birth! He first started learning improv at the age of 12, under direction of the legendary Patrick Schmitz. Back in Milwaukee, he teaches high schoolers the wonders of improv over at the First Stage Academy in a group called Organized Chaos. This ginger also has created and taught improv groups all over the country. Besides teaching he is also a Milwaukee-based actor, director, and photographer. www.jtbackes.com
Kristin Althoff
Kristin grew up on the mean streets of Arlington Heights, Illinois. After being awarded second place in the category, “Most likely to appear on a reality show” in her senior year, she went to Bradley University to major in the most loved program of study, mathematics. She is now currently a high school math teacher and department chair at Racine’s Horlick High School. When she is not invigorating the youth of Racine with the quadratic formula and the Pythagorean theorem, you can see her on stage at Comedy Sportz, 6th Street Theater, or at home watching Netflix.
Matt Garnaas
Matt has been improvising for audiences for 25 years at ComedySportz Milwaukee. He thinks he’s a pretty cool guy; he’s a dog person and also currently ranked diamond in Overwatch. He has an affliction called CVS (Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome) which pops up unexpectedly and lasts anywhere from 24 hours to a few days. He’s also been a part of The Midnite Show for over a decade.
Mike Kauth
Mike is an improviser and sketch comedy writer/performer. He got his professional start with ComedySportz, Milwaukee in 1999 and has gone on to train and perform with IO, Chicago and the UCB theatre in Los Angeles. Mike performs regularly in a variety of improv shows in Milwaukee, one of his favorites being Improv Limbo. He has also appeared in over 1 television comercial!
Patrick Schmitz
Patrick is currently teaching theatre at Brown Deer High School. He has worked as the improvisation coach at First Stage Children’s Theater. He has performed/taught for ComedySportz, taken classes through Second City and IO in Chicago, and has performed stand-up comedy throughout the state. He is the founder/artistic director for a guerilla theatre operation called Sketch 22. Patrick has written/produced/directed several plays including the three-year sold out run of Rudolf the Pissed-off Reindeer. Patrick has also co-produced the Milwaukee Comedy Festival.
