.

Nickname: Mama
Title: General Manager/Owner
Position: Referee, Player, Ms. Voice

Favorite Game: Musical Styles Replay

Mia Lee Bauman is the mother of two amazing teenagers, Margot and Claire, and wife to one incomparable Chris Bauman who she met at…ComedySportz. An actor and improv performer for 25 years, Mia is a founding member and co-owner of Indianapolis' ComedySportz Theatre. She has just celebrated the completion of her first movie role in "Open Micr's" which premiered at the IMAX Theatre in April of '06.  Since her latest MS relapse (Mia was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in '04) in March of this year, Mia walks with a cane. It is black and shiny and fabulous.

Nickname: Over the Rainbow
Nerd Game: Dungeons and Dragons
Title: Artistic Director/Owner

Position: Ref, Player, Mr. Voice
Favorite Game: Sing It!

Ed started his improv career in 1989 working with the Indianapolis based improv and sketch comedy troupe Below the Belt. In 1993, the members of Below the Belt formed Comedysportz Indianapolis, of which Ed is co-owner and Artistic Director. As such it has been his privilege to perform in ComedySportz cities throughout the country. He has also been seen on many local stages over the past several years, including: Footlite Musicals, TOTS, Indianapolis Civic, Madame Walker, Raleigh’s Dinner Theatre, and the IRT Cabaret. Ed also holds a BA from IU/ Herron School of Art and isn‘t afraid to use it.

Nickname: "the Big Cheese"
Mint: Spear
Title: Financial Manager/Owner

Position: Ref, Player, Ms. Voice, General Lackey
Favorite Game: Forward/Reverse

Lynn Burger is a founding member/owner of CSz Indianapolis, having stumbled into improvisational comedy as an original member of "Below the Belt" in 1988. She has also appeared in productions at many Indianapolis theatres including the Edyvean Repertory Theatre, Theatre on the Square, The Lilly Theatre at the Children's Museum of Indianpapolis and Footlite Musicals. During daylight hours, Lynn works as an accountant at Indiana Sports Corporation (and you thought all accountants were dull). She also enjoys singing, practicing yoga (which she claims she's going to get back to any day now), and spending time with her large and understanding cat, Katie.

Nickname: "Oh, no, I think I'm gonna"
Expectations: Great

Position: Player, Ref, Mr. Voice, Level 2 Instructor
Favorite Game: Word from Our Sponsor

Dave is a founding member of ComedySportz Indianapolis, having been a member of its progenitor, Below the Belt. Dave has performed in dramas, comedies, musicals, musical comedies, and musical dramas at many Indianapolis theatres, including the Phoenix and the American Cabaret ones. He teaches introductory and intermediate acting classes at the Phoenix Theatre. Dave is a big fan of Doctor Who, good music, and Target.

Nickname: "Still a Little Rascal"

Younger than: Springtime

Title: Field Manager

Favorite Game: Beastie Rap

Darla is ComedySportz Indy’s Field Manager, responsible for making sure all aspects of a ComedySportz match go off without a hitch.  A Hoosier her entire life, Darla graduated from P.S. #11 and Arlington High School.  Darla married Chuck in the Summer of 2005 and the two of them often work side-by-side in the kitchen, preparing great ComedySportz treats.  Believe it or not, Darla is over fifty, making her ComedySportz Indy’s most mature team member.

Nickname: "N"
Certified in: Time Traveling
Position: Player, Ms. Voice, Ref
Favorite Game: Chameleon (really!)

Aili McGill spends her days trapped in another timeline, and moonlights as an improv comic. Most of the time, she's lost in the year 1836, baking bread, butchering meat, and weaving textiles at Conner Prairie in Fishers, IN. When she's able to slip away from that alternative reality, she delights in revelling in the zany antics of her fellow CSZ players. She's been a practicing improv comic since all the way back in 2004, when she took a workshop here at CSZ Indy. She also is pursuing her Masters degree in Museum Studies at IUPUI, and enjoys coordinating community projects, painting in oils, walking her dog, practicing yoga, and singing folk songs with her out-of-tune guitar and parents.

Nickname: Vacant
Position: Player, Ref, & Level 1 Instructor
ST:TNG Episode: "The Mind's Eye"
Fave CSZ game: Dance Party Freeze

Andrea is a career actor, writer, and educator. She majored in Theatre and
Classical Studies at Indiana University at Indianapolis and has also studied
acting at IRT, and Improv and Comedy Writing at Second City in Chicago. Her 10+
years on Indiana Stages include appearances at Theatre on the Square, Buck Creek
Players, Epilogue Players, The Children's Theatre Institute and The Lilly
Theatre, among others. Her favorite roles include Floral in "Impossible
Marriage" with Controlled Riot Productions, and Annelle in "Steel Magnolias"
with Our Town Players, for which she won an award for Best Supporting Female
Performer from the American Association of Community Theatres Festival. When
not at CSZ, Andrea takes care of business as the Vice President of Educational
Program Development for Safe House Productions, Inc. social issues theatre
company and sells household items on Ebay to help offset the expense of her
growing daughter Hannah Rose's need for trendy clothing.

Nickname: "Bad to the Bauman" or just plain "Kicky"
Age: Way older than he looks
Position: Ref/Player
Fave Game: Closed Caption

Chris has been with ComedySportz Indianapolis for nine years.  He started his show business career as a standup comedian. After years on the road (or at home) he grew weary of the political game and came to CSz in 1996. Chris has a background in theater, and was a founding member of Indiana Universities Improvisational Comedy Troupe, so he hoped to find his roots again. Chris has done radio voice- over, tv commercials, has completed 1 movie role, and is currently filming another one entitled "Open Mic'rs", about stand up comedians and their pursuit to work the big stage, which is due out in early 2006. He also has Produced/Directed/Acted in multiple Circle City Secrets Productions; an Improvisational Soap Opera at CSz arena, Indianapolis. Some include, IPD Blue, the Soap-ranos, and the Watsin's Girl Diaries. Chris met his lovely wife Mia at CSz. They have 2 children....they think, and a dog named Bing.

Nickname: "Play"
Secret: pH balanced for a woman
Position: Player / Ref / Mr. Voice
Favorite Games: Five Thingz / Director's Cut

Editor's note: left to his own devices, David will talk your ear off and kick himself for it later. To prevent you from looking like van Gogh and to prevent him from bruising up, we have edited David's bio into the following concise haiku:

Happily married.
Self-published a mystery.
CSz tattoo.

Nickname: Tarzan U
Position: Player, Ref, Mr. Voice
Likes: Object Freeze, Pick A Play, Five Things
Dislikes: Waiting in Line, Famine, Pestilence

Jamie is a registered alien. A foreigner. From Canada.
Make fun of him.

Nickname: Subordinate
Category: Hypocrite (I don't believe in labels)
Favorite Word: Sandwich

Position: Ref, Player, Mr. Voice, Occasional Fresnel Lamp
Favorite Game to ref: Word-At-A-Time Express

Favorite Game to Play: Movie Reviewers

Jeff Clawson wears a different pair of socks everyday; he teaches High School and reads comic books.

Nickname: "El Chistoso"
Position: Mr. Voice/Player
Favorite Word: Masticate
Favorite Show Despised By Its Network: Scrubs
Favorite Game: 3 Corners

Jeff got his big break in acting during the 5th grade production of "Sleeping Beauty". As Stanley Kowalski is to Marlon Brando, "thorn #3" is to Jeffrey Sanford.
Having performed in front of paying audiences for over 10 years in this city, whether it be stand-up comedy, musicals, community theater, or Midnight Movies (yes, he counts "Frank at RHPS" as a credit), he has yet to achieve his goals of performing in a "bend-at-the-knees" industrial film or performing in a Mexican soap opera.

Nickname "I got a nickel"

Title:  Director of Marketing
Possition:  Ref/Player/ Mr. Voice
Astrological Sign: Sagitarius
Favorite Game: Blind Line Sing It

Michael's performing background goes back to 1970 when he would sing for the workers remodeling his parents house. Then in 1976 he played General George Washington in a school play. Since then Michael has been in many productions in Muncie and Indianapolis. His favorite role to date is Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Michael also enjoys playing the piano and writing songs.

Nickname: "Steel"
Position: Playa
Ready to Rumble? Yes
Favorite Game: You Might be a...

Rick has been with ComedySportz long enough to know that softball pants are
uncomfortable anytime. He has made several friends at CSz, but none are
worth mentioning here. On nights that he isn't performing, Rick listens to
pirated MP3s while playing Minesweeper on his computer. His current best
time for the expert level is 147 seconds. His likes the Doobie Brothers,
that is of course until Michael McDonald messed everything up. Rick is also
a member of the infamous "MacNiven's Seven" and hates that bar with all his
might. As a child, he accidentally wore pajamas under his school clothes.
When he grows up, Rick would like to be either a mogul or a ninja.

Nickname: "Peanut Butter and J-"
Beard: Magnificent
Position: Player
Fav. Game: Blindline

Tom Elliott is an Indianapolis native who joined ComedySportz in 2004. He
currently skips classes in chemistry and religion Wabash College in scenic
Crawfordsville, the Athens of the West. Tom first learned of ComedySportz
through the CSz High School League, and stuck around the downtown stage
until he was hired. His improv troupe at Wabash, the Cavemen, will receive
critical acclaim and commercial endorsement just as soon as he gets it off
the ground. He is in training for the Rock Paper Scissors International
World Championships in Toronto this October, and enjoys cookies, balancing
oxidation-reduction equations, and Pac-man (but not Ms. Pac-man, that wound
is too fresh.)

Nickname:  "gaffen"
Position:  Actlete/Mr. Voice
Good Nicknames:  0
Chromosomes:  46 (per cell)
Fave Game:  The Majestic Javelina

Will Pfaffenberger graduated from the Department of Communications at
DePauw University in 2004 with concentrations in media and theater.  At
DePauw, he developed and hosted two comedy-talk radio programs, was
deeply immersed in the theater program as a writer, director, actor, and
designer for several mainstage and studio productions, and did improv
for the first time with a group called "UnImprovable."  Will has
professional writing and performance credits for the nationally
syndicated "Bob and Tom Show," and has been improvising for Comedy
Sportz Indianapolis since November of 2004 and for the long form group,
"Fun Dumpster," since the Fall of 2005.  As the Arts Outreach
Coordinator for The University of Indianapolis, he will often take any
opportunity to shamelessly plug the next event he's promoting - check
out http://arts.uindy.edu for details.  See, I told you.

Nickname: "Apocalypse"
Favorite Fabric: Cotton
Position: Player/ Ref
Favorite Game: Good Advice-Bad Advice-Worst Advice

Woody Rau has been delighting Comedy Sportz fanz with his crazy shenanigans since 1993. Even though he has never been camping, hunting, or fishing, he hosted a short lived program on ESPN Outdoors. He also appears in the feature films Lil Treasure Hunters (as seen on Showtime Networks) and the soon to be released Easy Money. If those credentials don't knock your socks of, then peep this: Woody is also a critically acclaimed playwright and director. Yes, Woody Rau is truly one awsome talent.

The opinions expressed in this bio are those of Woody Rau and do not necessarily represent the opinions of ComedySportz Indianapolis.

Nickname: "Redhanded"
Uniform: Worn-in Pink Chuck Taylors
Position: Actlete
Favorite Game: Three Corners

Kristin recently graduated from Anderson University with a BA in Theatre Studies, and she now teaches English and coaches speech and improv at Noblesville HIgh School!.  In college, Kristin performed with Randomonium, Anderson's own improv troupe since it's debut in 2002.  When she's not on stage in her classroom, the CSz field, or Park Place Church of God, she spends her days looking into the sky, eating Chick-Fill-A sandwiches and fries, dreaming of her home in Forest Hill, Maryland, taking pictures of restaurant tables, and laughing at funny things.   Sometimes she does all that at once because Kirstin is afflicted with multitasking.   She's not good at it, but she thinks she is.

Nickname:  “and Present Danger”

Position:  Player, Sound Boat Avoider

Pickle:  Midget Gherkin, with Bread & Butter Spear a close second

Fave Game: Telephone

One day, a higly-annoyed Eric Wilcher asked his younger sister, “Claire, why are you so BOISTEROUS?!?”  Webster quotes Boisterous as:  “noisily turbulent or exuberant”.  Yep, that’s Claire, who has been with CSz since December 2004.  She is also a member of the newly formed long form improv group, Fun Dumpster. She spends her days working as an educational actress at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, talking to kids about physics, Norman Rockwell, and the dances of the 1960s, among other things.  Claire loves scarves, new pens and pencils, and correct grammar.  She abhors Aaron Neville, pants without pockets, and the song “Take My Breath Away.”  Really, she thinks it’s terrible.

Nickname: "-Tation Island"
Position: Referee, Player, Mr. Voice, High School League Coach
Favorite games: Parallel Universe and Styles Replay
Hidden Talent: can sing the 50 states in rhyme song in under a minute

Tim has been with CSz since 1999 (when we actually partied like it was that year).  He has been acting and singing ever since 6th grade when he was Kurt in Brazil High School's production of The Sound of Music.  His day job is Quality Manager for Pace Analytical Laboratories so he enjoys obcure references about the periodic table and Imhoff cones.  Tim also enjoys playing volleyball, working on genealogy, watching science fiction shows and hanging out with girls named Anita.  If you want to give him a good home, make sure he gets plenty of water and sunlight and Totinos pizzas.



Nickname: “-Oke”
Position: Player, Ms. Voice
Favorite Game: Jam!
Education: Masters in Learning by Doing
Vocal Instructors: Julie Andrews, Judy Garland, Mitzi Gaynor, & Ethel Merman

Kari was first introduced to ComedySportz in Madison, Wisconsin in 1990 and joined ComedySportz Indianapolis in 1996. She has appeared on other local stages including Buck Creek Players, Indianapolis Civic Theatre and the Edyvean Repertory Theatre, and has been awarded Encore Association Awards for both acting and singing. She made her directorial debut in last season’s Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology at Buck Creek Players which earned an Encore Award for Best Ensemble and a nomination for Best Production. She is proud to be one half of the “Stamatopoli” along with her husband, Tony, a player at CSZ since 1997.



Nickname: "Kevin”
Space: The Final Frontier
Position: Player, Ref, Mr. Voice

Favorite Game: Five Things

Mookie was a founding member of the now-defunct ComedySportz team in Raleigh, NC back in 1989 while he attended North Carolina State University.  After playing there for ten years, he moved to Chicago where he studied at Second City for a year before moving back to Indianapolis where he was born and raised.  (Actually, he was raised in Carmel, but don’t hold it against him.)  He played with ComedySportz Indy for a year and then left us for the filth and plight of Washington, DC where he played with their ComedySportz team for like a year or so.

Tony has been a member of ComedySportz since 1996. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he moved to Indiana for the picturesque mountain views, lush rainforests, and rugged ocean beaches. He is now a Midwesterner, though, having met the love of his life and future bride—a Minnesota girl and fellow actlete—at the Indiana State Fair. With two degrees in anthropology, Tony enjoys studying people—hence his attraction to comedy. (He rarely uses the word, “hence,” but often uses parentheses.) His comic influences include Chuck Jones, Gary Larson, and anyone who shouldn’t be out in public.

Nickname: “I didn’t know that”

Life’s Ambition: WORLD DOMINATION and to drive a Zamboni

Title: Server

Favorite Game: 5 Things!

Leila began her humble, yet extraordinary, existence in Tucson, AZ where she was runner-up in the State Spelling Bee Championships in ’94.  After failing to recover from misspelling “onomatopoeia”, she moved with her family to the Hoosier State and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area, of which she has been a resident ever since.  Leila attended Ben Davis High School (shhh, don’t tell anyone!) where she was an “Academic Giant” until Jan. ’99, when she graduated with Honors and a superiority complex.  After taking 2yrs off to “find herself”, Leila auditioned for College Jeopardy in hopes of coming face to face with her archnemesis, Alex Trebek.  Her attempts were foiled by a buzzer malfunction, but the dream is still very much alive.  She is completing her Bachelor’s in IUPUI’s TCEM program and works as the UG Recorder at the IUPUI-SON.  Among using as many acronyms as possible, she enjoys anything to do with hockey, playing the violin, traveling, learning fun facts from her fellow CSz-ers and lighting candles to “The Drums” at CSz-Indy.

Talk to these clowns on the ComedySportz Indianapolis Fan Forum! Or go back to Fan Central.