Who we are
Fakers history:
2,000 BCE - Egyptians laughed at someone doing a made up character. Thusly, improv was born.
2022 CE - A year long adult improv class began at Olympia Family Theater. After it finished, they wanted to continue learning and performing together.
2024 CE - Brave souls endeavored to launch what is now The Real Faker’s Dozen, LLC and perform in Olympia (and eventually beyond)!
Andrew - he/him
Andrew moved to Washington State in 2018. He grew up in Missouri and lived in Los Angeles for a while. It was in Los Angeles that he fell in love with improv. Andrew works in special education for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. His daughter is the best human in the world.
Cassandra - she/her
Cassandra is a born adventurer who comes to Olympia from Colorado with layovers in Germany, Mexico, Wisconsin, and . . . we lost track after that. A hoop-jumping bureaucrat by day, she chooses to do improv (we suspect) in order to travel to parts unknown in the space of a moment. When she is not globe-trotting in the literal sense, she can be found sipping wines from around the world, or playing fantastical board games with friends and family (and occasionally, doing both at once!).
Gabe - he/him
Gabe is a Washington state native, growing up right down the road here in Olympia. His love for improv came from the joy he found in the laughter of others, as well as the many times he himself couldn't stop from laughing (even while onstage). While not on stage you might find Gabe engaging in tomfoolery at any location where tomfoolery occurs. If you're out of luck finding him there you might head to the mountain bike trails where Gabe has been spending most of his summer at, or in his garage playing drums to the likely dismay of his poor neighbors.
Gaylen - she/her
Originally from Upstate New York, Gaylen attended university in England, where she spent rather more time playing soccer and watching British reality TV than studying for her exams. Upon completing her undergrad, she decided there wasn’t enough rain in England and moved to the Pacific Northwest. While she loves theater in all forms, she prefers not having to memorize lines, so improv was a good fit. When not on stage, she can usually be found arguing with her excessively emotional cat, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and trying to figure out how to cook spaghetti noodles.
Jerry - he/him
Jerry has pinged around from growing up in Tennessee, to Croatia, to Los Angeles for grad school and most of his adult life, and now has settled in Washington. He began improv, and theater in general, later in life and seriously regrets his life choices for not getting involved sooner. His hobbies tell a story of “just pick one,” like drums, axe throwing, reading, creative writing, watching copious amounts of anime, dungeons and dragons, exercise, cooking, disassociating, and more. He and his wife have two very floofy cats - one an angel, the other a demon.
Maren - she/her
Maren has spent most of her adult life raising her pinkies (now 17 and 20) and managing a household. Recently she added administrative work and teaching artistry to her résumé. An avid supporter of pretend play and relaxed, creative brain space for all, she finds improv to be clam chowder for her soul. When not improvising on stage, she is improvising at home with cooking, writing, and singing to her plant friends. Hang on, Sloopy!
Rebecca - she/her
Rebecca wears the hat of director for our troupe of Fakers. Other hats of hers include elementary drama & music specialist, teaching artist, and audiobook narrator. Her hat-collecting ways do not stop with her professional life: she has a hat each for Dungeons & Dragons, disc golf, loving every animal that ever existed, and a purple one with a feather in it that her spectacular stepchildren and their remarkable mother gave her.
Sara - she/her
Sara St.Clair (she/her) thanks you for supporting live improv theater! A Greener grad, playwright, and teaching artist, Sara has been performing for over 30 years with theater and musical groups around Washington State and in North Carolina. She was most recently seen as Amandine in Amélie the Musical with SPSCC Theater Collective and as Sally Jackson in Olympia Family Theater’s production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. She lives in Olympia with her three children.
Susana - she/her
Susana recently returned from Chicago's iO Theater improv intensive program, her latest artistic foray. She has a degree in theater and dance and has studied technique in different parts of Latin America and the US. In town, she most recently favored the stage at Olympia Family Theater as Dust Cloud in The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus (2023). Currently, she is working on a solo performance project. If you're lucky, you may hear her whip out her native Spanish in an improv scene!
Troy - he/him
Troy possesses vast knowledge of the underwater world known as the Salish Sea, which is a fancy way of saying that he owns and operates his own diving services company. You may have seen him in Olympia Family Theater's Number the Stars (2020). After nightfall, he becomes the troll under the bridge. When he is not cracking jokes at hapless bystanders, he can be found cracking jokes at his hapless friends.
Nick - he/him
Nick is currently a student at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon pursuing a degree in theater. So although his heart is always with The Fakers, his body is often elsewhere. Nick recently returned from Chicago's iO Theater Improv Intensive Program where he spent five weeks improvising with a national and international ensemble of hilarious people. He is currently playing the role of Officer Lockstock in Urinetown at Willamette University. He may make surprise appearances in performances that are conveniently located near major holidays or school breaks.