Top Story! Weekly Cast
Posted by gluvox on March 6th, 2007
John Abbott
John Abbott grew up in Boston and graduated from Harvard, where he studied Classics and wrote for the Lampoon. In Los Angeles, he was a founding member of the sketch group the Joke Pimps and learned long-form improv at the iO West. Improv credits include Cog, Trophy Wife, Nite Terrors, and coaching Mud Hen and MPG. On the scripted side, he performed in the iO Mainstage Sketch show Three’s Company, Four’s a Conglomerate and is a member of the Top Story! Weekly cast. John also contributes the occasional ripped-from-the-headlines zinger to Top Story! Weekly. John, Mrs. Abbott, and Junior live in a charming cottage in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles.
Shannon Ayers
Shannon began her professional acting debut on the TV show Clueless when she was 8 years old. While still in high school, Shannon began producing and starring in a series of short comedic films with her sister, Tia, that have generated millions of hits on the internet and led to a solid international fan base. Their videos and performances can be seen on www.Babiesfromheaven.com. Best known for her celebrity impressions, Shannon has been featured on CNN, Defamer, the CW series Online Nation, and Verizon VCast. Shannon is currently in the Advanced Training at Playhouse West Acting School & Repertory Theatre.
Tommy Bechtold
Tommy is a graduate of the iO West training program and regularly performs with EXTRA-STRENGTH, Upstate, Victor’s Secret, Book Club and Those Who Oppose Us Will Stand Knee Deep In The Blood Of Their Children (with Top Story castmate Michael Hughes). He is also one of the hosts of Smash Cuts on The CW network. His film and television credits include House M.D., Party Down and the independent feature Sophomore. Originally from Rochester NY, Tommy got his start writing and performing in local sketch and variety shows.
Christopher Biewer
Christopher Biewer moved to Los Angeles from Chicago in April 2007 after meeting the cast at Sketchfest. Christopher started as a writer and became an official cast member December 2007. Before moving to LA, Christopher studied and performed at iO and Second City Conservatory in Chicago, and was a founding member of Hippo Horsey Donkey Monkey, an improv/sketch troupe. Christopher can be seen starring in “Crash Down Hearts”, a feature film set for release later this year. www.christopherbiewer.com
Kipleigh Brown
Kipleigh studied at the Steppenwolf Theatre and the Second City as well as performing in numerous theatrical productions around the Windy City. Her TV and film credits include “Star Trek: Enterprise,” Disney’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” CBS’s “The Magic Door,” “Relative Strangers” (starring Danny DeVito), and “Design” (official selection of the 2002 Sundance Film Festival). She was named one of the “Hot Leading Ladies” of film by Film Fetish for her role in YESTERDAY WAS A LIE. www.kipleigh.com
Jen Cain
Jen Cain is from Texas, where she received her degree in Radio TV Film performance from TCU. Jen has performed at comedy theaters all over LA, festivals across the country, and with The Second City in Hawaii for eight months. She has done several national commercials and a handful of TV shows on the networks WB, MTV, CBS, ABC and Showtime. Jen was a writer and performer for the revival of National Lampoon’s Lemmings, working for them in the national tour, on a comedy album, and in thirteen half hour episodes. She recently shot a pilot created by Matt Williams (Roseanne, Home Improvement), and hosted her own live broadcast show called “Girls Night In.”.
Sean Cowhig
Sean is a Boston native - just ask his accent. He studied at Emerson College and found his love of comedy when he joined the school’s only all improv comedy troupe This is Pathetic, which was started by brilliant actor/comedians David Cross and Laura Kightlinger. His biggest achievement so far was being a featured extra in “Moonlight Mile” where he spent a day in a car with Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, and Jake Gyllenhaal. He was out of his element at the time. Sean can be seen in several ongoing iO West productions including Dr. God, Wikipedia Live, Top Story! Weekly, and iO West’s Mainstage Sketch show.
Susan Deming
Susan Deming is an alumna of Northwestern University, the Second City Writing Conservatory, and The Groundlings Sunday Company. She performs in “The Crazy Uncle Joe Show” at the Groundlings on a regular basis. Her film directorial debut, the short satire, “Purple Bins,” was invited to screen at numerous film festivals and aired on the WB’s “Online Nation”. Her latest short subject, “Oh, Sammy!” won the Atom Films Upload This! contest and aired on Comedy Central’s “AtomTV.” Susan recently enjoyed a run playing Hillary Clinton on a Showtime pilot entitled “Not Penn Jillette” opposite magician/comedian Penn Jillette, on the Oxygen Channel pilot “LOL” starring Debi Mazar, and on David Zucker’s latest spoof, “An American Carol.” She has appeared in several national commercials and played a memorable role on “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” She was most recently tapped as a YouTube Content Partner based on the popularity of her Sarah Palin spoof video, “I Picked a Girl” which featured Phillip Wilburn as John McCain. www.susandeming.com
Rachael Drummond
Rachael Drummond is a graduate of I.O. West and also the Groundlings School. She performs every Wednesday night at 9:30 on the iO West Mainstage with the award-winning Harold Team Trophy Wife. She can be seen in the 20th Century Fox sitcom pilot “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office.” She received an honorable mention from the Garland Awards for her performance as Viola in 12th Night with Shakespeare Orange County. Her LA theater credits include her two-person sketch show, How Two, also Communicating Doors, Sex is Good for You, and Viola in 12th Night. New York credits include The Trials of Martin Guerre, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and Viola in 12th Night. Rachael also played Viola in 12th Night in Sonoma. That makes 4 times.
Contact Rachael at rachael at trophy wife improv dot com.
Visit Rachael at rachaeldrummond.com
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Damien Fahey
Damien’s TV hosting resume starts with having been the longtime host of MTV’s flagship program TRL. He took over for Carson Daly on TRL in 2002 and in 2004 was hand picked by David Letterman to contend as one of the four TV personalities to take over The Late Late Show on CBS. Since then he has also sat in for Regis Philbin on LIVE! with Regis and Kelly numerous times, hosted The Daily 10 on E!, and co-hosted I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here on NBC. Damien lent his voice to two episodes of Family Guy called, “Peter’s Daughter”, & “I Dream of Jesus”. Fahey’s voice can also be heard in the animated movie Robots. He fills in for Ryan Seacrest on his morning radio show on LA’s KIIS-FM. On the comedy front, he performs improv comedy regularly and sketch comedy with Top Story Weekly at iO West. Damien also writes comedy on Twitter and on his fake news blog, The Fahey Chronicles.
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Neil Garguilo
Neil is a graduate of The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York City and has completed the comedy programs at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and iO West. Neil has worked in comedy writing and performance for The Reelz Channel and National Lampoon, to name a couple. He has written and performed in a number of stage shows that have been put up in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Providence and Montreal and has also penned the film “The Adventures of Sargento & Tuggers,” which won at this year’s USA Film Festival in Dallas, TX. Currently, Neil can be found performing in the Los Angeles comedy scene several nights a week. Neil likes you. www.neilgarguilo.com
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Jimmy Guidish
Jimmy has been a part of this great cast since 2008. He is originally from Naples, Florida, and is a graduate of the Second City Los Angeles conservatory program . He can also be seen at iO West performing regularly with his improv group Freedom Snatch.
Matthew Harris
Matthew Harris is a UCLA graduate with a BA in Theater. He was born in Stockton, California at a hospital between a graveyard and the county jail, hence his interest in comedy. Matthew has been in two national commercials, appeared on Comedy Central and Adult Swim specials, co starred on “The Lonely Island” opposite Andy Samberg, and starred in “The Pretty Boy Project” (winner best comedy short in LA Film Festival, Black Film Festival, and Cinevegas award) and Rock Obama! “The Barack Obama Musical” (official selection LA Comedy Festival, www.sadninja.com). He was also an extra in “Collateral” and got to have a gun pointed at him by Jamie Foxx (for the purposes of the movie he’s sure). Matthew continues to perform in various comedy shows around Los Angeles and sketches that pepper the internet. Top Story! Weekly is the most fun show Matt has worked on and he is proud to be among the very funny and talented players, writers and directors. Matt Harris defeated Chuck Norris’ high score in Tetris and invented the wheel, aeronautics and the helicopter but not in that order. Matt Harris is referred to by his mother as “a good boy” and only sleeps for one hour a day, which he does in 10 second stretches throughout an entire day. Whenever God wins a Grammy he thanks Matt Harris. Matt Harris rocks ass. www.nowcasting.com/matthewisaacharris
Michael Hughes
Michael Hughes’ duties with Top Story! Weekly include director, writer, actor, and TSW News co-producer. Mike holds degrees from Yale and Harvard and trained with Uta Hagen, Howard Fine, and the Groundlings. In addition to his work with TS!W, you can find Mike improvising regularly at iO West with Those Who Oppose Us Will Stand Knee Deep In the Blood of Their Children with fellow TS!W cast member Tommy Bechtold. Mike has also performed regularly at Second City with Masi Oka (”Heroes”) and Simon Helberg (”Big Bang Theory”). Film credits include “Factory Girl” opposite Sienna Miller, and “The Man from Elysian Fields” opposite Andy Garcia. Stage work includes productions at the Geffen Playhouse and the Knightsbridge Theatre, and he co-wrote and performed a song for National Lampoon.
Commercial: Cris Dennis/Film Artists Assoc./(818) 883-5008
GREGG LOPEZ
Besides writing and acting in ‘Top Story! Weekly’, Gregg is also a songwriter who records under the moniker ‘Murdered Man.’ He recently work-shopped his original musical ‘Soundsville,’ and contributed music to National Lampoon, Judy Tenuda’s ‘Mountain Girl’ and ‘Cartoon Dump’ at the Steve Allen Theater. He’s featured in the upcoming film ‘Low Rollers,’ and is a founding member of the improvised talk show ‘The Late Night Explosion’ as well as the meta-parody duo ‘The Krazy Brothers.’ A native of Long Island, NY, Gregg is a graduate of AADA in New York and the iO West Writing Program. http://gregglopez.com
Matt Moore
Matt Moore has performed throughout Los Angeles. Matt is a student of vaudeville comedy and has won both the Upright Citizens Brigade’s Classiest Sketch in LA contest as well as iO West’s Nicest Sketch in the Whole World contest.
mattmooreexperience@gmail.com
Jim Nieb
Jim has worked steadily since 1991 as an actor, comedian, impersonator and variety performer. Jim has taught and performed improvisation since high school and was a long time member of the comedy improvisation group ComedySportz in Washington, DC. Jim still travels quite a bit performing around the Country and world. In 2006 he was honored to have a chance to perform for the USO at various bases in Bosnia and Kosovo. Jim is also a student at the well respected Playhouse West Theatre and School in North Hollywood, which was founded by Robert Carnegie and co-founded by Jeff Goldblum. Jim can be seen performing with Top Story! Weekly as well as the improvisational comedy group The Society. www.jimnieb.com
Brian O’Connell
Brian James O’Connell is a working actor, writer, director, filmmaker and improviser in Los Angeles, and is also the Bar Manager for iO West. Brian is a graduate of the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts, where, after receiving his BFA in Film Editing, Brian became the first-ever former student hired by the SOF to oversee the school’s production department as Production Coordinator. Brian’s first feature film as writer/director, KILLER VIEW, was released theatrically in the Fall of 2009. Brian is in post production as a Director of the animated comedy series ZOMBIE GRANDMA starring Guillermo Diaz (read Guillermo talk about ZOMBIE GRANDMA here.) A member of the Screen Actors Guild, Brian’s on-screen credits include the festival favorites THE GIRLS’ ROOM (with Soleil Moon Frye and Wil Wheaton), RED DIRT RISING, and in the internet television series MR. WRONG and MODEL BALL. A regular performer and coach at iO West, Brian is well-respected as one of Los Angeles’s premier improvisers and famous for his encyclopedic knowledge of minutiae and his insane recall ability and memory. Brian can be seen performing at iOWest currently with Billyhawk, Dr. God, EXTRA STRENGTH, mud, garguilO’connell, Top Story! Weekly, and Tigerpants. (Check out the videos page on Brian’s website to see performances by any of these groups).
Amy Paffrath
Amy Paffrath was born and raised in the heart of the US, in St. Louis, Missouri. Young Amy was a busy kid taking dance and gymnastic lessons from the ripe age of 3. She is a middle child and thus has always loved attention. Amy accomplished this by putting on newscasts and plays for her family. She got the last laugh by charging them admission. Amy graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 2005. She moved to LA 6 months later and landed her first big gig as a video vixen in Paramore’s #1 hit “Misery Business.” In early 2007 she was given the amazing opportunity to host her very own show, “Broadcaster News.” The pop culture news show ran daily and racked up more than 200 episodes and hundreds of thousands of hits online. It was on “Broadcaster News” that Amy was able to explore impersonations and fell in love with doing sketch comedy. Since then, Amy has worked as a Fun Fearless Female reporter for Cosmopolitan.com, has been a series regular on MSN’s “The Big Debate,” stars in the upcoming musical “I Kissed a Vampire” and will appear on the new CBS comedy “The Defenders” this fall. Becoming the host of E! News Now and a Daily 10 correspondent was a dream come true for Amy. When she’s not dishing the latest from Hollywood and then skewering it on Top Story! Weekly, Amy can be found hiking, working with one of the many charities she supports, hanging with friends or traveling the world.
Artemis Pebdani
Artemis has done a lot of live theatre and comedy in Los Angeles. She has also done some tv. Most notably, she expertly plays the role of Artemis on FX’s “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.”
She is also a ninja.
Brent Pope
Brent honed his acting chops on the mean streets of rural Nebraska, but he was born on the unpaved streets of the rural Philippines. Brent has appeared on a variety of tv, film and stage projects, including North Mission Road and The Investigators for Court TV, The Hollywood Fight Club’s production of the David Mamet classic Edmond, and a hilarious spoof of Million Dollar Baby, directed by On the Lot’s Sam Friedlander. Brent can currently be seen with his comedy troupe Dead Honkey (10 time iO West Sketch Cagematch champs), on his webseries Friendly Fire, and in Top Story! Weekly.
Derek Jeremiah Reid
Derek Jeremiah Reid is the H.N.I.C. of Dead Honkey. If you don’t know what that means, just ask your black friend (probably Derek). Derek started doing comedy in Austin Texas at Esther’s Follies. Then he hosted the short lived show “The Basement” on the short lived channel Fox Family Channel. Derek is now a cast member of the improv troupe Robert Donwey Jr.Jr. Derek has studied at Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade. Derek doesn’t run on C.P.T., and if you don’t know what that means, you’re probably a Honkey.
Tammie Smalls
In addition to performing with the cast of Top Story! Weekly, Tammie is a graduate of the conservatory at Second City, where she performs with the improv group The Tuskegee Experiment. Smalls is also an Emmy nominated television producer for her work on the Showtime Network series, “Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t.” She also wrote and produced the award winning E! Celebrity Profile featuring comedian Margaret Cho. Tammie, who is also a VO talent and vocalist, is from New York.
Brian Vestal
A Sacramento native, Brian Vestal’s life long dream has just been to make people laugh. After many scholastic years of pencil mustaches and prat falls, Brian earned a degree in Theatre from California State University, Fullerton. A graduate of the Second City Training Center in Los Angeles in such shows as “Be Afraid” and “Gonzales Arrives”, he has also performed at UCB, The Open Fist Theatre, as well as iO West. Brian’s very excited to be in Top Story! Weekly, and pursue his new passion for “fake news”. He is very proud to have worked with Second City Chicago Mainstage director Ron West and SNL writer Anne Beatts. Brian also wants you to know that you are a special, pretty flower. High fives are free: just ask. www.brianvestal.com
PHILLIP WILBURN
Originally from Texas , Phillip is known for his ability to imitate almost any voice, from Tom Cruise to George W. Bush, and everyone in between. The LA Times said Phillip’s George W. Bush is “played to squinty eyed perfection.” He has done voice work for “Dragon Ball Z” on the Cartoon Network and the “Lupin The Third” movie series Phillip produces and stars in viral videos that have received well over a million hits. His video “Leave General Petraeus Alone” received over 100,000 hits in just one day; MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann used it to open a speech by President Bush, and the video was also featured on Hardball with Chris Matthews. Election ‘08 kicked off with Phillip’s John McCain being featured on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Phillip can be seen on stage in Top Story! Weekly at iO West every Sunday night at 9. For more info go to www.phillipwilburn.com.