Shark Tank the Musical

Justin Banks

Justin has been doing improv ever since he joined his college improv team, Tongue ‘N’ Cheek. He’s a conservatory student of Second City and proud member of The Annoyance community. By day he works in radio sales. By night, he’s doing this kind of thing.

Emily Batek

Emily Batek is thrilled to be back on stage performing! Originally from Rhode Island, Emily is an actor and comedian based in Chicago. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory Program as well as the iO Training Center. She has been a performer on improv House teams at theaters including Second City, iO Theater, and ComedySportz. Her most proud work is her solo show, "Hillary In The Woods" directed by Caitlin Looney, which was performed at the Second City's Judy's Beat Lounge. She is represented by DreamTeam Talent.

Jacob Coldiron

Jacob has recently moved to Chicago from Orlando, FL and has been performing musical theater since he was accidentally placed in a theater class in high school. Previous credits include Bobby Strong (Urinetown), Rhine (Impossible Club 2021 Orlando Fringe Festival), and Matt (Bare: A Pop Opera). Jacob is delighted to be a part of this production and aims to avoid a cease and desist from Mark Cuban.

Ryan Hurdle

Ryan J. Hurdle is a writer, composer, actor, improviser, and musician from Romeoville, Illinois. He graduated with a degree in Theatre from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He performs in musicals and improv shows, including ComedySportz and Stolen Set Improv, at the Spotlight and Black Box Theatres in Moline. He also teaches acting at Davenport Junior Theatre in Iowa. Follow him @ryanjhurdle on social media, Spotify, and Apple Music!

Sean Koch

Sean normally puts Ellen Degeneres' wikipedia in all of his bios for shows since 2012 but it was requested he put his actual bio. Sean is an improv teacher and performer here at the Annoyance theatre. Sean has been a part of Splatter theatre (2021) and is the creator of Unremarkable Fairytales.

Lily Ludwig

Lily Ludwig is pumped for her first Annoyance musical! Other Annoyance appearances included performing on F*ck It! Midnight Improv and the Trigger Happy lab cast, and teaching Musical Improv. Lily performs at Second City with Baby Wants Candy and Shamilton (improv), and the Conservatory program (sketch). Her indie improv team Funky Hat performs around the city as well.

Megan Ramsey

Megan hails from Florida and graduated from the University of Central Florida with a major in Theatre and Creative Writing. She has previously performed with the musical improv troupe Murphy Bed Suprise and the sketch comedy team Quadruple Stuffed Oreos. Her recent credits include Bare: A Pop Opera (Nadia), The 2-Piano Benefit Concert, and the Orlando Fringe Festival. Megan enjoys playing guitar, warm soup, and telling her cat Corey what a good girl she is!

Brandon Thomas

Brandon Thomas is honored to be a contestant on Shark Tank, even if it’s the musical parody instead. He is a member of the improv troupe The Little Angels and is currently completing the Second City conservatory program. After only a year of performing comedy in Chicago, he looks forward to many more!

Mario Turner

Mario is a 32 year old writer, actor, and improvisor born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He first started taking classes at The Annoyance in the Summer of 2021 and although he is fairly new to the improv theater, he is no stranger to the stage. His rap artist alter ego “Almadrio” has been lighting up venues in Chicago for years now. "

Jono Mammel

Jono is an actor/improviser originally hailing from the Detroit area. Favorite stage roles include Hunter in Title of Show and Now. Here. This, Farquaad in Shrek, and Zangara in Assassins. Jono can also be seen in the webseries Baked with Good Intentions (which they co-created) and Dead Wait. They improvise regularly with Portal-Prov.

Austin Packard

Austin Packard (he/him) has previously been seen at the Annoyance Theatre in "Riff," "Midnight Improv at Midnight / F*ck It," "God's Favorite Movie," and "Shark Movie: The Play," as well as the independent teams "Ghost Pepper Nuggets," and "Villain." Originally from Ohio, Austin worked several summers at Cedar Point Amusement Park, pretending to be a cowboy. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. @austinpack

Danny Sabo

Danny Sabo is excited to be a part of his first production at the Annoyance Theater. A Cleveland native, he has been described as a “Costco brand Ferris Bueller with a hopeless optimism that makes you think “Yeah.. He had a good childhood”. He can be seen around Chicago improvising, acting, and singing- A real triple threat (if you find singing and acting threatening). Enjoy the show!

Alyssa Shuster

Alyssa Shuster is a young, fun, and flirty 23 year-old from Richmond, Virginia. I am a graduate of Columbia College Chicago’s Comedy Writing and Performance Major, and that’s not a responsibility I take lightly. 3 things you should know about Alyssa are: she’s 5’1, her cat is also Jewish, and she’s #teamEdward. Alyssa never knows whether to use first person or third person in these things, so not only would she like to thank you for coming, but so would I.

Jennifer Estlin

Jennifer is the owner/Executive Producer of The Annoyance as well as being and actress and writer. She toured for two years with Second City’s National Touring company and was a company member. She has worked in regional theatres around the country, Off-Broadway theatre, film, and television. Her tv/film roles include work in Proven Innocent, Law and Order, Chicago PD, Empire, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Exit 57, Volcano, The Eyes, and the award-winning short films A Million Miles Away,(Sundance) and The Cure (Slamdance). http://jenniferestlin.com

Greg Ott

Writer

Greg Ott is a comedian, writer, and producer based out of Brooklyn, New York. He spent the better part of a decade in Chicago touring with The Second City and performing sketch and improv comedy at The Annoyance Theatre, where he was a founding member of Mick Napier’s “Trigger Happy” and created original plays including “Chris Gaines in… The Life of Garth Brooks,” “Big Sausage Pizza: The Musical,” and “Chums,” a 25-minute allegory about Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. After being fired by The Second City in 2018, he moved to New York City to work for Fox News. He returned to comedy during a pandemic as a host, writer, and producer for Cracked.com, but after they fired him, too, he became producer of “The Chris Cuomo Project” and a host, writer, and producer for Snapchat’s NOTICE News and Crimeline. YouTube: @gregott TikTok: @greg.ott

Duke Harbison

Duke Harbison is the Associate Director of The Annoyance Theater and has been involved in countless productions over the past 14 years. This is his first show post-covid (if covid is indeed in post) and the birth of his daughter June. He’d like to thank Jennifer Estlin, Mick Napier and June Harbison for all the opportunity and knowledge one could hope for.

Lisa McQueen

A long time Annoyance Ensemble Member, Composer and Music Director, Lisa and has composed Shark Tank, the Musical, Forty Whacks, The Dead Boy Scout Musical, and Raven and The Messenger among others. Lisa has been MD for Second City for sit-down runs at Atlanta’s Alliance Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Rochester’s GEVA Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Barbados Holder's Festival and Boom Chicago Amsterdam as well as touring with Second City National Touring Company. She was Music Director for the Off-Bway Production of Wildmen! with George Wendt and The People vs. Friar Lawrence at Chicago Shakespeare with Keegan-Michael Key. Most recently, Lisa was MD for runs of She, The People and Deck the Hallmark at the UP Comedy Club in Second City. Lisa is a working jazz pianist in the Chicago area and also leads The Rolling Clones. lisamcqueenmusic.com

Mick Napier

Mick is the founder and Artistic Director of The Annoyance and has directed over 20 of its original productions. Notable ones include Coed Prison Sluts, Splatter Theater, The Tragedy of Balloon Boy, That Darn Antichrist, and more recently The Boy Scout Musical and Swear Jar. At Second City, he was a Director Creative Consultant and directed many of the mainstage productions - notably, Jeff Award-winning Paradigm Lost and Red Scare. As an Actor, Mick has appeared in the films Ice Harvest and Let’s Go to Prison, Watch, and Talent, and on television in The Bear, as a talent judge in the Canadian reality show Second to None, and Shrink. The documentary Second to None chronicles Mick’s process of directing a show for The Second City. Mick’s books, “Improvise. Scene from the Inside Out” and "Behind the Scenes: Improvising Longform," are widely regarded as seminal works on the subject of Improvisation. ​

Matthew Pollack

Matthew is a composer and music director living in Chicago. Other composing credits include ShitFYRE and I Want to Believe: an X-Files Musical Parody, both at the Annoyance, and many many sketch shows. He teaches at the Second City Training Center, and can be seen most Friday nights accompanying Hitch*Cocktails right here at the Annoyance.

Anna Vu

Anna is the production assistant at The Annoyance were she helps with the development of new shows and social media. When not working at The Annoyance, Anna is a freelance stage manager. Chicago credits include: Buried Child (AstonRep), Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins 2022 and Tarot Card Play (Strawdog Theatre Company), Toni Stone (Goodman Theatre), Galileo’s Daughter (Remy Bumppo). Some regional theatre credits include: Murder on the Orient Express and Over the River and Through the Woods (Cortland Repertory Theatre), Pericles and The Comedy of Errors (Utah Shakespeare Festival), The Nutcracker (East Alabama Community Ballet). vuanna.weebly.com