OUR EDUCATORS

Nicole Blaine is a stand-up, writer, producer, and educator! As a stand-up and write she loves to find the funny in the painful job of being the wing-parent.

She loves comedy and helping people, with a focus on social justice. She wants people to have fun when working together and feel valued and appreciated.

She's a passionate comedy teacher with a liberal arts degree in education and theater from Loyola Marymount University. Nicole believes in building a stage that is authentically inclusive and a safe space for the next generation of comedians to learn and develop their craft. She wants to empower students to find their voice. 

Her stand-up special, Life’s a Bit, is streaming on Amazon Prime and you can catch her on the upcoming season 3 of Laugh After Dark on Amazon Prime. LA Weekly describes Nicole as “a remarkable performer with brains, beauty and rich comic delivery” and her honest (and crass) observations showcase her “humor, passion, dazzling charm and a naturalness that many performers, or even civilians, would kill for.” (Backstage West) Nicole says her kids describe herr as, “meh.”

Her producing partner/husband/assistant, Mickey Blaine, and Nicole executive produced and directed the stand-up special Burning the Light on HBO. She produced The Showdown Comedy Festival annually at the Westside Comedy Theater for six years, discovering the next generation of comedians and bringing in top level executives to participate in industry panels. You may have seen her (but she thinks, probably not) on NBC’s The Today Show, E’s That Morning Show, San Fransisco’s Sketchfest, Montana’s Big Sky Comedy Festival, The International FringeNYC Festival, Atlanta’s Laughing Skull Comedy Festival and HBO’s Women in Comedy Festival.

Mickey Blaine is the Comedy Camp Director at The Crow and a veteran arts educator with nearly 30 years of experience working with children. A passionate theater teacher at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, Mickey has helped countless students build confidence, creativity, and collaboration through performance. In addition to his work in the classroom, he served as Director of Tumbleweed Day Camp, where he combined humor, imagination, and thoughtful leadership to create a fun, inclusive, and enriching camp environment. Known for his warmth, wit, and deep understanding of young people, Mickey brings decades of experience and a genuine love of comedy and education to everything he does.

Laura House is an International Emmy-nominated writer and showrunner. As a 7th grade teacher, she started doing stand-up and soon starred in Mtv’s first sit-com, Austin Stories. She’s performed on HBO, NBC, Comedy Central, Amazon (and more). Her comedy album Mouth Punch is in heavy rotation on Sirius. She’s written for many TV shows including Mom, George Lopez, Samantha Who, and Young Dylan and often performs surgery as script doctor. Her popular solo show How to Hate Yourself played to sold-out crowds at the Hollywood Fringe. She also produces Party On, the monthly sober comedy show at the Crow and teaches meditation. Whether it’s in a script or on stage, she’s passionate about helping people discover the story they want to tell and getting it out of their head and into the world.

Kasaun Wilson is a comedian and writer whose work on THE PROBLEM WITH JON STEWART was recognized in Rolling Stone and nominated for an Emmy and 3 WGA Awards. He has also written for LeVar Burton and Jenifer Lewis. Wilson began his comedy career during his time at Howard University with the urging of his professor, the legendary Al Freeman Jr.  Since then, he has appeared on BET, Epix, NBC’s LAST COMIC STANDING, TruTV’s LAFF TRACKS, and TVOne’s NewsOneNow with Roland Martin. He regularly features for Jon Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Donnell Rawlings, and Michael Blackson; and performed on stage at The Apollo Theater, The Kennedy Center, the Netflix is a Joke Festival, and JFL Vancouver Comedy Festival.

Jay Sukow believes if everyone took one improv class the world would be a better place. He has been performing with and without a script for over 30 years. A few of those he has trained with include Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell. He is a graduate of training centers of The Second City, The Second City NW, iO Chicago, and ComedySportz Chicago. Jay was the Artistic Director/Head of Training at the Improv Comedy Copenhagen Theatre and has previously taught for Second City Chicago, Second City Hollywood, Westside Comedy Theater, iO Chicago (where he was also head of its artistic committee), iO West and ComedySportz Chicago.

Jay has taught at many improv festivals around the world, including the Oslo Impro Festival, the Copenhagen International Improv Festival, the Barcelona Improv Festival and the Chicago Improv Festival. He is the winner of The Golden Pineapple, awarded to the best visiting teacher at Improv Comedy Copenhagen.

Brent Forrester has written for 6 Emmy-winning comedies including "The Simpsons," "King of The Hill," "Late Night with Conan," "Mr. Show" and "The Office." Post-Dunder Mifflin he's run streaming shows like "Space Force" and "Love" on Netflix and "Upload" on Amazon. In 2020, he started teaching classes in comedy writing and describes "mentoring and encouraging young artists" as "the most meaningful thing I do."

Esteban Gast is a comedian, writer, and host. He is Colombian and lives in LA. His work has been called, "irreverent but aspirational" by Variety, and, honestly, they nailed it. After running an eco-community in Panama, he's now telling silly stories that matter. He hosts podcasts, including Spotify Originals "Identity at Play" and "Comedians Conquering Climate Change," and created "Heated Conversations" for Adam McKay's Yellow Dot Studios. He's written for screen (feature film Thena) and stage (Teacher of the Year, O'Neil finalist). As comedian-in-residence at Generation180, he co-founded Climate Comedy Cohort and Climate Cultura. For this work, he was recognized as a Grist50 Fixer and one of the Top 100 Latinos taking action on climate change.

Cameron Esposito is a stand-up comic, actor, director, producer, podcaster, and bestselling author. Her most recent special, FOUR PILLS, was a Best of 2025 in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Vulture/New York Magazine.  As an educator, Cameron founded The Lincoln Lodge training center in Chicago, and has been hired by Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Penn, and the Elysian and Dynasty Typewriter Theaters and more to speak on and lead workshops on comedy. She lives in Los Angeles with her wife, daughter, and dog, and digs lifting weights.

Judy Carter is a comedian, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of The New Comedy Bible and The Message of You. Known as the “Star-Maker of Stand-Up,” she has helped launch the careers of comedians like Seth Rogen, Maz Jobrani, and Sherri Shepherd. Judy speaks and performs worldwide, using humor to inspire connection, resilience, and transformation.
Her latest book, Making Money Being Funny: A Game Plan for Financial Security for Comedians, Writers, Speakers & Entertainers, is a #1 New Release on Amazon, helping creatives turn their talent into multiple income streams. Through her workshops, coaching, and live events, Judy teaches performers how to turn punchlines into paychecks and build sustainable, profitable careers doing what they love.

Peabody Award-winning manager/producer Jennie Church-Cooper has spent the past 17 years working with comedic writer-performers and lit clients — scouting, cultivating, and propelling them into careers as TV and feature writers, showrunners, directors, podcasters, actors and more. 2026 finds her preparing to launch her boldest venture yet with a new company alongside her longtime clients. Previously, in 2024, she had brought her roster to Levity Entertainment, where she built out a literary division for 2 years. Prior to that, she worked at Haven Entertainment for eight years, and she first built her roster of multihyphenate talent during seven years at Principato Young Entertainment (now Artists First). In addition to numerous comedy specials, Church-Cooper exec-produced Netflix’s talk show Patriot Act, which ran for six seasons and won a Peabody Award and an Emmy. Since 2019, she has also served on the Leadership Committee for the nonprofit Yes, And Laughter Lab, a competitive incubation lab, pitch program, and showcase that champions and amplifies diverse writers and performers creating new comedy about topics that matter. She is an in-demand speaker for organizations such as the Ladies of Comedy Association, and the Austin Film Festival Writers Conference, addressing topics such as finding your own creative voice, and the business of breaking into film & TV writing.

Owen Smith is a 30+ year veteran stand-up comedian, creator/showrunner, and founder of Light Shine Productions.

One of comedy’s most respected craftsmen, Owen created and showran CRUTCH on Paramount+, has built a deep body of work across network and streaming, and continues to perform at the Comedy Store, Comedy Cellar, and major clubs nationwide.

He also made history with the first hour-long stand-up special shot entirely on iPhones — Good Luck Everybody — demonstrating his innovative approach to production and creative storytelling.

Drawing from over three decades in stand-up, Owen teaches comedians how to go deeper with their material, sharpen their instincts, and find their voice with clarity and intention.