Let’s meet the teachers, shall we?
Rocket Improv instructors have decades of experience performing and teaching improvisation.
We have studied with many Improv Masters, but the bulk of our expertise comes from our time on the boards performing hundreds of improv shows in front of live audiences!
We are also now offering process-based electives with incredible instructors who are experts in their respective fields!
Here are some of the fantastic teaching artists we work with…
Lulu French
Director/Head Instructor
Lulu French first took improv classes at Gotham City Improv over two decades ago and has been improvising ever since. In addition to being a graduate of GCI, she has also studied improv under Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, and Matt Besser — original members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, Armando Diaz — founder of the Magnet Theater, various Second City alumni such as Todd Stashwick (12 Monkeys), and improv masters Michael Gellman, Dave Razowsky, and Aretha Sills. She has appeared in numerous improv performances in NYC improv theaters such as Gotham City Improv, the Magnet Theater, the People’s Improv Theater and Upright Citizens Brigade.
She performs with Vivid Stage’s improv troupe the Flip Side in Summit, NJ, Montclair Improv Comedy in Montclair, NJ, and Improvolution in NYC.
She was seen in the JCPenney viral campaign, "Return to the Doghouse," did extra work on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and wrote and performed in video segments called the "Mommy Minute" for the parenting website, Parent Society. She co-starred in a video short for MTV.com with Pete Davidson, and can be seen playing opposite Rachel Dratch in a video short for Everytown for Gun Safety. Corporate industrial credits include performing for companies such as Pfizer, Cephalon, and Merck.
Lulu has been an improv instructor since 2000 and has had the privilege to teach for organizations such as Gotham City Improv, The Queens Theater in the Park, Arts Horizons, The Theater Project, The South Orange Maplewood Adult School, IN Studios, Beyond the Bell, Vivid Stage, and Improvolution in addition to teaching corporate improv workshops for companies such as Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and L’Oréal.
Lulu first started out as a musical theater performer. In her youth she danced with the Appalachian Ballet Company, received voice scholarships while a Music Major at The University of Tennessee and eventually graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. She has numerous stock and regional theater credits performing in musicals such as Into the Woods, Tomfoolery, Nunsense, and Karaoke the Musical and the national tours of My Fair Lady and She Loves Me.
She currently lives in Maplewood, NJ with her husband and two boys ages 19 and 9.
Lulu Performs Regularly:
the Flip Side
Vivd Stage, Summit, NJ
LoveFest
Improvolution, NYC, NY
Irene Carroll
Improv Instructor
Irene is an Actor, Improviser, Writer, Director, Producer and Teacher. She honed her teaching skills as the Artistic Director of Gotham City Improv and as a master instructor for ANDTheatre Company. She is an active performer and producer in NYC performing regularly at places like The People's Improv Theatre, The Creek & The Cave, Q.E.D. & Shetler's Studio Theatre 54. Irene loves teaching and has worked with kids of all ages from kindergarten through college. She learned a long time ago to give our youth the benefit of the doubt. They always live up to and exceed what you expect, and can do more then you ever knew. irenecarrollimprov.com
Irene Performs Regularly:
The Internet Disagrees
The Tank, NYC
Turron Kofi Alleyne
Elective - Meisner for Teens
Award-Nominated Actor, Turron Kofi Alleyne, has worked with some of Hollywood’s most esteemed A-List directors, producers, and actors such as: Spike Lee, Jonathan Nolan, Mark Wahlberg, Zoe Saldana, Michael B. Jordan, Lawrence Fishburne, and others. He’s been featured in Independent Films that have premiered at various prestigious Film Festivals which include: Sundance, Tribeca, ABFF, LA Film Festival, Vails Film Festival and more.
He’s currently featured as a Recurring Guest Star in the new ABC hit series “FOR LIFE” as Officer Calvin Newcombe.
Mr. Alleyne is also a Writer, Director and Producer for the screen as well as the stage. He is married with three beautiful children and he honors, thanks, and dedicates his life, ministries, and career to Jesus Christ.
Kofi Performs Regularly:
As Officer Calvin Newcombe in “For Life”
ABC
Watch acting reel. (It’s real good, y’all!)
Gary Mahmoud
Improv Instructor
A New Jersey native and father of two children, Gary has over 15 years of improv and sketch comedy experience including work with: The PIT, UCB, The Onion, Above Average, Major League Baseball, The Dad, College Humor, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Some of his own sketches, co-produced with his friends, like Panhandler Party and 10 Hours of Princess Leia Walking in NYC, have been shared by major outlets including: Time Magazine, ABC News, The Hollywood Reporter, Funny or Die, Bro Bible, Ad Week, Entertainment Weekly, Huffington Post, Gawker, CNET, Mashable, Mental Floss, 22 Words, and many others. When not making the funny, Gary can often be seen playing white collar roles in New York TV dramas like Law & Order, Blue Bloods, The Sinner, New Amsterdam, Manifest, and FBI: Most Wanted. A couple of his especially notable parts include playing Ethan Hawke’s doctor in the Oscar-nominated film First Reformed and getting to play the NY Giants defensive coach in the famous Eli Manning/Odell Beckham “Dirty Dancing” Super Bowl ad (a personal favorite as a lifelong Giants fan). Gary trained theatrically with Carol Fox Prescott, on-camera work with Bob Krakower, and studied improv under The Groundlings founder Gary Austin and UCB teachers Chris Gethard and Charlie Todd. Before pursuing a career in the entertainment business, Gary spent six years working in Congress. Not all that different.
Gary Performs Regularly:
NYC TV Dramas
i.e. Law & Order, Blue Bloods, etc.
Dreena Moran
Dreena Moran is a voice actor, improvisor, and singer/songwriter based in New Jersey. She received her comedy training at The Peoples Improv Theater, as well as The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and cut her teeth performing weekly as a house team member on The PIT stages in NYC. She has been performing both short and long form improv comedy in Hackensack, NJ with professional improv team, Howdy Stranger, since 2016.
Dreena has been teaching improv comedy to students of all ages since 2018. She instructed "Intro to Improv" at ATC Studios in Clifton, NJ and created the elective "Comedy on the Spot" for middle schoolers at SAR Academy in the Bronx, NY. With Howdy Stranger, Dreena also teaches specialized improv workshops to high school students and judges the annual New Jersey and Pennsylvania Thespian Festivals and STANJ (Speech and Theater Association of New Jersey) competitions. She also teaches workshops annually at the NJ and PA Thespian Festivals for both beginner and intermediate improvisors. In recent years, Dreena has led corporate workshops for companies such as GE, helping them incorporate an improv mindset in the professional world.
As a voice actor, Dreena uses her improv skills on a day-to-day basis, creating animated and video game characters and giving life to commercial copy. You can also find her original music on iTunes and all streaming services under the name "Dreena."
Dreena Performs Regularly:
Howdy Stranger
Hackensack, NJ
Latifa Elivia Hinds
Improv Instructor
Latifa Elivia Hinds started her love affair with improv in college when she joined the Improv Technicians, the Rutgers-NJIT improv troupe. After two years she became president of her troupe. During the pandemic she was able to keep her troupe afloat with conducting online meetings and rehearsals. These zoom meetings gave her the idea to start teaching acting and improv online to children aged 7-11. The online improv program was intended to help kids who didn’t have their extracurriculars due to the pandemic, and it helped to foster Elivia’s fondness for teaching, seeing the magic kids could create. Once out of college Elivia started teaching performing arts at Lincoln Park Middle School grades 5-8. In addition to being the school’s primary performing arts instructor and show director, Elivia started a drama club in which she helped students write a play based on their ideas. She also facilitated improv games for the students. Recently she has been accepted into the NY WinterFest for her short play and hopes to continue teaching, writing, and doing all the things she loves.
