Faculty Bios
CHRISTOPHER DEJONG improvises, acts and produces in the Bay Area, and has co-founded several improv projects and podcasts. He has appeared in scripted plays with Cassandra’s Call, the San Francisco Fringe Festival, Bare Bones/First Seen, Center Repertory Company, Alchemy Works, California Conservatory Theater, and others. He studied improv/acting in Chicago with Del Close at Improv Olympic, The Annoyance Theater, and The Artistic Home. He notices that most of what makes for good improv, makes for a lot of other good things. His goal is to be present.
JILL EICKMANN has directed over 50 productions with Leela and serves as an Associate Producer for the San Francisco Improv Festival. Jill has taught her signature style of improvisation to hundreds of improvisors at Leela, EndGames Improv, San Francisco Comedy College, Pan Theater, Stanford University (GSB), and the University of Chicago (GSB). She was the founder of the three person improv ensemble, Road Dawgz, where she performed with Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury, Kung Fu Panda) and Law Tarello (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) throughout NYC. Jill’s Bay Area performance highlights include Sacrifices and Transformations, Life and Adventures!, God Put A Smile Upon My Face (her one-woman show), and The Razowsky Project, collaborating with the Artistic Director of The Second City (Los Angeles), David Razowsky. She studied in New York and Chicago with some of the best from Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, The Second City, Improv Olympic, and Annoyance Productions. Jill is an in-demand psychotherapist, drama therapist, and self-revelatory theatre director who continues to research and teach the psychological implications and therapeutic benefits of improvisation.
WYLIE HERMAN moved to San Francisco and joined Leela’s Resident Company after training at the Groundlings in Los Angeles in 2001, and has now been performing and teaching as an actor and improviser in the Bay Area for over eight years. Wylie has also worked extensively with local improv troupes Drunken Monkey, Synergy Theatre, and Tilted Frame. Teaching credits include improv for teens at The Willows Theatre, sketch performance with Killing My Lobster, and various classes with Leela. Local theatre credits include Victor in Private Lives (Douglas Morrison Theatre), Farsted in Show and Tell (Symmetry Theatre), and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Atmostheatre). Television credits include Trauma (NBC), Escape from Alcatraz (BBC 4), and The Hunt for Lincoln’s Assassin (National Geographic Channel). Wylie’s first full length play, Better Homes and Ammo, was produced at the Exit Theatre in San Francisco in December of 2009.
ELANA ISAACS is an actor, performer, singer, and improviser. Elana was a musical theater major at Syracuse University, studied at HB Studio, and did murder mystery dinner theater on the Amtrak. She has performed at the Chicago Improv Festival with Brainwaves and has developed multiple solo shows. Elana is a Graduate of Tamalpa Institute for Expressive Arts Therapy and Education and was an ensemble member of Sotomotion, a movement based improvisation company. She was a proud member of the 2nd year Resident Company of Leela and is delighted to return to the playful loving arms of Leela and her divine cast mates.
MARCUS SAMS is a professionally working actor in the Greater Bay Area. With representation in San Francisco and Sacramento, he performs in films, commercials, and corporate industrials. Sams received his B.A. in Theatre Arts from CSU, Chico and has been trained by some of the most influential improv teachers of our time including David Razowsky, Susan Messing, Joe Bill and Mark Sutton. Sams currently performs with the improv duo Shades of Grey. He co-produced/co-created a sold out improvised sitcom, Future Style ’79 and was also a member of the critically acclaimed improv group, Oui Be Negroes. He believes that improv is theatre and that it can have all the cathartic elements of scripted theatre when commitment to craft is pursued vigorously.
CHRISTINA SHONKWILER is an improvisor, clown, puppeteer, mask & puppet maker, and world traveler: she has a hat for almost every occasion. Christina has been performing and touring around the U.S. for many years, and is glad to come back to root in the Bay Area. Physical expression is her favorite mode of communication, and it bleeds into more serious pursuits such as drama therapy groups, directing and teaching. She is a graduate of the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre and the CIIS Counseling Psychology, emphasis in Drama Therapy program. She is thrilled to be part of Leela, where improv can inspire us to the heights and depths of laughter AND transformation. Let’s play!
DANIEL SMITH has performed improvisation with Voodoo Barbie (Beloit, Wisconsin), Project Improv (Louisville, Kentucky), and Gotham City Improv (NYC). Daniel has also performed as a dancer using primarily modern and contact improv techniques and was a member of the Grand Prize Winning company at the Moscow Invitational Dance Festival. He is a member of Theater for Change, a San Francisco-based group which aims to raise consciousness around diversity and social justice. He is currently channeling his improv experience towards a degree in Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies.
