New Education Staff at PSI

Mary Carpenter

Siobhan O’Hara

CSz Philadelphia is happy to announce that Mary Carpenter will be the new interim Education Director of The Philadelphia School of Improv. In addition, Siobhan O'Hara will be the new Education Coordinator for The Philadelphia School of Improv. 

Mary and Siobhan will collaborate over the next few months, with Siobhan taking over as Education Director in February 2023.

Our current Education Director, Emily Davis, is stepping down June 9th.

Emily Davis has done an amazing job over the last 4 years. She has grown the program and made an impact for both the company and the community: expanding our diversity scholarship program, developing our long form track, creating online classes during the pandemic, and then leading us out of the pandemic with 3 successful semesters. Mary and Siobhan are inheriting a well-oiled improv training machine.

We are sad to see Emily go, and we are excited for Mary and Siobhan to get started! Each successive education director has taken the work and gifts of their predecessor and done amazing things that end up affecting the lives of hundreds of improv students across Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Mary and Siobhan bring a wealth of experience in the arts plus a deep knowledge of improv, education, and theater to their positions.

And, they have both written books about improv.

That’s pretty cool.

For more information, please email us at press@comedysportzphilly.com.

Who is…?

Mary Carpenter has been with ComedySportz Philadelphia since 1992, where she has worked as a performer, teacher, Education Director and Artistic Director. She holds degrees in theatre from Northwestern University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Her improv training began at The Second City in Chicago and continued with Mick Napier, Keith Johnstone, Joe Bill, Todd Stashwick, Jill Bernard, and Jeff Wirth. She has appeared in plays with Stephen Colbert, and David Schwimmer, and developed and performed in an original two-woman show with SNL alum Ana Gasteyer.

Mary co-founded Philadelphia’s first non-profit Improvisation Company, Freefall Productions where she produced Philly’s first women’s improv ensemble 13 Skirts, as well as the fully improvised musical Choosical. In addition to ComedySportz Philadelphia, Mary’s improvisation experience includes City of Nutterly Love with The Second City, Dangerous Fools with Thomas Fowler, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, Wisdom Teeth and Smoochy & Me. Mary also works as an actress, writer and director. Most recent projects include directing I Love You, You're Perfect Now Change at Act II. She is the author of the improv guide Do or Do Not: How to Improvise Like a Jedi. 

Siobhan O’Hara is a Philly based comedian performing improv for 10 years in New York and Philadelphia. In addition to ComedySportz, Siobhan worked as a cast member of The She-Quel and Dun-Dun: Improvized Crime Unit. Siobhan has performed at Philly Improv Theater, Crossroads Comedy Theater, performs in This Week Sucked at The Lab in Ambler and is a member of the indie improv team, Daddy Issues. She is also the co-author of The Comedy Improv Handbook.