MISFIT FACULTY
Gillian Bellinger (she/her)
Artistic Director
Gillian Bellinger has taught improv & acting at The Second City Hollywood, Intentional Acting Studio, Improv Utopia, American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and Westside Comedy Theater. She has been a guest teacher at Finest City Improv, All Out Comedy Theater, Alchemy Comedy Theater, Think Fast Theater, Asheville Improv Collective, and Curious Comedy Theater. Gillian studied improv in Chicago at The Second City, i.O. Theater, The Annoyance Theater, and The Groundlings. Gillian is very fancy and attended The London Academy of Theatre, The National Theater Institute, and Hamline University.
In addition to teaching, Gillian is a working actor and has appeared on shows for Disney, Hulu, VH1, and Red Letter Media, as well as several commercials. She was an ensemble member on Second City House Teams in LA and Chicago, ComedySportz Chicago and Minneapolis, The Del Tones Harold Team at i.O. West, Laugh Out Loud Theater in Chicago, guest player with Baby Wants Candy, Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica, and Improv Acadia in Bar Harbor, Maine. For more info about her work, please visit GillianBellinger.com.
Marlene Thompson (she/her)
Improv Faculty & Media Coordinator
Marlene Thompson has a B.A. in Music from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Marlene then moved to Chicago to pursue her dream of becoming a classical guitarist but found out she was a clown instead. She studied improv, acting, and sketch at The Second City Conservatory and iO Chicago, where she performed with Improvised Jane Austen. She's a performer with several local improv troupes in Asheville, including Family Dinner and the duo Mabel's Baby. She has taught improv and acting for Asheville Improv Collective and The Actor's Center of Asheville.
Marlene is also a stand-up comedian and has opened for many comics over the years, including Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall, Joe Zimmerman, Mia Jackson, and James Adomian. Marlene has performed at the Chicago Improv Festival, Chicago SketchFest, Dallas Comedy Festival, Hell Yes Fest, and the Asheville Comedy Festival, among many more. She also hosts, writes, and produces her own political comedy show, "From the Ashes with Marlene Thompson," on YouTube, and has appeared in several web series and commercials. She's elated to be teaching for Misfit!
Joe Carroll
Improv Faculty
Joe Carroll began improvising at Appalachian State University in 2007. He was teacher/owner of BMCA Improv in Black Mountain, NC and taught at the Asheville Improv Collective.
Joe has performed at the Dirty South Improv Festival, NC Comedy Arts Festival, Asheville Yes Fest, AIC Fest, Hell Yes Fest, Secret City Improv Festival, the Asheville Fringe Festival, and Chicago’s Annoyance Theater.
Joe is currently active in comedy duo "Mabel's Baby", his solo improv project "JOLO", and is producer/co-host for the monthly comedy show "Liar's Club: An Evening of Fake Storytelling".
Carlisha Bell (she/her)
Improv Faculty
Carlisha Bell performs with the Misfit Long Form and Musical Improv Troupes, and is boldly going where few improvisers have gone before as part of the cast of the upcoming Improvised Star Trek with Adesto Theater.
Offstage, she holds a BS in Education and an MFA in Screenwriting, and has written, directed, and acted in a range of short films, educational content, and documentary projects.
Carlisha is continually amazed by how much joy, clarity, and transformation she finds through performing and teaching improv.
Bethany Prescott (she/her)
Improv Faculty
Bethany Prescott performs with the Short Form and Musical Improv house teams at Misfit Improv and was recently cast in Improvised Jane Austen with Adesto Theater.
A lifelong stage performer, Bethany is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who still finds joy in making music — especially when it’s completely made up on the spot.
By day, she’s a psychotherapist, which explains her excellent listening skills and unshakeable calm when scenes go off the rails. Bethany is thrilled to be a part of the stellar faculty at Misfit.
Katie Jones (she/her)
Improv Faculty
Katie Jones is a performer, director and arts educator, having worked at regional theatres in Sarasota, New York, Chicago and Denver.
Katie studied improv at I.O. Chicago, Second City and with Paul Sills (son of theatre innovator Viola Spolin). She has an MFA in Devised Theatre from Naropa University, and always strives to marry the worlds of theatre and improv through her company Wishbone Theatre Collective.
Locally, Katie has worked with Asheville Creative Arts, Immediate Theatre Project, the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival and The Magnetic Theatre, and teaches playwriting at Brevard College. You can currently see her improv work with troupes Scuttlebutt, Family Dinner and Keeping Up With The Joneses.
Casey Gullickson (he/him)
Improv Faculty
Casey Gullickson is an improviser originally from South Dakota.
He spent his 20s performing in the seedy underground world of Los Angeles improv.
He's written for Hulu and New York Magazine and performed on a house team for several years at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
He did improv with Chelsea Handler one time for her Netflix documentary show. They cut the scene from the final edit. They didn't tell Casey why. Probably because it was too funny.
Casey is very excited to be a part of Misfit AVL.
Megan Piscitelle (they/them)
Improv Faculty & DEI Consultant
Megan Piscitelle got involved in the Asheville improv scene in 2022 and never looked back. They can be seen performing locally with Misfit Improv, Adesto Theater, Asheville Community Theater, and at the Asheville Improv Festival. Megan most enjoys long form, experimental formats, musical improv, and narrative structures. Megan is passionate about collaborative storytelling, whether it is through improv, tabletop roleplaying games, theater, or literature.
They run workshops for LGBTQ+ and trans/gender non-conforming improvisers, and value creating spaces where people feel safe and connected enough to play, laugh, and discover new parts of themselves.
With a Master's of Social Work, Megan also collaborates as a DEI consultant for Misfit and is committed to supporting Misfit's values and growth as an inclusive space for all.
Chris Martin
Youth Improv Faculty
Chris Martin is a certified K-12 theatre teacher with a master's degree in Theatre Education from UNC-Greensboro. He has taught theatre for 23 years and teaches improv classes all over WNC.
He takes improv classes of his own as well with Misfit Theatre in an improv performance lab. He has led several youth and teen improv troupes in Asheville at The Hop for over 10 years.
Last year, Chris led a TED Talk on the "Power of Yes And" at a local TEDx conference at the NC Stage Company Theater in Asheville.
Amanda Hargen (she/her)
Improv Faculty
Amanda Hargen is an improviser and English teacher with a B.A. and M.A. in Communication Studies from the University of South Florida and an M.A. in English from Ohio University. She began her improv journey in 2018 with the cast at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota. While there, she performed with the mainstage and musical casts, as well as improvised Shakespeare with the troupe Come What Will.
Currently, she performs with Misfit’s musical and long-form boost teams; Mixtape, a duo that improvises narratives set to ‘90s tunes; and Hot Fudge Fun Day, a family-friendly improv troupe.
Outside of performing, Amanda has written sketches with the FST sketch team and animated the sketch "America’s Next Top Noodle," which she's convinced Netflix should pick up and develop into a series. As a teacher, Amanda creates a supportive and fun space for students to explore their creativity and develop their skills in a collaborative environment.
Steve Sensenig (he/him)
Music Director & Music Improv Faculty
Steve Sensenig is a professional pianist, composer, arranger, and music director who brings over 30 years of experience to the Misfit faculty.
As Music Director for the performing troupes and co-teacher of Misfit’s musical improv classes, Steve helps students tap into the magic of spontaneous song. He’s performed everything from jazz and classical to musical theatre and improv, and somehow makes it all look easy—even when making up music on the spot.
His favorite part of teaching is watching students light up when they realize they’re creating something beautiful together. Steve’s been part of the Misfit family since 2023 and loves every unscripted minute.
Stacey Uria (she/her)
Improv Faculty
Stacey Uria is obsessed with the improv community here in Asheville and is delighted to join the Misfit faculty.
She grew up a theatre kid and studied theatre in college/ nyc and in England. She took a long break from the stage to grow a family and immerse herself in the health and fitness industry.
You can find her in numerous local troupes and in monthly shows called "Rage at the Stage", Speakeasy's "What's in the Box?", Adesto theatre's "Spontaneous Play" and with Misfit's musical theatre team.
She's taken lots of improv classes at UCB, the Annoyance theatre in Chicago and locally with Misfit, Tom Chalmers, and Joe Carroll. In the last 5 years Stacey has learned that over scheduling your life with work, family AND improvisational theatre is FUN!
