Borealis

Borealis 

The Team

Leslie Collins is a singer, actor and writer originally from Dallas, Texas. She has spent most of her professional career working within musical theater. She has appeared as Janet in “The Rocky Horror Show” (Casa Manana), Anne in “A Little Night Music” (Lyric Theater of Oklahoma), Della in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” (Goodspeed) and “I Love You, You’re Perfect…Now Change” (Flat Rock Playhouse). Leslie started writing, sketch and improv classes at the PIT four years ago and has studied with Matt Donnelly, Pat Shay, Ptolemy Slocum, Ali Farahnakian, Gary Austin and Jen Nails. She also wrote and performed her multi-character solo musical Poteet Girls, which continued on to an extended run at the PIT and other performances at various festivals and theaters. Leslie was a featured comedian for VH1’s “Best Night Ever” and is a proud member of PIT house team The Wilhelm. She continues to make comedy shorts with Lynn Lynn Comedy and on her own. Leslie was voted “Most Athletic Girl” of her 8th grade class and enjoys leisurely strolls.

Lorraine Cink is an actor, improviser, writer, director and all-around creative gal. She is native of Bakersfield, CA.  Lorraine is a graduate from the acting programs at the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts, Philadelphia University of the Arts and The Peoples Improv Theater.  Currently, she performs with the PIT house team Borealis and is one-half of the comedy vlogging duo Girls Side! (www.girlssiderules.com). She also is part of the sketch group Creative Differences and Sean & Lorraine.  Lorraine recently penned the play, short play “Emilia’s Wish” which was nominated for an Innovative Theatre Award with the Milk Can Theatre Co., where she is also a member.  Favorite roles include: Belle in A Christmas Carol (Geva Theater),  Evangeline in One (Insight Out), Mother in 365 Day/Plays (Salt & The Public),  Philomele in Love of the Nightingale (PCPA),  Amy in Promiscuous (Manhattan Rep), Linda Shaw in Stage Door (FAPC), Phyllis Dale in 42nd Street (PCPA) and Emma in the indie feature Life Wasted. For more information visit www.LorraineCink.com.

Jamie Cummings is an actor, writer and director. He performed around the country with Peoples Improv Theater house team The Wilhelm, and co-created the two-prov show Elvis and Me: An Improvised Romance. He also wrote, acted and directed for the Emmy-winning Web sitcom Floaters, which screened at Sundance, and he appeared Off Broadway as Douglas Fairbanks with Pan Asian Rep. Jamie does voice-over and on-camera commercials for clients like GE, Ticketmaster and Sunkist. He enjoys riding his bicycle around the city, and has run a couple of marathons. He loves to snowboard back in Colorado and catch the Cardinals back in St. Louis. www.JamieCummings.com.

Jonathan Desley was born and raised in Hartsdale, N.Y. He’s been active at the PIT since 2006 and became a member of house team The Wilhelm in January 2008. Jonathan has performed at various improv festivals in addition to the Wilhelm’s weekly Wednesday night shows. He can be seen in commercials for Carmax, ABC News and ESPN, and he once spent two days chain smoking for a spot in a smoking-cessation product for a major pharmaceutical firm. Throughout the last 10 years, Jonathan has played with The New York Dinner Theater at various Elk’s Lodges and catering halls. He holds a BA in Theatre from SUNY-Albany. He is also going to go out on a limb and say that he is proud to be the only improviser in New York to be a State Certified Real Estate Appraiser.

Grace Helbig is an actress, writer and improviser who has been studying at The PIT since 2006. She performs weekly on the PIT house team Tomahawk and occasionally with her indie-improv team Handsometown. As the internet host of www.MyDamnChannel.com, Grace creates super funny, overwhelmingly ground-breaking original content on a daily basis. She also co-stars in the two-woman web series GraceNMichelle. She has been seen in commercials on Comedy Central and The N and in the new Comedy Central series Michael and Michael Have Issues. Past teams/shows include Finger, Vacation Island, Lab Partners and the GraceNMichelle Stage Show. She’s that tall girl on stage. You can follow Grace at www.MyDamnChannel.com/grace.

Matt Hobby is a writer and performer in New York City, currently creating sketch comedy with New Exc!tement and improv with Borealis. He was featured in the indie comedy “The Cult of Sincerity” and has done a few commercials for the television and internet. Matt previously wrote and performed sketch with Totally Awesome Victory, and the PIT’s first house sketch team FINGER. He also performed on indie improv teams Rimbombo and Knifestorm. He has trained in improv and comedy writing at the UCB, the PIT and Magnet theaters and graduated from Florida State with a degree in theatre.

Keith Huang is a comedy nerd who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., by way of Galveston, Texas. He has studied improv at The PIT, UCB and Magnet theaters and has performed with PIT house teams SidViscous! and Tomahawk, as well as Crosby, Huang & Nash. In 2007, he was co-recipient of the ECNY Award for Best Postcard/Flyer Design, and received a dual nomination in 2008 for Best Postcard/Flyer and Best Website. In his spare time, he runs www.improvisgoodforyou.com and co-edits New York-based comedy blog www.theapiary.org. Keith has been published in Gelf Magazine, The Galveston County Daily News and The Wall Street Journal. He thinks stories about little kids who get their heads stuck in banisters are funny.

Marshall York is an actor, writer, singer and musician. He joined the PIT house team Vacation Island in 2008 and is currently a member of Tomahawk. He has performed at sketch comedy festivals in Chicago, Washington DC and Toronto. Marshall has also been seen in numerous downtown theaters throughout New York: The Flea (“Kaspar Hauser”); The Ohio (“Me”); Ontological-Hysteric (“Dysphoria” and “the less we talk”); Theatre for a New City (“Big Love”); The Cherry Lane (“Love’s Labor’s Lost”); 78th Street Theatre Lab (“She Stoops to Conquer”); NYMF (“The Confessions of Julian Po”) and HERE Arts Center (“Phenomenon”). He has performed regionally at The Depot Theatre in Westport, New York (“The Memory of Water,” “Off the Map” and “Round and Round the Garden”). He holds an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School. Marshall originally hails from Houston, Texas, but his parents are from Montana. Which explains everything.