Elana, Hannah, Louis Megan, Michael, Rick and Rachel

Teaches at Magnet Training Center

Elana Fishbein is a performer and instructor at the Magnet Theater in New York City. She can be seen performing with her house team Ariana Grande, the Armando Diaz Experience, Magnet Theater TourCo, and her solo improv show, Pepita (Winner of Inspirado: the only improv competition in the world). 
She has been featured at the Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Eau Claire, Edmonton, Omaha, Philadelphia, and Women in Comedy Festivals. Her two-woman play, Sisters Three, was a New York Times Critics Pick. Elana has written and performed for The Truth Podcast and appeared on BBC America’s Almost Royal, Absolutely Mindy! on SiriusXM Radio, as well as in the original musical comedies Girl Camp and Nightfall on Miranga Island. She is a member of Story Pirates, a non-profit arts-in-education organization that takes stories written by kids and adapts them into hilarious sketches and songs. Elana is featured in the documentary short, LMAO, about the therapeutic potential of laughter and comedy. Elana directs the Magnet Theater Youth Program and has taught improv for corporations, non-profits, and educational institutions all over the United States, Canada, Scandanavia, South Africa, and more. She also co-created two professional development workshop series for teachers: “Beyond Winging It: Improv in the Classroom” and “Play.” Elana earned her M.A. in Educational Theater from NYU and her B.A. in Drama from Vassar College. Her favorite succulent is jade. Hannah Chase is an instructor, director, and performer at the Magnet Theater. Since she first discovered improv in 2002, she has been lucky enough to study and work with some truly fantastic teachers and performers that would take too long to list here. If you're really that curious, you can ask her in person! 

Hannah Chase performs weekly with her Megawatt team, The Music Industry. She also created and directs The Cast, which plays on Saturday nights at the Magnet and which Elise Czajkowski (comedy journalist for the New York Times) called "One of the most exciting improv shows in New York City…. the perfect show for comedy and theater fans alike." 
Outside of performing and teaching improv, Hannah also likes alphabetizing lists, editing films, trying on other people's glasses, learning about the brain, and reading and writing medical memoir comics. She's still working on her website. It's been five years.  

Louis Kornfeld has been teaching improv for nearly ten years, and is currently head writer for the award winning podcast 'The Truth.' He's appeared in countless shows at the Magnet and beyond, including Kiss*Punch*Poem, Theory of Everything, and a stint touring with The Second City onboard the NCL Gem. You can catch him every week in 'Kornfeld & Andrews' and 'The Boss.' He loves you. 

Megan Gray is the Artistic Director of the Magnet Theater, a writer, performer and native New Yorker. She has performed with Second City aboard the NCL Gem and is a member of Magnet's resident team "Junior Varsity" and "Magnet Theater Touring Company." She has appeared in such notable shows as "The Armando Diaz Experience," "Made-Up Musical" and "Tiny Spectacular." 
Megan also produces and hosts the monthly female improv show "We Might Just Kiss." In addition to teaching Level One and the Lady Party class, Megan has taught improvisation at C.W. Post University, Brookdale Community College, Fairfield University, Columbia Business School and festivals around the country. She has studied improv at the Magnet and the UCB Theatre with Armando Diaz, Kevin Dorff, Christina Gausas, Dave Pasquesi, TJ Jagodowski, Jean Villepique, Joe Bill, Dave Razowsky and many others. Megan graduated with a degree in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has written for MTV2 and Comedy Central online. She has appeared on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and "Late Show With David Letterman." In her spare time, she travels the country performing with her improv duo "MegaLou" (with Louis Kornfeld). In conclusion, Megan wishes you'd call her more. 

Michael Lutton has been a Magnet instructor since 2011. He has travelled the country performing in festivals and has taught workshops in Boston and Washington, DC. He has also taught several corporate and team-building workshops. He began improvising in 2006, and was lucky to train with teachers such as Armando Diaz, Rachel Hamilton, James Eason, and Tara Copeland. 
Michael currently teaches Level 1, Level 4: Monoscene, Musical Improv Level 1 and Musical Improv Level 3. In addition to his teaching duties, Michael is the Director of the Musical Improv Program at the Magnet. 

Rick Andrews is a teacher and performer at The Magnet Theater, and has been studying, performing, and teaching improvisation since 1999. He began improvising with Improv Boston, and continued with a stint in Saint Louis, MO. He has been fortunate to learn from many improv greats, including Armando Diaz, Ed Herbstman, Joe Bill, Mark Sutton, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Will Luera, Jill Bernard, and more. 
Rick has taught workshops at improv festivals across the country, including the Boston Improv Festival, Baltimore Improv Festival, Black Box Atlanta, and many more. He has taught improvisation to people as old as 75 and as young as 6, and has done workshops for production companies and zoos alike. He enjoys running, putting words on pages, thinking about the brain, and he loves improv more than anything. 

Rachel Hamilton is an actor, improviser, teacher, writer and director living in New York City. Rachel has a degree in Theater from Northwestern University, where she began her love affair with Improv. Having been cast in the company of Second City, Chicago, Rachel took the suggestion of one of her mentors, Mr. Martin deMaat and gave teaching a try. Fifteen years later she is still at it, and loving it more and more with each passing year. 
Rachel considers it is an honor to introduce people to this magical art form and believes strongly that the basic tenets of Improv also make for a rich and wonderful approach to life. Come to Magnet and play with us! Teaching Credits: Second City, Chicago, Second City LA, Syracuse University, Michael Howard Studios, Magnet Theater as well as numerous corporate training gigs. Some Recent Performance Credits Include: Magnet Theater: Tiny Spectacular, Sleep Over, UCB; Assscat, Hamiltonia (Rachel’s one-woman show), NBC: 30 Rock, The Conan O’Brien Show, Film; Spring Breakdown, I Hate Valentines Day, Internet; Onion Video, and the upcoming, Chaos Theory.