Improv Comedy in Buffalo NY
Buffalo Improv House is the premier improv comedy, sketch comedy, and alternative comedy company in Western New York. Whether you want to see a hilarious comedy show, take a rewarding and fun improv class, bring a unique professional development opportunity to your workplace, or participate in a growing and wildly creative community, Buffalo Improv House is your home for world-class comedy in Western New York.
Our mission is to be the force behind the improv comedy community in Buffalo by offering world-class improv instruction, by producing high-quality improv shows, and by being the pipeline connecting Buffalo with the international improv comedy scene. We also strive to be strong members of the Western New York community via programs like our monthly Good Neighbors events and our annual Winter Improv Marathon.
Our creative team and faculty have decades of experience performing, teaching, and producing comedy both locally and internationally, at places such as the Magnet Theater, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, the Second City, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the New York Comedy Festival. Our world-class improv training program is rooted in the principals of long form improv and our curriculum is designed to train folks to be excellent improv performers while having a ton of fun.
If you love watching live comedy, come to a show! If you want to try it out yourself, try a free intro class! And if you want to learn how to perform, we offer a variety of classes and workshops for all experience levels. 🥳
Have questions about who we are, how to get involved, or about a class? Check our FAQ or send us a message at email@buffaloimprovhouse.com
Our team
DAN REITZ is the founder and creative director of Buffalo Improv House, a Buffalo native, and a 24-year veteran of improv comedy. In New York City he was the musical director or featured performer with several popular improv comedy shows, including the award-winning Your Love, Our Musical, Baby Wants Candy, and Blank! The Musical. He has been featured on multiple episodes of the Off Book: The Improvised Musical Podcast starring Zach Reino and Jessica McKenna, and he wrote a couple songs with Robert Smigel for Leo, the recently released kids movie by Happy Madison productions and Netflix Animation. Dan is the co-founder of Zamboni Revolution, Syracuse University's improv comedy troupe. Before the pandemic he taught improv and ensemble comedy at Sarah Lawrence College, was on the faculty at the Magnet Theater and Peoples Improv Theater, and performed regularly at those theaters and also the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, the Brooklyn Comedy Collective, and Caveat NYC. His other improv comedy credits include the Edinburgh Fringe, the Annoyance Theater, ComedySportz NYC, the Williamstown Theater Festival, the SteelStacks Improv Festival, Comic Con NYC, and the New York Comedy Festival. He's also a trombone and piano player who can be seen around town, and recently accepted a position in the music department at SUNY University at Buffalo.
ANNIE MOOR is an illustrator and improviser, having performed and taught longform and musical improv at the Magnet Theater and Peoples Improv Theater in NYC since 2008, and now in Buffalo! Originally from Southeast Texas, Annie attended Walnut Hill School of the Arts for high school in Natick, MA, and later received her BFA from NYU Tisch Film & TV, focusing on animation and creative writing. Annie is co-owner of Buffalo Improv House with her husband Dan, and is so excited for the vibrant improv community that is growing here in Buffalo! You can see her improvising with the Faculty, Various Factors Musical Improv, Good Neighbors, and the Ha-Ha Show at BIH, and Unscripted (the 2-act improvised play) at Road Less Travelled Productions. You can find her full portfolio of illustrated products and custom work at anniemoorillustration.com. When not doing all of those things, she’s chasing after her young daughters and making weird jokes to playground moms!
CAITLIN STEITZER h a s b e e n p e r f o r m i n g , s t u d y i n g , a n d t e a c h i n g i m p r o v f o r o v e r 2 5 y e a r s i f y o u c a n b e l i e v e i t . B e f o r e m o v i n g t o B u f f a l o s h e c o u l d b e s e e n p e r f o r m i n g r e g u l a r l y a t t h e M a g n e t T h e a t e r i n N Y C , a r o u n d t h e c o u n t r y a t f e s t i v a l s w i t h h e r i n d i e t e a m H o n e y , a n d h o s t i n g c o m e d y v a r i e t y s h o w s a t A B C N o R i o a n d a r o u n d B r o o k l y n . W e i r d l y e n o u g h , s h e i s a l s o a l i c e n s e d c l i n i c a l s o c i a l w o r k e r , a n d h a s u s e d i m p r o v t h r o u g h o u t h e r c a r e e r t o b u i l d c o m m u n i t y a n d f o s t e r c o n f i d e n c e i n p e o p l e f r o m a l l w a l k s o f l i f e . H e r r e s e a r c h o n t h e c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n s o c i a l g r o u p w o r k a n d i m p r o v t h e a t e r w a s p u b l i s h e d i n t h e J o u r n a l f o r S o c i a l G r o u p W o r k a n d p r e s e n t e d a t t h e 2 0 1 0 I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n f o r S o c i a l W o r k w i t h G r o u p s A n n u a l S y m p o s i u m . W h e n s h e w a s s t i l l i n g r a d u a t e s c h o o l , C a i t l i n d e s i g n e d a n d i m p l e m e n t e d t h e D i v e r s i t y P r o g r a m a t t h e U p r i g h t C i t i z e n s ' B r i g a d e T h e a t e r i n N Y C , o n e o f t h e f i r s t o f i t s k i n d i n t h e c o u n t r y . A s a s o c i a l w o r k e r , s h e s p e n t o v e r 8 y e a r s a t t h e n a t i o n a l l y r e n o w n e d C e n t e r f o r F a m i l y L i f e ( C F L ) i n S u n s e t P a r k , B r o o k l y n a n d t a u g h t i m p r o v t o m a y b e a g a j i l l i o n p e o p l e t h r o u g h o u t a l l f i v e b o r o u g h s . W h e n n o t n e r d i n g o u t a b o u t i m p r o v t h e a t e r s h e c a n b e f o u n d h a n g i n g o u t w i t h h e r d o g a n d h e r h u s b a n d , r i d i n g h e r b i k e , o r c r e a t i n g d a n c e m u s i c p l a y l i s t s .
DIEGO MARTINEZ h a s b e e n p e r f o r m i n g a n d c o a c h i n g i m p r o v a n d s k e t c h c o m e d y s i n c e 2 0 1 0 . H e h a s s t u d i e d a c r o s s v a r i o u s t h e a t e r s i n A t l a n t a , G e o r g i a a n d N e w Y o r k C i t y a n d h a s p e r f o r m e d a l l o v e r t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , C a n a d a , a n d t h e i n t e r n e t . D i e g o h a s a l s o t r i e d o u t f o r e v e r y N B A t e a m , b u t h a s b e e n t o l d h e i s t o o g o o d t o p l a y i n t h e l e a g u e
TODD BENZIN is a Buffalo born and bred actor and improviser. Todd got his start in improv with ComedySportz Buffalo, and moved on to a long run with the Eclectic Improv Co. He is a Conservatory graduate from the prestigious Second City in Toronto and currently is a member of improv duo Babushka and Unscripted at Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP). Todd has had the opportunity to teach several workshops at local high schools and through the Alleyway Theatre Education program. He has also appeared at Kleinhan's, the Kavinoky Theatre, Shakespeare in Delaware Park, Shea’s 710 Main Street, the Irish Classical Theatre, RLTP, the New Phoenix, the Ujima Theatre, Subversive Theatre, Theatre of Youth, and MusicalFare, where he was nominated for two Arties for Supporting Actor in a Musical. He has also appeared on film in “The American Side” and as a voiceover artist in several video games including the “Magicka” series.
ANTHONY SALERNO h a s b e e n p e r f o r m i n g a n d t e a c h i n g i m p r o v c o m e d y f o r o v e r s i x y e a r s . H e g r a d u a t e d f r o m D a l l a s C o m e d y H o u s e ' s i m p r o v s c h o o l i n 2 0 1 6 a n d t a u g h t t h e i r L e v e l O n e t h r o u g h F i v e c l a s s e s w h i l e p e r f o r m i n g o n t h e i r h o u s e i m p r o v t e a m . A s a t e a c h e r , A n t h o n y t h r i v e s o n w e l c o m i n g d i v e r s e b a c k g r o u n d s a n d r e l i e v i n g l i f e ' s s t r e s s e s t h r o u g h l a u g h t e r a n d s i l l i n e s s . O r i g i n a l l y f r o m B u f f a l o , h e ' s s u p e r e x c i t e d t o j o i n B u f f a l o I m p r o v H o u s e a n d h e l p f o s t e r t h e g r o w t h o f t h e l o c a l i m p r o v c o m m u n i t y .
JIMMIE BYRD i s a n a c t o r a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r b a s e d i n B u f f a l o , N e w Y o r k . H i s c r e d i t s i n c l u d e S h a k e s p e a r e i n t h e P a r k , B u f f a l o I m p r o v H o u s e , C o m e d y S p o r t z , a n d t h e R o a d L e s s T r a v e l e d T h e a t e r .
DON GERVESI - A graduate of Toronto’s Second City Conservatory Program, Don has been acting and improvising for over 25 years. He can be seen in the films MARSHALL, starring Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad; and QUEEN CITY starring Vivica A. Fox and Peter Jason. He has performed on many Buffalo stages including Kavinoky Theatre, MusicalFare Theatre, Road Less Traveled Productions, and Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY. He is a proud member of three unions: IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, and AEA where he has served as Equity Liaison for the Buffalo-Rochester Area since 2010. As an improviser, he has trained under Susan Messing, Moira Dunphy, Jerry Schaefer, and the late Frank McAnulty. He is a founding member of Buffalo’s own Eclectic Improv Company and long-form duo Babushka!, and has improvised with the likes of Jason Alexander, Phil Lamarr, Dan Castellaneta, and Catherine O'Hara. You may also recognize Don from recent AAA and Seneca Allegany Casino commercials. He also co-hosts the comedy podcast The Discount Deejays.