Make It Reindeer

ANDERS YATES (Ensemble) (He/Him) is an actor, writer and comedian originally from Montréal. His original solo sketch comedy has won him Best of the Fest at the Montréal Sketchfest as well as a Critic’s Pick award for Outstanding Solo Performance from My Entertainment World. Anders is a founding member of the legendary improv and sketch comedy troupe Uncalled For. He can be seen on screen in the films Indian Horse, Stockholm, and Through Black Spruce as well as TV shows including Nurses, Carter, Titans, Taken, Condor, Helix and Murdoch Mysteries. Recent stage credits include the Off-Mirvish production of Oslo, the Buddies in Bad Times production of Shove it Down My Throat and The Second City’s Guide to Surviving the Holidays.

CHELSEA LARKIN (Ensemble) (She/Her) is an actress, comedian, writer, and singer. Comedy is what Chelsea loves doing best and where she shines most! Some of Chelsea’s favourite recent comedy credits include multiple performances with The Second City, Just For Laughs- New Faces: Characters, her multi-award-winning solo show at the 2022 Toronto Fringe Fest, ‘The Chels Stands Alone’, and CTV’s ‘Children Ruin Everything’. Chelsea performs improv and sketch regularly all over the city- seriously, like all the time. Go find her! When Chelsea was a child she met John Candy in an elevator and he told her to “follow her dreams”- well, she’s doing it!

Mõnica Garrido Huerta (Ensemble) (she/her) is a Dora-nominated bilingual Artist, and new Canadian from Monterrey, Nuevo Leõn based in Toronto. Her short films premiered at the InsideOut LGBT Film Festival. Her solo show “The Cunning Linguist”, was created at Emerging Creator Unit at Buddies In Bad Times Theatre and won the 2016 Queer Acts Audience Award. It was adapted as an Audio Show for Aluna Theatre’s Studio Series and is currently in
development. Monica has appeared in commercials, music videos and TV in shows such as Baroness Von Sketch Show and The Horror of Dolores Roach. She’s part of the ensemble of the Canadian Comedy Award winning show Sketch Comedy Extravaganza Eleganza. Monica is the 2018 recipient of the Queer Emerging Artist Award at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Her stage work includes: “Private Eyes” (lemonTree Creations),“Youth/Elder project” (Buddies in Bad Times), The Second City’s Guide to Surviving the Holidays (Second City Toronto), “Universal Child Care” (Quote Unquote Collective) “El Terremoto” (Tarragon Theatre). She is one third of the Latine Drag King boyband “Boyband the Boyband”. She is also a Taurus and wishes you the best.

ANTONY HALL (Ensemble) (He/Him) is a Toronto based Chinese-Canadian improviser/actor who originally hails for Lethbridge, Alberta. He is a graduate of The Second City Conservatory and Theatre Arts Program at MacEwan University. He can be seen performing on various improv shows in the city and is a member of the Sketch Comedy team $20Sandwich, which has amassed millions of views with their content on Instagram and TikTok. As an actor, Antony has appeared in many national commercial campaigns and has made appearances on shows like Run The Burbs and Law and Order Toronto. Antony is also a writer and co-creator of the short form digital series Ming’s Dynasty which is inspired by his life growing up in small town Alberta and incorporates his comedy rap persona, Young Riesling. Follow his work on Instagram @hallandjokes and @20dollarsandwich

GAVIN POUNDS (Ensemble) (He/Him) is a comedian and actor originally from Barrie, Ontario. He can be found emerging from the sewer, or performing improv & sketch comedy in Toronto. As a longtime fan of Canadian comedy, Gavin is beyond excited to perform at The Second City with such a talented group.

GHAZAL GHIAMI (Ensemble) (She/Her) is an Iranian-born comedian living in Toronto. She got her start at The Beaverton, where she formerly served as an editor. She is a graduate of Bad Dog’s Studio Series and now regularly performs with the company. She recently performed as a member of the Vancouver Improv Festival ensemble. You can follow her on Instagram @ghazalghiam

Jake Schindler (Music Director) is a Toronto based composer, music director, and orchestrator. From large
commercial theatre to Fringe shows, Jake works on projects that are music-forward and
use music to tell stories in new and interesting ways. Recently, he has worked on two Doranominated shows (Mirvish, Mixtape Productions), three TO Fringe Patron’s Pick musicals, is
completing a cast recording of his show “Ursa, A Folk Musical”, and was the 2023 Associate
Keyboard Programmer at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals. Check out more of his
work: jakeschindler.com

SEANN MURRAY (Stage Manager) (He/Him) is an improviser and stage manager from Fredericton, N.B., where he got his start with Theatre Free Radical. Selected SM credits include Second City’s If I could #Throwback Time, Laura Ramoso’s Sit Up Straight, Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus‘ Scriptease, Ajahnis Charley’s Thots and Prayers and the Canadian Comedy Award winning The Adventures of Tom Shadow. Seann is also the head technician for Bad Dog Comedy Theatre, and a member of multi-award winning comedy company Sex T-Rex.

TRICIA BLACK (Director) (She/They) is an multi-award winning actor, comedian, writer and songwriter. They hold two Canadian Screen Award’s for their performances in the indie web series Band Ladies and the hit animation Summer Memories. Tricia is an alumna of The Second City, and the Creative Director for Tweed & Company Theatre. They hold two Canadian Comedy Awards for Best Live Production, A Sketch Comedy Extravaganza Eleganza and Best Ensemble, She The People. They have appeared in Baroness Von Sketch (CBC), What We Do In The Shadows (FX), Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 3 (Disney) and Bad Behind Bars: Jodi Arias (Lifetime/Cineflix), Summer Memories (Aircraft Pictures), Dear David: The Haunting of Adam Ellis (Lionsgate/Buzzfeed) and Pretty Hard Cases (CBC).

Kris Siddiqi (Assistant Director) is a comedian, actor and writer from the great city of Toronto! Recipient of the 2015 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Improviser and the 2014 “Best Of” Now Magazine Awards. Trained in sketch and improvisation since a young age, Kris studied with the world renowned Second City, joined the Mainstage cast in 2009 and wrote 3 revues with them. From there he went to voice work, becoming the Network Voice of Country Music Television, principal roles on cartoons like Let’s Go Luna, Totally Spies! and My Little Pony, and more, as well as becoming a series regular on the Comedy Panel Show on CBC Because News.

Kris’ stage experience is just as extensive and recently had the pleasure of co-hosting a gala for the 2021 Winnipeg Comedy Festival with his wife Aurora Browne, and he’s performs stand up, sketch and improv all across North America.
His most recent creation was the multi-award winning miniseries BIT PLAYAS. Conceived and originated by Kris, the show would go on to win 2 Canadian Screen
Awards for Best Writing and Best Series, Best Representation of Communities Of Color from the Minnesota WebFest 2020, Best Actor in the Toronto WebFest awards, as well as multiple other awards from festivals all over the world.

Kris’ recent film & tv credits include HBOMax’s TITANS, Aaron Sorkin’s MOLLY’S GAME, Amazon’s THE BOYS, AppleTV’s IMPROBABLE VALENTINE, Netflix’s I WOKE UP A VAMPIRE and a recurring face on IFC/CBC’s BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW.

And if he wasn’t enough of a huge nerd, Kris is also the sound editor, sound designer and main character for his fantasy radio-drama DWARVEN MOSS, which recently won Best Leisure Podcast from the Canadian Podcast Awards.