Stephen Kearin
Stephen began his career in 1987 with Bay Area Theatresports in San Francisco, where he was a company member for 14 years. He was a founding member of Improv Theater and True Fiction Magazine. Stephen is currently a member of the critically-acclaimed improv ensemble Impro Theatre in Los Angeles and was a member San Francisco’s 3 FOR ALL for 27 years. Other stage productions include the stilt-walking Iago in San Francisco Opera’s Otello, Sally-Sue Weber in A Weber Family Christmas and he originated the role of Movie Mega-Superstar, Blaine Bustier in An Evening with Dirk & Blaine. Stephen is the co-creator of “Simlish” and was the principal male voice of The Sims, Sims 2 and Sims Medieval. He created the Martian languages for Disney’s Mars Needs Moms and Supergirl. He is featured in the DreamWorks Animation films Kung Fu Panda 1,2&3, Madagascar 2&3, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Megamind, The Penguins of Madagascar and Home. His voice is featured in the newly released Netflix Animation feature The Magician’s Elephant, as well as the upcoming Peacock spinoff series Megamind. Stephen portrays the role of Sergeant Geller on Amazon Prime’s hit show, WAYNE and appears in season 3 of The Mandalorian. He has performed his solo show TOUGHEN UP to sold-out houses in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Stephen has served as a visiting instructor and advisor with Disney, DreamWorks, Laika, Paramount & Netflix Animation, as well as Stanford University, USC, The US Olympic Ski Team and has trained the artists of Cirque Du Soleil.
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Jun Imai
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Jun Imai lived in California for 8 years and was the Asian Region Representative for the International Theatresports Institute’s Board of Directors for 7 years. He is an official ITI instructor of Keith Johnstone’s show formats. Now he is the He has studied acting with various teachers, specifically Method Acting with Frank Casaro, Artistic Director of the Actor’s Studio, and improvisation with Keith Johnstone, creator of Theatresports.
He has been the simultaneous interpreter for method acting and improv workshops led by Keith Johnstone, Roberta Wallach, Lyn Pierce, Dennis Cahill, Shawn Kinley, Steve Jarand, Inbal Lori, and Mark Lamb. He has taught “ZEN and IMPROーNot in Your Head, But in the Moment” workshops in the U.S.A, Canada, Germany, Italy, China and Hong Kong, Dubai, Netherlands, and Costa Rica.
A prolific writer, he published “It’s Hard to be Free—an Impro Manual” in 2006 based on his experience bringing improv to the Japanese. It’s been a long-term best-seller in the theater community since then. He followed up in 2009 and 2010 with the three-volume “Japanese Who’ve Begun to Improvise: Keith Johnstone’s Impro” and “Keith Johnstone in Japan” in 2013. Imai’s books have earned him praise as a thoughtful and incisive teacher and director.
In addition to directing at TCS, he teaches impro, scripted acting, and mask workshops through his own company, in the moment, ltd., and for Tokyo talent agencies. He has worked with both new and well-know film and television actors, as well as popular YouTubers in Japan. He feels strongly that Japanese actors and Japanese society as a whole can benefit from what impro has to offer and is currently working on a book, Zen and Improvisation, to bridge the gap between this most Western of arts and traditional Eastern philosophy.
