Instructors

Meet our world class teachers!

Sam Kurnit (he/him) is an actor, voiceover artist, improviser, and educator.

He studied at The Second City in Chicago, as well as iO, and The Annoyance Theatre.

Sam has acted in films, TV and commercials, and provided voiceover for film, narration, audio books, and video games.

Vermont Comedy Club’s first employee, Sam now works with Vermont Comedy Arts as the Director of Education and head of the VCA Touring Company.

Nathan Hartswick (he/him) is a performer, educator, and the co-founder and co-owner of Vermont Comedy Club. He has taught the “Intro the Standup” class for over 10 years and it is one of his favorite things to do!

As a standup comic, he twice won the "Best VT Standup Comic" Daysie (readers' choice award) from Seven Days and toured throughout New England.

He performs regularly with the “Kingdom Kids,” and has studied with instructors from UCB, The Second City, and iO.

Rachael Sherman (she/her) is an accomplished improviser and teacher.

She previously performed on Vermont Comedy Club’s mainstage improv team, The Unmentionables, for many years.

Currently, she performs throughout New England with her teams, “The Cafeteria” and “Raccoon Chorus.”

Rachael is also a middle school music teacher, with years of experience as a music educator.

Maggie Maxwell (she/her) is an actor and sketch performer who was trained in sketch & improv comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and for many years hosted the monthly TimeOutNY and New York Times’ critic pick, “Would You Rather with Andre and Maggie.”

Maggie has performed at festivals in Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Austin, San Francisco and more. A member of GOLD Comedy’s Digital Production Teams, Maggie writes and acts for sketch team No Worries If Not.

She has also written and contributed jokes to online comedy outlets such as Cracked, Funny or Die, and Reductress, where she has published over 60 pieces to date.

Natalie Miller (she/her) is a performer, educator, the co-owner of Vermont Comedy Club, and the Executive Director of Vermont Comedy Arts. She has performed and taught at festivals from Montreal and NYC to San Diego and Miami. She currently performs with her team, “The Kingdom Kids.”

Natalie has studied extensively with instructors at Upright Citizens Brigade, The Second City, and iO. She trained in voice, theater, and dance at AMDA in NYC and has performed in theater, film, and commercials. Natalie was also a recipient of Vermont Business Magazine’s “Rising Stars” award.

Aaron Paulsen (he/him) is a veteran performer and instructor who started improvising in Vermont in 2004. He has performed, coached and taught extensively at Vermont Comedy Club and Vermont Comedy Arts. He also spent time performing in Chicago at iO and training with The Second City and others.

He coaches several teams in the area and often performs at Vermont Comedy Club with his duo “Uncle Grumpy.”

Brian Hines (he/him) taught and performed at SeaTea Comedy Theater in Hartford, CT for over 7 years. He was a member of multiple house teams and also wrote, directed, and performed in a variety of sketch shows. In addition to classes in CT, Brian trained at the Upright Citizen's Brigade theater and was accepted into their advanced study program.

Brian loves playing game in improv and is a fan of exploring relationships and the history of characters in scenes. His goal in classes and workshops is to make concepts as simple as possible. You can expect him to use non-improv terminology to help you learn this very fun, very strange art form.

Brooke Ferguson (she/her) is an actor, improviser, educator, drama therapist, and silly silly goose.

Her love of performing having started in second grade, she’s spent the last 15 years directing and teaching acting.

She also has a BFA in theater performance, but she doesn't want to brag about it.

Here in Vermont, she can be seen playing with her other half in “Wry BrEd” and all the best people in “All The Worst People”.