Laughing Gas (improv)
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Laughing Gas Comedy Improv Theatre Company is an improv troupe in Miami, Florida. It is currently South Florida's longest-running professional improv theater company.[citation needed]
[edit] Mental Floss
Laughing Gas was founded in 1992 by several former cast members of Miami's first improv troupe, Mental Floss, which performed from 1986-1992. Mental Floss was founded by actor/director Sandy Mielke, who had worked with the Los Angeles improv troupe, the LA Connection.
Mental Floss evolved from a workshop for local Miami actors into a full-time performance theatre. While improvisational comedy was always the group's mainstay, over the course of its existence it developed hundreds of written sketches in a broad array of genres including musical, comedic, dramatic, and even silent/mime forms.
Mental Floss achieved an almost cult-like underground following in Miami and remained a vibrant part of the city's theatre culture in spite of the fact that it worked out of six venues in as many years (most notably, the second floor of a tow truck company). Many of its former members, including the following, have gone on to successful careers in the entertainment industry:
-Maribeth Graham is a successful actress who divides her time between South Florida and New York.
-Nick Santa Maria has had success in both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre as well as national tours.
-Mark McCracken is a professional actor in Los Angeles.
-James O'Doherty has produced many shows for television, most notably "Third Rock from the Sun."
-Gerald Owens performs with Laughing Gas.
-Christopher Demos-Brown is an attorney and playwright whose play "Our Lady of Allapatah" won the 2006 ARTSport New Works Contest and was a finalist for the 2006 Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference. The play will receive its world premier at New Theatre in Coral Gables in 2008.
-Cindy Gold is an associate professor of theatre at Northwestern University in Chicago.
-Antoni Corone has appeared in dozens of television programs and feature films.
-Alex Cambert (the "Spanish Jay Leno") is the host of a Spanish-Language late night talk show.
