Comedy Corps 2008 Tour

Mike Merrill

Comedy began for Mike Merrill at the age of 9 in elementary school. He received time during class to read stories he created, using teachers and classmates as punchlines and characters throughout. His initial stage experiences took place at 17, when he began hosting and performing in school assemblies amongst his peers.

The roots for his love of comedy began as a child, but grew and flourished as an adult. After highschool, he began performing at open mic nights across Los Angeles, and eventually began securing gigs at some of the more prominent clubs in Southern California. He has had opportunities to perform at The Hollywood Laugh Factory, The Hollywood Comedy Store, all southern California Improvs, and the Ice House.

His talent was noticed by those in TV, and led to appearances on BET’s Oh Drama, as well as Mundo’s Loco Comedy Jam. His local success, as well as national TV appearances help secure appearances within national comedy club venue’s, including Carolines in New York, Wits End in Colorado, and many others.

He employs a laid back persona on stage, which seeks to point out social ills, relationship problems, as well as shared experiences. He has completed his first comedy DVD, entitled “The Movement”, which is the first in a series that will become an established aspect of his career. He continues to perform largely in the Southern California area, work on future production products, and continues to write. His main goal is to perfect his ability to communicate comedy and share this ability with the world. 

Dan Smith

Dan Smith started comedy over a decade ago while attending Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating with a degree in Business, he became a licensed medical underwriter. He continued to do comedy all along, and realized that stand up was where his heart was. He eventually quit his job and made an impact on the comedy scene. Dan was given the 'host' spot at an established room in his hometown of Worcester, Ma. every weekend. Dan hosted this rowdy room for almost two years, honing his sharp wit and crowd-play skills. In 1995, he entered and won The Funniest Comic in Boston contest sponsored by HBO. And then five years after his start, he picked up and moved his chunky, Jewish tuchas to Los Angeles. Since then, he hasn’t looked back. He has performed in 49 of our great states (he hates Alaska and everything they stand for). Dan has also traveled overseas FIFTEEN times to perform comedy for the US military. He's done hundreds of shows in over 25 countries including Bosnia, Kosovo, Korea, Japan, Iceland, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Since living in Los Angeles, several independent film projects, such as "The Whipper  (a short film written and directed by Aisha Tyler), as well as multiple television appearances, are to his credit. These appearances include "Drew Carey", "Talk Soup", "Friday Night Videos", the new "Star Search", and "Loco Comedy Jam". He has had much success behind the camera as well, having written for the television shows, "Blind Date" and "The 5th Wheel". And he's produced shows that include "Seeing Stars", "Ex-Treme Dating" and "The World Poker Tour". He also spent four years writing jokes for Us Weekly Magazine (as a member of the Fashion Police). Dan still resides in Los Angeles, where he performs in every club in Hollywood, and will continue to perform for United States troops around the world.

Charles Sanchez

Charles "Red Fox" Sanchez was born and raised, and still lives in Long Beach, California. He is of Native American (Chumash) and Mexican American decent. He started his stand-up career several years ago. While working as a Hotel Manager at the renowned Ritz-Carlton Hotel during the day; Charles would work out his stand-up routines at night in comedy venues such as The Improv, The Comedy Store, the world famous Ice House in Pasadena and other clubs in between. He has appeared on several television and radio shows and tours the country regularly. His knack for portraying characters is flawless. His characters, such as "Bumper" the ex-gang member trying to go straight; "Uncle Ray" the uncle from Mexico that refuses to speak Spanish; "Oso" the drug-addicted poet on parole, and "Louisiana Pete"; the old homeless Blackman that no one can understand. Charles' stories of being married to an African-American wife and the cultural differences and similarities are hilarious. Charles will take you into a story and keep you in there until the final punch line. You dont want to miss seeing this new young talent. Charles is also a cast-member and writer on the new sketch comedy Show called "Unacceptable Behavior" on new the Si TV network.