Director Stan Wells was a former director at the Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles, as well as the director of the Transformers for over 8 years, before opening the Empty Stage Comedy Theatre. His students have included Lisa Kudrow, Conan O'Brien, and Cynthia Stevenson among others, and Stan has over 20 years of experience as an actor, teacher and director. His techniques help prepare both actors and writers for stage and screen work by focusing on the root of comedy, going beyond improv games and into full scene work. His classes provide a nurturing environment to discover the true comedy of each performer in every scene. His classes are a prerequisite for performing in Being Humans, Pop!, The Waterbrains, Vodka & Doughnuts and The Fortune Room.

Bill Johnson - Associate Director

Bill Johnson has been associated with the Empty Stage Comedy Theatre since January 2001. He personally facilitates four of the theatre's ongoing workshops that train performers in the art of improvisation. His intermediate workshops (Monday, Wednesday) introduce students with substantial prior training to long form improvisation while the workshops for beginners (Thursday, Saturday) equip students with some or no prior training with a comprehensive set of skills in preparation for long form study in the next level.

As a director, his stage directing credits include a November 2001 production of "All in the Timing" by David Ives and an August 2002 production of "Eleemosynary" by Lee Blessing which extended for eight weeks the following fall. Bill also produced and directed a 2003- 2004 season of Sunday Matinee plays that included productions of "A Piece of my Heart" by Shirley Lauro, "Ancient History" by David Ives, and Samuel Beckett's Masterpiece "Waiting for Godot". Bill also is the director and co-founder of The Magic Meathands Intermediate Comedy Worktroupe, the Magic Meathands Advanced Alumni Unit and the "Penguin Lamaze" Beginning Level Exhibitions.

Bill is part time faculty at Otis College for Art & Design where he teaches Acting for Animators. As well he appears regularly on stage with "The Waterbrains" comedy troupe and in the fully improvised lounge musical "The Fortune Room", both featured shows at the Empty Stage. (Contact Bill directly at 310-600-6109)

Bob Mitchell

Bob is one of the stars of "The Fortune Room", as well as an accomplished writer and musician. He teaches the Musical Improv classes, combining basic games for the singing shy and uninitiated with forms useful for all musical improv styles. Thursday classes are more basics oriented, while the once per month Wednesday classes cover more advanced techniques, and are a prerequisite for consideration for the cast of "The Fortune Room".