WeP***k Project
Monika Ozdarska’s entrance into the world of discovery first emerged in her collecting found objects that her mother would assemble into art. She continued this practice on archeological digs in Syria when she was a student at Warsaw University. Monika became a graphic artist in Warsaw and continued her journey of discovery when she entered into the Improvisational Community in 20
12 and spent time learning this form globally with over 80 teachers from around the world. She now performs and teaches improvisation to performers and uses applied improv for corporate development and events. Monika has taught improvisation in Poland, the Netherlands and Germany and has an intergenerational outreach program to integrate improvisers of all generations and cultural backgrounds. She is a co-founder of Warsaw’s Centralna Spółdzienia Komediowa where Polish Improvisers continued to perform, and also the founder of “The Art Of Yes” page where she shares improv related links, quotes, and Zoom podcast interviews with improvisers from around the globe, to be found also on YT. Unilingual Jeff Michalski has been improvising for almost a half century, more if you count the time he spent in a Chicago neighborhood Catholic school where his nuns and neighbors spoke primarily in Polish. He exploited this skill of feigning engagement with the incomprehensible to become an immediate success in what was the relatively new world of improvisational comedy making him incomprehensibly a pioneer in the field and even becoming a professional improviser. As a performer Jeff has played clubs, theatres and colleges across the United States with his first group The St. Vitus Dancers, the Original Comedy Rangers, and Chicago's Second City beyond comprehension, made him a director where he ended up co-founding the Second City etc. As a teacher he helped create Chicago's Second City training program and the initial training program in Santa Monica. He has established numerous theatres dedicated to the art of improvisation including Upfront Comedy Showcase and currently The Fanatic Salon in West L.A. He was partially subsidized by becoming a professional actor doing numerous television and film projects which incomprehensibly provided him with a pension to support this habit.
