The Seattle Files

Olive Ryther was a housewife and mother who made a simple pledge in 1884 to never turn away a child she could help.  Over the next 50 years she took in over 3,000 needy children and family members.  Her legacy lives on to this day with the Ryther Organization, which continues to serve the greater Seattle area and focuses on helping children with behavioral issues and substance abuse problems.

Today’s Guest:

Kayla Teel is a Seattle-based actor, improviser, and sketch artist. She is a cast member at Jet City Improv and can be seen around town performing with the sketch group Getting Naked With Friends, in The Green Show at ComedySportz, or heard in her improvised news podcast, IMPRV News 9 at 8. This August she will play the role of Rachel/Roscoe in One Man Two Guvnors at Sound Theatre Co.

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The Reverend Mark Matthews believed that faith and politics should intertwined, which made him one of the most powerful and controversial pastors in the country.  He was a complex figure, straddling two very different times in history.

Today’s Guest:

Steve Lange is a Seattle-based actor, director, and improviser. In addition to writing, producing and directing the underground horror hits Junkbucket and Junk Bonds: The Return of Junkbucket, Steve is also a company member at Jet City Improv and is the director of guest relations for Crypticon Seattle, the Pacific NW’s largest genre convention.

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Ten million people visited the Century 21 Exposition, better known as the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.  It started as the idea of a man whose life was touched by a similar event years earlier, and gave us the Space Needle, the Seattle Center campus, and Key Arena along with so much more.

Today’s Guest:

Alison Lührs is an actor, playwright, improviser and professional Wizard. Recent credits include Strangers (Mirum Mirum Productions), Vicious and Vulgar (Mirum Mirum Productions) Black Flag (Jet City Improv) and the serial podcast Mermaid in Manhattan. Alison is a cast member at Jet City Improv and a producer of the College Improv Tournament.

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Anna Louise Strong was one of the most influential socialist writers of her generation.  Her politics took her all over the world, but she is most remembered for the work she did in Seattle.

Today’s Guest:

Glenn Bristol is a Seattle native who has been performing improv comedy since 2009. He reviews films and co-hosts the FilmWonk Podcast at filmwonk.net. He is an ensemble member of Twisted Flicks at Jet City Improv, as well as Split Second Improv at Redmond’s Second Story Repertory Theater. His other credits include EXITheatre’s improvised speed-dating show Seven Minutes in Heaven, Theater Off Jackson’s Salon of Shame, and a voice-acting role in the sci-fi miniseries, The Path of Orion.  He is an occasional bartender, frequent jaywalker, and consummate lane-changer.

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Harry Allen was born Nell Pickerell in 1882.  The life of a trans man at the turn of the century wasn’t easy, and his life was fraught with violence, heartbreak, and trouble with the law.

Today’s Guest:

Nick Edwards is an actor of both scripted and improvised work as well as writer and director in and around Seattle. He is part of the ensemble at Jet City Improv and a member of Funbucket. In May and June of 2016 you can see him on stage at Jet City Improv for What If. You can find him on various social media formats as @thenickedwards.

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A small dispute over shipbuilder’s pay in 1919 escalated into the first general strike in the United States.  Around 100,000 workers, a third of Seattle’s population, walked off the job, shutting down the city.

Today’s Guest:

Originally from Los Angeles, Tim Tracey has been living in Seattle since 1990.  He first made a name for himself as lead singer of Patchouli Sewer, a punk rock troupe, during the grunge salad days.  After the Sewer broke up in 1995, he kicked around in a few other local groups until he found improv in 2003.  He’s been doing improv since and has been an ensemble member at Unexpected Productions since 2005.  In addition performing at UP, Tracey has a beautiful baby boy named Bert and a lovely wife and also a cute li’l Cape Cod in need of some simple repairs and a new a floor and some new kitchen cabinets as well.

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In 1909 Seattle hosted its first world’s fair, a raucous and wild event that resembled a turn of the century Burning Man and left us with the University of Washington campus.  The expo was hailed for its efforts to highlight our city to the world, but its legacy is marred by racist exhibits and the raffling off of a baby.

Today’s Guest:

Randy is a Seattle based architect, woodworker and improviser.  He moved from Iowa 8 years ago and found Seattle to be a perfect home for all his creative pursuits.  He is an ensemble member at Jet City Improv, where he met his wife and discovered his passion for set design.  You can find out more about his work on Facebook at Sage Woodcraft, where you can see his rare annual updates.

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Hiram Gill was a notoriously corrupt politician who served as mayor of Seattle.  His time in office was a disaster and his legacy is one of the strangest of any mayor before or since.

Today’s Guest:

Clayton Weller has been performing, producing, and teaching comedy/theater for over 15 years. He’s been doing it as his full time job for 3 years. Until very recently he had never cast a spell or been in a pie eating contest. He’s always looking to collaborate with new people – (http://www.thepocket.org).

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George Vancouver was a British captain who “discovered” Puget Sound and proceeded to name everything in sight after himself and his colleagues.

Today’s Guest:

Joshua Chambers is a Standup comedian, half of the critically acclaimed comedy duo “The Ballard Boyz,” and a member of the ComedySportz Seattle roster. He produces shows all over Seattle, including “The Magic Hat” every Monday, and “The Ballard Boyz Present: Variety Hour!” every third Sunday of the month. Joshua lives in Seattle with his cat (Malcolm Jamal Warner the Cat) and dog (Ruth Bader Ginsburg the Dog), who he loves very much.

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The Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the Wobblies were a powerful union who fought for worker’s rights.  An armed conflict between the union and authorities in 1916 was the bloodiest labor conflict in Northwest history.

Today’s Guest:

Britney Barber is an east coast transplant, who’s started performing improv in 2000; she is currently a member of Jet City Improv as well as some independent groups.  She also writes, does traditional theater, makes her wife’s lunches, and wrangles their four dogs.

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