Happier Valley Comedy, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that brings laughter, joy, and ease to Western Massachusetts (and the world) through the principles of improvisation. We serve up the happy through our training center, shows, and professional/personal development programs. Happier Valley Comedy is committed to using the tenets of improvisation as a tool to amplify each person’s authentic voice and creativity in an inclusive, welcoming community inspired and empowered by the diversity of all members.
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Happier Valley Comedy Core Values
Follow the Joy and Ease Assume Good Will Be of Service Redefine and Disempower Failure Play More |
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Please see our full statement, commitment, and list of resources here.
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PAM VICTOR is the founder/president and Head of Happiness of Happier Valley Comedy. She has been improvising professionally since 2003 when she founded The Ha-Ha's who performed together for 17 years. Pam Victor is a nationally-touring improv teacher and co-author of "Improvisation at the Speed of Life: The TJ & Dave Book" along with TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi. Pam has studied improv at iO Chicago, The Annoyance Theatre (Chicago,) ImprovBoston, and from Second City Chicago teachers. Pam has improvised and done her live interview show at numerous festivals, such as The Women in Comedy Festival, Boston Comedy Arts Festival, Detroit Improv Festival, and Chicago Improv Festival. In 2019, Pam was awarded the New England Public Radio Arts & Humanities Award. She also is a TEDx speaker. Pam is a nice person and she likes you already.
SCOTT BRAIDMAN is our General Manager and Artistic Director. Scott started improvising in 2002 with Mission: Improvable at UMass Amherst, and since then he has studied and performed at The iO Theater and One Group Mind in Chicago, The UCB Theatre in New York, and ImprovBoston and Improv Asylum in Boston. He was also an instructor with the ImprovBoston Comedy School. Scott produces and directs all of Happier Valley Comedy's shows as well as teaching Advanced Improv classes and performing with many improvised shows, the most impressive of which is called "Being A Dad", and it isn't a real show, it's just actually being a dad, like, all the time. MADDY BENJAMIN is the Program Manager and Facilitator of Fun at Happier Valley Comedy. She got her start in improv in 2010 with IT: Improvisational Theater at the College of William & Mary, and joined the HVC community in 2017. Maddy is a founding member of "Not In Charge" and "Second Saturdays Presents," and performs with several HVC casts. You'll also catch her teaching Short Form and Improv 4, hosting the monthly Comedy Quiz Show on WHMP, solving the NYT crossword puzzle, and serving as the unofficial laugh track for any show or class she attends.
SALLY EKUS is a Literary Agent by day, and improv enthusiastic by night. When not securing book deals and sponsorships for culinary talent at The Lisa Ekus Group, she can be found improvising. Sally is the producer and a supporting cast member of The Happier FAMILY Comedy show, which performs on the third Saturday of every month, as well as a member of the improv troupes Josie's Magical Flute and Not in Charge. Sally also serves on our board as the "Organizer of Joy," aka the "Joyganizer," where she can put her love of lists and Type A follow up to good use. She loves spicy food, tacos, and following her foot.
KELSEY FLYNN is the Resident Optimist of Happier Valley Comedy where she teaches Improv 2 and spearheads the Storytelling Standup branch of the Training Program, and performs regularly with The Understudies. Over the past 30 years, Kelsey has performed improv in clubs and festivals and studied across the Great Comedy Map of the United States (GCMUS-pronounced ‘gick-moose’) including places like Chicago, New York, Seattle, and Sayre, PA. Kelsey's standup journey has included sets at Catch A Rising Star, Gotham Comedy Club, and Caroline’s in New York City, the Comedy Studio in Cambridge and at the many Elks Lodges and Chinese restaurants in between. Offstage, Kelsey has steadily plied her trade of comedy across many platforms including as a morning-show radio host at 100.9, WRNX, and 93.9 WRSI, where she was awarded “Best Local DJ” two years in a row by the Valley Advocate. Check out Kelsey's website: www.kelseyflynn.com.
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OUR "BOARDextrordinaire"
(board OF DIRECTORS)
Pam Victor - President
Scott Braidman - Vice President (non-voting)
Scott Braidman - Vice President (non-voting)
Sally Ekus
When not securing book deals and sponsorships for culinary talent at The Lisa Ekus Group, Sally can be found improvising. Sally is the producer and a cast member of The Happier FAMILY Comedy Show as well as a member of Not in Charge. Sally loves spicy food, tacos, and following her foot.
When not securing book deals and sponsorships for culinary talent at The Lisa Ekus Group, Sally can be found improvising. Sally is the producer and a cast member of The Happier FAMILY Comedy Show as well as a member of Not in Charge. Sally loves spicy food, tacos, and following her foot.
Melenie Freedom Flynn
Melenie is an author, actor, and brand identity strategist and copywriter. Her recent writing appears in Vela, Provincetown Arts Magazine, and Straw Dog Pandemic Poetry and Prose. Some of her recent branding work is here and here. She has been a recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship, Djerassi Residency, and Atlantic Center for the Arts Residency.
Melenie is an author, actor, and brand identity strategist and copywriter. Her recent writing appears in Vela, Provincetown Arts Magazine, and Straw Dog Pandemic Poetry and Prose. Some of her recent branding work is here and here. She has been a recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship, Djerassi Residency, and Atlantic Center for the Arts Residency.
Jeff Hausthor - Treasurer, Secretary
Jeff is our technology, financial, and entrepreneurial advisor. He's the COO of Qnect, a company that develops software for the steel industry. You've probably seen him at a HVC improv show (or two or ten.) He's also a musician, a Dead Head, and father of two adult daughters.
Jeff is our technology, financial, and entrepreneurial advisor. He's the COO of Qnect, a company that develops software for the steel industry. You've probably seen him at a HVC improv show (or two or ten.) He's also a musician, a Dead Head, and father of two adult daughters.
Meghan Lynch
Meghan is the Founder and CEO of Six-Point Creative, a brand strategy agency that helps “second-stage” companies breakthrough growth plateaus. Meghan was named an Enterprising Women of the Year in 2019, and she enjoys testing her limits as an endurance runner.
Meghan is the Founder and CEO of Six-Point Creative, a brand strategy agency that helps “second-stage” companies breakthrough growth plateaus. Meghan was named an Enterprising Women of the Year in 2019, and she enjoys testing her limits as an endurance runner.
HVC In the world
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Pam Victor presented "Thank Your Inner Critic (and Tell It to Pipe Down)" at TEDxEasthamptonWomen in 2019
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Our cover story in BusinessWest
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Scott & Pam regularly appear on MassAppeal
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"Around here, a hydra-headed beastie called Happier Valley Comedy is delivering improv to eager audiences --
while also stretching the boundaries of the form."
- Chris Rohmann, The Valley Advocate, "Happier Valley Comedy Expanding on Improv"
while also stretching the boundaries of the form."
- Chris Rohmann, The Valley Advocate, "Happier Valley Comedy Expanding on Improv"
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60 SECONDS WITH A STARTUP: HAPPIER VALLEY COMEDYPam Victor is interviewed on 60 Seconds with a Startup talking about what inspired her to launch Happier Valley Comedy, how she measures success, the challenges she has experienced, the skills she has found useful as an entrepreneur, and how she envisions Happier Valley Comedy growing.
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Happier Valley Comedy, Inc. is 501c3 non-profit organization.
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Happier Valley Comedy is a grateful recipient of a Gateway Grant from The Massachusetts Cultural Council.
