playbill vip

Every performance of Puffs is unique. There are pages of the script with multiple options for lines and monologues and an invitation to improvise moments – make them up on the spot in performance. This is … unusual. Playwrights typically copyright their work and forbid any deviation in performance. To successfully perform a comedy like this one requires a different set of skills. So, in October, cast members worked with Ryan Huban, founder and director of Howdy Stranger to learn the art of improvisation.

Ryan Huban founded the professional improv troupe, Howdy Stranger, through which he performs improv, produces sketch comedy, and emcees events and open mics. The team has won several improv competitions since its inception in 2008, including NYC Tournament of Improvisers, The Improv Arena, Improv Bowl XI, and Summer Improv League. 

Ryan facilitates improv and team-building workshops for schools and businesses, and he has collaborated with the NJ and PA State Thespian Societies to restructure how high school students learn and approach improv. He serves as a judge at the state-wide improv competitions for STANJ and the NJ Thespian Festival. Ryan is also a faculty member at ATC Studios in Clifton, NJ, where he developed and runs the tiered improv curriculum. 

He studied comedy at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, The Magnet Theater, and Armando Diaz Studios. Ryan has appeared on stage as a stand-up comic and performed in countless improv shows over the years, with “Out of Order” at Dover Little Theater, “Flea Flurkus” and “Unwritten History” at The Magnet, and “Fury” at The PIT.