Darryl has been entertaining in one capacity or another since the age of 15. A former break-dancer and rap artist in the late 80s and early 90s, Darryl made a demo album with The Shrewd Boyz in Kansas city Missouri in 1990 which remains in his collection to this day. He was also a member of the Bay Area based rap group called The Big City Brothers. In addition to rap music, he expresses a strong interest in spoken word poetry, improv and theater performance. Upon coming to Alaska in 1992, He immersed himself in Alaska’s local hip hop and poetry scenes and continued to do both into the early 2000’s. He has starred in the original stage plays Communication, Sex and Money, Essence of a man, The Father Factor and Trapped in the Basement. In 2014, he starred in Black Arts North’s production of The Wiz. He was also a host and performer in the poetry troupes Speakeasy and Soulicitations from 2003 -2008. In the early to mid 2000s, Darryl began to see a need to put emphasis and attention on local talent in Alaska and was invited to be a member of the Improv troupe Chocolate Renaissance Theater in 2016 where he performed with fellow Improvastionalists Sonya Senkowsky, Jana Lage and Brianna Thibodeaux. In 2017 Darryl formed the non-profit entertainment company Obsidian Moon Entertainment and put on its first Theatrical production, No Discretion Advised. Hot on the heels of the play’s success he form the improv troupe Mostly Melanin Arts with an emphasis on promoting and showcasing the art of improv to those unfamiliar with it. Darryl likes teaching, laughing, helping those in need and being an advocate for social change through a weekly podcast he does called Be Real with D-Real on BlogTalk radio.

Originally from Brooklyn, Zilverbakk is a proud father, intense spoken-word artist and deeply serious comic book geek.

Jana must have done something to tick off the Internet, because we have written her fake bio three times now, and it's been deleted each time. So for now, this is what you get. And she's a geologist.

Corin is an awesome singer and human being, but she is kind of a laggard when it comes to writing up bios. we look forward to her bio when she gets around to sending it in.

An occasional performer with our troupe, Michael is a super-talented actor, dancer, cook and mime.

She sings, she dances, and when she's not tuning up her car or slamming poetry, she is controlling her nervous tic (wow; we never noticed!) and making people laugh! She's also a member of Anchorage Concert Chorus and a Mensa member (mental chapter).

In the mid-1990s, Sonya ventured north from Pennsylvania, seeking a newspaper job and a land that had not yet discovered the woofer. She would find both in Anchorage. For her first 20 years here, she mostly hid her love of improv, masquerading first as a reporter, then science writer and finally as a communications manager. After a cancer diagnosis led her to realize an office career can be fleeting--and really not all that much fun anyway—she began to indulge her itch for improv. She met Darryl Akins and other members of the troupe while attending her first Alaska State Improv Festival (AS IF), held annually in Juneau. She is a former member of Chocolate Renaissance Theater, and was also previously a member of The Masque, the theater group at La Salle University, in Philadelphia. In her free time, she also plays baritone with The Salvation Army brass band, enjoys singing and strumming a ukulele--and has made peace with woofers.

Dave has appeared in several stage productions in Anchorage over the last several years, notably the one-person show Underneath the Lintel, in spring 2017. A teacher of physics and math at West High, Dave is delighted to be delving into improv with MMA. He also enjoys guitar, gaming, cooking (and eating!), and of course, fishing!

Briana believes performing brings her joy whether it is on the soccer field, on the runway, on the big screen or singing her heart out on stage. She's been an extra in several theatre productions, portrayed the part of Ariel in the Missoula Children's Theatre production of The Little Mermaid and a few nonspeaking roles for Alaskan business commercials. Her biggest performance was the part of MaryAnn in Good Bye Earl: A New Musical in February 2017. September 2016 she joined the improv group Chocolate Renaissance Theatre, an improv group which also consisted of fellow MMA artists Jana Lage and Darryl Akins. Briana's strongest talents are piano, voice, and commercial modeling. She's also been involved in various choirs, musicals, and voice ensembles from a very young age and has graced the stage with multiple solos. Her vocal range is contralto, and she enjoys singing gospel, country and R&B music. Her three favorite songs to perform are "Now I Sing" by Out of Eden, "Let Er Rip" by The Dixie Chicks, and "Ain't No Other Man" by Christina Aguilera. The majority of her experience talent-wise is in modeling. She's wanted to be a Commercial Spokesmodel since age 4 and has actively been pursuing her dream since age 15. Any and all acting experience brings her one step closer to achieving her goals.