About
Photo Credit: Boris Ka
Mona and Shara combine clowning, character, and storytelling to create an engaging style of improv. They have taught and performed in Norway, Finland, Austria, the Netherlands, and 21 cities around the United States and have been featured in a number of festivals including the Finland International Improv Festival, Dog & Fish Improv Festival (Austria) Ocean State Improv Festival (Rhode Island), SF Sketchfest, and the San Diego Improv Festival. When they aren’t traveling together, they live on opposite coasts, gracing a variety of improv classrooms and stages in Washington, DC (Mona) and San Francisco (Shara). In the future, they hope to settle in the same place, but until that time, they eagerly look forward to the shows and workshops they get to do together.
“If I could give Mona and Shara six stars, I would. Characters, physicality, narrative, listening... all top-notch. They are both so likeable and watchable! Go see Mona and Shara do Improv!”
Mona Thompson is an improv performer, teacher, and coach based in Washington, DC. She began improvising in high school, continued in college as a member of the Stanford Improvisers, and spent 5 years in San Francisco performing with Un-Scripted Theater Company, Social Studies Improv, Minerva, and — of course — Mona and Shara Do Improv. She has taught at Washington Improv Theater (WIT), BATS Improv, Un-Scripted Theater Company, Stagebridge, San Mateo High School, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. In 2014, she co-founded Collective Capital, a change and innovation consultancy that helps organizations become more curious, generous, and resilient using improv and design. She has her M.Ed in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Learn more at monajthompson.com.
Shara Tonn is an improviser, actor, clown and teacher based in San Francisco. An alumna of the Stanford Improvisors and San Francisco Circus Center’s Clown Conservatory, Shara performs in Un-Scripted Theater Company productions as well as a variety of Bay Area comedy shows. Being an artist in the Bay Area, she is a jack-of-all-trades, working with the Medical Clown Project of San Francisco, acting in local gigs, doing freelance science writing for Stanford University and teaching with a number of organizations including Un-Scripted Theater Company, Stagebridge, Circus of Smiles, Aragon High School, and BATS Improv. She is currently, in addition to doing lots of improv, scheming with some clown colleagues to execute some silly clown projects. She expects the clown pies she makes with them will soon be thrown at someone’s face - probably hers.
