Lou Maconachie has been making things up in front of audiences for over a decade, and somehow, they keep asking her back.

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She’s performed, taught and trained in improv all over Australia, New Zealand, and New York. From snappy comedy games to full-blown musicals made up on the spot. She has a trophy from the Canberra International Challenge (2015) to prove she knows what she’s doing (mostly). She also made it to the finals of the National Theatresports Championships (2016), which definitely still counts.

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Lou is a passionate teacher who believes improv makes life better—helping people be braver, bolder, and more brilliantly themselves.

Amy Crawford is a seasoned improviser for whom the lure of improv - with its world of possibilities, creativity and silliness - keeps her hooked on the improv craft. 

 

In 2016 Amy co-founded Lightbulb Improv and is a regular performer at the monthly shows and festivals (Canberra Comedy Festival; New Zealand Improv Festival) and comedies (Boo!, The Family Business, Shakespeare: Off the Ruff and Under the Bonnet).

 

She also has a knack for memorising lines, and has performed with the Canberra Repertory Society in Our Country's Good a, A Christmas Carol Ensemble (2021) and Brighton Beach Memoirs (2020). Amy won best actor in Canberra’s Short+Sweet Festival (2019).  Amy has taught, performed and directed a range of improvised formats, including long-form dramas and musicals.

For as long as they can remember, Chipz has been driven to theatre with an incredible passion for storytelling. Since 2013, they’ve devised, developed, improvised, prepared, written, produced, directed, and facilitated experiences in/with the performance arts. Their intersectional experience and intense love for the work has drawn the curtains to a brilliant range of opportunities. 

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Most recently, Chipz has been on stage for the Actor’s Investigation of The Chalk Pit (2025), the second instalment of Rockspeare: Henry IV Part 2 (2024), Boo! (2024) and performs regularly with Lightbulb Improv and the Rebus Playback Theatre Ensemble.

Kym Starr is a trained actor, dancer, singer and musician who has been performing in Canberra and surrounds for the past 20 years. Kym has performed in a wide range of improv shows from immersive theatre in Impro ACT’s “The Office” to Lightbulb Improv’s Halloween comedy “Boo”. She has even performed in a show where all cast members were dressed head to toe in Morphsuits.

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Apart from improv, another of Kym’s passions is musical theatre. One of her favourite roles was as a dancer/drag queen in Supa Productions “La Cage aux Folles” (2014).

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Kym enjoys the camaraderie and spontaneity of improv theatre and loves being part of Lightbulb Improv.

Luke has been improvising since 2012. He decided to give it a try because he was terrified of the idea of being on stage without a script. If you charge directly at your fears, maybe they’ll get confused and leave you alone.

 

He’s less terrified of it now, but still gets a tremendous thrill from being on stage and not knowing what his scene partners will say, where the story will go, or what will come out of his own mouth next.

 

Luke is famous for not remembering the content of the shows he has performed in, but he is assured that he has been in shows with Impro ACT such as The Office and Drivers, and has had the pleasure and pain of doing four 24-hour long impro soaps: Schnitz Street, Hotel Incognito, The Bold and the Hospitalised, and Camp Radicool. Other highlights include Shakespeare with Zombies and Sunday Brunch at the Canberra Unscripted festival.

 

Luke has been with Lightbulb since 2018, and has performed in countless shows with the troupe (maybe not countless, but too many to go back and count! He should really keep a list). Favourites have included The Door, Shakespeare: Off the Ruff, Under the Bonnet, Winging It! The Musical, and Boo!

 

He occasionally dips his toe into the scripted theatre world, such as a couple of seasons of Short and Sweet and a brief sojourn into the world of musicals with Guys and Dolls, but mostly sticks to impro these days.

 

Luke loves the joy and fun that comes out of impro, and aims to bring that joy and fun to audiences every time he steps onto a stage.

As Lightbulb’s musician, Ella uses both her Bachelor of Music (in composition) and her Associate of Music (in piano performance), all while having fun on stage.

 

As well as being a member of Lightbulb since 2019, Ella has been involved in many other theatre productions, including as Musical Director for Grease (2023), ANU Women’s Revue (2024) and the original show Love’s Labour’s Lust (2019) for which she was also the composer. She has also worked on sound design for theatre and composition for short film.

 

During the day, she works as a piano teacher around the Inner North.

Dean has been dabbling in impro since the ancient days of 2009, and is the only member of the Lightbulb troupe with both beard and glasses. He started doing impro after realising it was a great way to make his many bad impressions and spontaneous yelling socially acceptable. He has been part of Lightbulb since 2024 and recently performed in their improvised production Boo!

 

Dean performed in Theatresports for the National University Theatre Society from 2009-2011, and was a competitor and team captain for the ANU Interhall Theatresports competitions from 2009-2011. His team even won one year. Dean also performed in scripted productions at ANU, including performances of The Misanthrope, Ruben Guthrie and Arcadia. He was a writer and actor for the ANU Law Revue from 2013-2015 and once appeared in a promotional video for the ATO. 

 

Dean enjoys the thrill and excitement of an improvised performance, and takes great delight in leaving the audience smiling (or at least confused).