Ralph MacLeod

Artistic Director, Black Swan Comedy

Ralph MacLeod is the founder and Artistic Director of Black Swan Comedy. Prior to this he was the co-founder, workshop director, and general manager of the Bad Dog Theatre Company. He oversaw the latter company’s growth from a fledgling group into the second-largest improv training centre in the country. He has produced, created, directed, and written several shows including Hip Waiters, Hot Doctors in Love, Macro Neato, Win Ralph’s Stein Full of Money, Hardboiled, and several others. He has been training improvisers for over a decade and several of his former students can be seen on film, TV, and television commercials. Many have gone on to work professionally at Second City in Chicago and Toronto. Ralph also works as a corporate trainer and his list of clients have included Bell, Xerox, University of Toronto, the National Advertiser Benevolent Society, and several more.

Student Feedback: “This class was a huge success, largely due to the talented host, Ralph MacLeod. It’s one thing to lead people with assorted levels of experience through improv exercises. It’s quite another to help us understand the deeper purpose of what we were doing. I’ve never had that explained to me, and it made so much sense.”
– Tara Donovan

Listen to Ralph’s Demo Tape.

Adam Ward

Assistant Artistic Director, Black Swan Comedy

Adam Ward is a Toronto-based improviser, producer, writer, and jack of all trades. Over the past six years, Adam’s studied and performed with every improv school in Toronto. His efforts within the scene have cultivated an influx in the popularization of the city’s Improv-Duo style of comedy; he’s co-producer of The Hangout, a weekly improv showcase of the city’s best performers, as well as producer of Fan Fiction, a show where comedians perform original material written by fans found from the internet. Adam has attended and performed in many festivals across North America. Whether it was the DSI Comedy Festival in North Carolina, the Del Close Festival in New York City, or most recently Duofest in Philadelphia with his duo Pondward Bound, Adam brings his high energy and creative flair to every performance. Currently Adam writes for ComedyUncovered.com, is the on-set improv advisor for the Weekenders Presents feature films, and performs with Mark Cotoia in the sketch/improv duo The Sushi Boys.

Gord Oxley

Show Tech/Producer/Performer, Black Swan Comedy

Gord Oxley is a Toronto-based actor and writer who among other things, has performed in, hosted, and produced countless improv and sketch comedy shows in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area for many years; among them Comedy on the Danforth, Gordo’s Great Big Grab Bag, Swan Songs and Ding-Dongs, Unkaged, Tuesapalooza, and Sh’long. He has taught improv workshops for Black Swan Comedy, Bad Dog Theatre, Triptych Lounge Improv, and at several educational institutions in and around the GTA. When not teching for, substitute-hosting at, substitute-teaching at, performing at, and designing the occasional poster for Black Swan Comedy, he performs in his award-winning and -nominated sketch-music-improv comedy duo Fast & Dirty (available on iTunes!), or goes on solo with his guitar and some twisted songs. He has written two anthologies of fun short stories and is a fan of the Oxford comma.