Dana Andersen is a Canadian actor,

improvisor Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

, filmmaker, writer and director. He has served as director of the live improvised soap opera Die-Nasty, and has been a core member of the troupe since its founding in 1991. From 1995-1999, he co-hosted The Johnny and Poki Variety Hour at Edmonton's

Varscona Theatre The Varscona Theatre is a live performance venue in the Old Strathcona neighborhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Since 1994, the Varscona has been operated by a consortium of small theatre companies, including Teatro la Quindicina and Shadow Th ...

. His theatre credits include shows with Teatro la Quindicina, Panties Productions, and Rapid Fire Theatre. Film credits for Andersen include Purple Gas, ''Turnbuckle!'', and ''Stray Dogs''. He has written, directed and produced a number of independent films, including ''Rio Loco'', ''Subplot'', ''Subplot II'' and ''Hearts of Plastic''.

Other work

In 2005, Andersen exported the Die-Nasty company's annual Soap-A-Thon to England, working with legendary British theatre artist

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, director and writer. He was known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety ...

to produce a 36-hour-long soap opera in London. Several members of Campbell's company made the pilgrimage to Canada in 2006 and 2007 to take part in the original 53-hour-long event. In January 2008, Andersen returned to London (along with several members of the Die-Nasty troupe) to direct the 50-hour Improvathon at the People Show Studios. There, he worked with Adam Meggido, Oliver Senton, and Ruby Lake. He was joined by Canadian improvisors

Mark Meer Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a numbe ...

, Kory Mathewson, Matt Alden,

Kurt Smeaton Kurt Smeaton is a Canadian television writer and producer from Ottawa, Ontario, most noted for his work on ''Kim's Convenience'', ''Schitt's Creek'' and '' Children Ruin Everything''. He began his career as an actor, most notably as a regular cast ...

, Davina Stewart, Jamie Knifefight Cavanagh, and Belinda Cornish, as well as musical director Jan Randall. Andersen is the recipient of a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

for co-writing the revue Not Based on Anything by Stephen King with Second City. He has been nominated for several

Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award The Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award (also known as the Sterling Award) is a local Edmonton, Alberta award presented annually which honours excellence in theatre. The award covers a number of categories, including production, performance, direction ...

s, and received the Sterling Award for Outstanding Fringe Production for co-writing and starring in the play ''Giant Ants''.

Miscellany

Andersen appeared in a video for a song by Ian Thomas in the 1980s which aired on

Much Music Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

. This was filmed in the period of time that Dana was with Second City.

References

External links

* * Die-Nasty Homepag

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Dana Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian male comedians Canadian people of Danish descent Dora Mavor Moore Award winners 20th-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian comedians Canadian sketch comedians