Gary Corbin: Actor
Improv - Sketch - Theater - Film - Voice

Contact me: (503) 312-1336
or send an email

Gary began his acting career like everybody else – in grammar school plays and goofing around with his eight siblings in the basement. And, like everybody else, he’d rather forget about those episodes.

In 2002, Gary began his grown-up acting career with ComedySportz in Portland, OR. He has taken workshops there for over six years and at the Brody Theater on and off since 2004. Gary has also studied sketch with John Breen, long-form improv with Phil Incorvia and musical improv with James Bailey.

Gary grew up in Agawam, Massachusetts and also has lived in Louisiana, Indiana, and Washington, DC. He has lived and played in the Portland, OR area for over 15 years, recently relocating to Vancouver, WA where he makes beer and lives with two rascally dogs and a very patient woman.

A multi-faceted performer, Gary can act, improvise, sing, play and write music, write script, and is an accomplished sound tech.

Playing Now:

• "Wit," by Margaret Edson, directed by Dorinda Toner
  Vivian Bearing, Ph.D.,who has studied and taught the brilliant and difficult metaphysical sonnets of John Donne, has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. During the course of her illness, Vivian comes to reassess her life and work with a profundity and humor that are transformative. Sept 5-27, Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 2 PM. Slocum House Theater, 605 Esther St, Vancouver, WA.
  

Just Closed:

• Daisy Chain
  Late-night short-form improv, Tuesdays at 10 PM, July 14-August 25, 2009. Coho Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh, Portland, OR.
• "24"
  24-hour Theater. Sunday, August 2, 2009. 4 writers and 30 actors create and perform four one-act plays in 24 hours. Coho Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh, Portland, OR.

Improv

Comedy Improv – unscripted theater for all ages! Performed in theaters around Portland – and we’ll come to you, too.

• ComedySportz Portland
  Short-form improv. Over 100 short-form improv shows as well as several “after-hours” long form performances. Performed at ComedySportz, 1963 NW Kearney, Portland, OR.
• Magenta Improv Theater
  Short-form improv comes to the 'Couv! “MIT” brings smart, family-friendly short-form improve to its stage monthly in their new location, 606 Main St, in downtown Vancouver. Next show:  Saturday, October 24, 2009.
• The Brody Theater
  Advanced Performance Workshop and show, June 2005
• Writer’s Block
  Gary’s independent short-form performance troupe. First performed together August 2005. Book a show for your company dinner or party!

Theater and Sketch

• La Jura in “The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa,” by Luis Diaz, Milagro Theater, directed by Olga Sanchez. May 8-30, 2009.

• Jonathan Brewster in "Arsenic and Old Lace" by Joseph Kesselring, a Magenta Theater production.

Directed by Darren Mitchell, produced by Jaynie Roberts. Mortimer Brewster, a renowned theater critic, discovers that his kindly old aunts have a bad habit of poisoning lonely, old men with elderberry wine to ease their suffering. With the unexpected arrival of Mortimer’s devious and slightly homicidal other brother, Jonathan, things take a turn for the worse. Can Mortimer outwit Jonathan, maintain his engagement, keep the police from finding the truth, and figure out what to do with the body in the window-seat before it’s too late?

• "King Uberoff" in Once Upon a Palace Purple, an original play by Jaynie Roberts.

"Purple" is an "unconventional fairy tale" told in a musical comedy format. Sisters Queen Violet of the Purple Kingdom and Scandalous of the Red Kingdom have been rivals since birth. Now it's a race to see who can marry off their daughters first. The Red princesses are gorgeous and talented; the Purples, not so much.

• "Cagney" in Fatal Passage, an original play by Ellen Spiterali and directed by Donna Sellman-Pilorget and Elisabeth Goebel.

Fatal Passage is a murder mystery dinner theater set in 1962 on an ocean liner. Hard-boiled Detective Cagney has the job of solving the mysterious murder of a New York gangster on board.

• Sports Anchor "Buzz Greenfield" in KCSz News

A look at News, Sports, and Weather from the twisted prism of ComedySportz. Shows staged May 20, August 18, and October 20, 2006, and January 19, 2007. Also wrote and performed in five video sketches aired during show performances.

• Willamette Writers Performance Workshop

Staged readings of excerpts of six original plays per year. Read several roles. August 4, 2006, August 3, 2007, and August 1, 2008, Sheraton Inn/Portland Airport.

• Perfection

"Perfection," an original play by Helen Hill. Role: Dr. Harrigan (lead). Performed as a radio play/stage reading July 16, 2006 at the Coho Theater.

• Eddie May Murder Mysteries

Dinner theater to die for!

• John Breen’s Sketch Lab
  Two sketch shows – March 2004 and September 2005

Film and Voice

• “Steel Magnolias,” by Robert Harling, Magenta Theater, directed by Dorinda Toner, 606 Main St, Vancouver, WA. Dialect coach and voice-over role of DJ. April 30-May 16, 2009.
• garBski
  Sound and voice-over for Leslie Garbett and Kathryn Bukowski's hilarious glimpse into what two women REALLY talk about when nobody else is around. Come see what they do with their Twinkies! Debut performance May 19, 2006.
• Federal Bureau of Alternate Reality
  Gary was sound engineer and bit-part contributor in this radio play based on the novel by Douglas Watson. Aired December 2003-January 2004
• Commercial
  Played two roles – “Earl” and “the unhelpful clerk” – in a Platt Electric training film by Oregon Media Services, 2005
• Sound technician
  Gary has been the “Sound Guy” at some 40+ ComedySportz shows including “Puppetz vs. People” and after-hours and remote shows. Sound tech at CSz includes sound effects, music, player introductions, announcements, and lighting.