Mike O’Keeffe is a teaching artist with The Count Basie Theatre, and has been performing and teaching improv comedy professionally for over 25 years. He received his M.A. in Education from Monmouth University in 1996, and has been a public school teacher for 20 years. He has done regional improv touring shows with former troupe-mate Wayne Brady, and has traveled across the country performing corporate comedy and team building. Recently, he presented a TED Talk on the concept of “Play” called “Using Improv to Become a Better Human”. He is an Adjunct Professor at Monmouth University, where he teaches Critical Discourse. This spring, he was a keynote speaker at the National Youth Leadership Council’s, “More Powerful Together” conference in Washington DC, which brought together educational leaders and future educators. He was a speaker at Princeton University this summer, where he demonstrated how to integrate performing arts into their Common Core Curricula.