Meet the crew (yeah, they're on Twitter, too.)
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| Jordan Klepper is in his third season as a correspondent for "Friday Night Tailgate presented by Nissan. In addition to FNT, he is a comedian in Chicago who performs regularly at the world famous i.O. Theater, where his sketch comedy show, "Steve and Jordan, Respectively" recently ended its three-month run. The show, performed with co-correspondent, Steve Waltien, was critically lauded, with the Chicago Tribune calling it "Simple, but exceedingly smart, it is among the best sketch shows in Chicago right now" and TimeOut hailing them "urban folk artists" while the Chicago Reader declared it a "practically flawless sketch revue." In addition to writing "Steve and Jordan, Respectively," Jordan has also written multiple sketch revues in Chicago along with working as a writer for NBC's Dot Comedy project. For two years, Jordan toured the globe with the famous "Second City National Touring Company." He improvises regularly in Chicago, and has been a part of such shows as "The Second City Improv All-Stars," "The Armando Diaz Experience," as well as hosting the weekly talk show, "The Late Night Late Show." |
Tim Baltz is a native of Joliet, IL and is a graduate of Loyola University-Chicago. He has lived in Chicago since 1999, and is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, along with the i.O. Chicago Training Center, where he is currently a faculty member. He has performed in multiple languages (2) across several continents (2), and has been seen at the Chicago Improv Festival, the Toronto Improv Festival, Chicago Sketchfest, and with the Second City Improv All-Stars, Nogoodnicks, and Paris' only longform improvisational troupe, Eux. He also toured the country for several years with Second City's National Touring Company, is affiliated with The Annoyance Theater, and can currently be seen performing at i.O. Theater with the house team Bullet Lounge, and in the Armando Diaz Experience. If you've seen him on television, it was most likely while eating hot dogs with Stephen Fry at the Weiner's Circle on BBC America's Fry In America. |
Mike Hall is the host of "Friday Night Tailgate" and anchor for "Big Ten Tonight" and a Chicago native who joined the Big Ten Network after a three-year stint at ESPN, where he was the lead anchor for ESPNU. The winner of ESPN's first season of "Dream Job," Hall has anchored ESPN's SportsCenter and ESPNEWS. Hall is a graduate of the University of Missouri. Want to leave him a note? Check out his blog, "Mike Hall on Sports." |
Steve Waltien grew up in Vermont and attended Middlebury College, receiving a BA in Philosophy and Theatre. He moved to Chicago in 2001 to study improvisation. He is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory program and the i.O. Training Center where he is now a faculty member. Steve has performed in numerous improv shows all over the world including The Second City Improv All-Stars, The Improvised Shakespeare Company, The Armando Diaz Experience, the improvised one-act play Chairs (Dublin Fringe Festival), and Chicago's hit current events satire Whirled News Tonight. He is a member of the iO house ensemble Bullet Lounge. Last year, Steve spent four months performing for The Second City aboard a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship visiting ports like Istanbul, Barcelona, and Athens. You may have seen him play an improvised prank on an episode of TLC's Trading Spaces. Steve has also written a lot of original comedy as a co-creator and host of Chicago's cult fake talk show "The Late Night Late Show," the group Local 386, and the NBC digital series "Kyle's in a Coma." He wants you to check out The Official Mystery Cove Podcast, which can be found for free at iTunes. |
About Charissa Thompson
Charissa Thompson has worked for the Big Ten Network since its launch and serves as a correspondent for "Friday Night Tailgate" and as a sideline reporter for network football telecasts.
Thompson also contributed to FOX's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" and made her first on-air appearance for FSN on regional affiliate FSN Rocky Mountain.
Thompson is a graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara and lives in Venice, CA.
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