Jim Staahl
Jim Staahl – THE SPOLIN PLAYERS – began his professional career as a resident cast member of Chicago’s famous Second City Theater performing with cast members that included Bill Murray, John Candy, John Belushi, Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty and Betty Thomas – and has split his time between writing and performing ever since. Moving to LA, Jim joined cast members Marty Short, Taylor Negron, Robin Williams, Cherie Eichen, and fellow Spolin Player Anna Mathias, to create the Comedy Store Players, which performed weekly at Hollywood’s Comedy Store. After being a series regular on numerous sitcoms, Jim starred in his own variety/music series – Laugh Trax, a show he co-wrote, that blended top box office rock groups with comedy sketches and featured Howie Mandel and fellow Spolin Player, Gail Matthias. Jim made his Los Angeles musical comedy debut as Gunner in Phil Olson’s long running production of Don’t Hug Me! at the Whitefire Theatre and later created the role of Carl in Phil Olson’s Polyester, The Musical at The Actor’s Forum. Besides The Spolin Players, Jim performs regularly with Fred Willard’s sketch comedy group The Mohos. Jim recently had the opportunity to put his improvisation to good use by playing a recurring role on the improvised series Curb Your Enthusiasm, which received the Golden Globe Award for best comedy.