Night of laughs: 'The Faculty Lounge' brings improv to CloudTop Comedy Festival in Santa Fe

May 8—Rachel Michaela and Eric Weiss always seem to be on their toes.

As members of the Santa Fe-based improv group, "The Faculty Lounge," the pair enjoy not knowing where they are going.

"The Faculty Lounge" is taking part in this year's CloudTop Comedy Festival. The group will have a performance at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.

They will be joined by improv legend Will Hines.

"This year, CloudTop wanted to include improv," Weiss says. "We contacted Will to come out and he agreed to come out and play with Rachel and I."

This year's CloudTop will feature "Bad Indian," a showcase celebrating Native American comedic talent. Performers include Joshua Emerson and local comedian Joshua Fournier.

The showcase will take place at 8 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, with two shows at the Santa Fe Railyards.

Additionally, the festival will feature a showcase of Hispanic and Latino talent with host Zach Abeyta. The festival will close with a Mother's Day brunch and "mom comedy" show at 11 a.m. Sunday, May 12, at Iconik Coffee's Red location, celebrating the hilarious comedians of the festival who are also moms.

"The Faculty Lounge" is an experienced long-form improv comedy team with, collectively, over 20 years of improv experience.

Its core performers — Weiss and Michaela — have trained under Ben Taxy, the original founder of Santa Fe Improv.

Michaela is the lead instructor at Santa Fe Improv.

Weiss co-authored a study on the positive effects of improv for those experiencing anxiety along with University of New Mexico Hospital doctors. He is the executive and artistic director of the Santa Fe Improv school, a performance space located at 1202 Parkway Drive #A in Santa Fe, where improv classes and shows are held monthly.

Weiss says the improv world became a way for him to access the TV and film industry.

"That's how I got my agent with Mitchell and Associates," he says. "It was a way to perform and get tapped into traditional acting methods. It's brought Rachel and I so much. We have these opportunities to do stuff with comedy."

Michaela took her first improv class more than seven years ago.

"When I walked into the first class, I thought it would be a fun hobby," she says. "Now I'm a teacher as we run the school together."

The pair say the live performance with Hines will be based on an audience suggestion and will be completely original.

"Will is an improv legend. We are honored to have him visit Santa Fe Improv and perform with 'The Faculty Lounge' live on stage," Weiss says. "It's rare that someone of Will's caliber will visit Santa Fe, much less spend time with our improv community. This is history in the making."