Michelle Renee Thompson is so excited to have the chance to "Impress These Apes." Originally from Columbus Ohio, she has a BFA in Theatre with a Dance Minor, from Otterbein College in Westerville Oh. She was introduced to the wonderful world of improv comedy in Ohio when she joined the local improv troupe, "The Outpatients."

Immediately after college, Michelle spent a couple of years in New York City. There she performed as a member of "Shock of the Funny" improv troupe, in a small, storefront space in the East Village.

When Michelle had had all of the sanity testing she could take from New York, she moved home to Ohio to recover for a year, before making her home in Chicago. While in Ohio, recovering her sanity, she made the ever so sane decision to try her hand at stand-up comedy. She has been performing stand-up (off and on) throughout the Midwest ever since.

Since moving to Chicago, Michelle has studied at The Second City Conservatory and has performed with several theatre companies including: Chicago Actors Ensemble, Touchstone Theatre, Stage Left Theatre and Brouhaha sketch comedy troupe. But Michelle's theatrical heart is with Corn Productions. With Corn she's performed, directed, choreographed and written numerous productions including: "The Madonna in Spite of Herself" (a modern Nativity story), "The Aunt Nancy Stories" (a series of children's plays) and "Floss!" (the hit dance parody, which ran on the Reader's Short List for 7 years). Michelle's most recent appearance with Corn has been as host of the weekly competition, "The Original Improv Gladiators". Michelle likes parentheses a lot (Hi, Mommy!).