Shannon O'Neill is a longtime performer and teacher at New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She has been on Joe Ross Tribe, Optimist International, Mailer Daemon, fwand, and The Stepfathers. Shannon is a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company, and has written and or performed in many sketch shows including Sketch & Awe, Laid Up!, Tick Tick Tick and Double X. Her one woman show called Prison Freaks features characters she first work shopped in School Night performing in a talent show at the Charlie Sheen Prison for the Criminally Retarded and Insane. To many improv students, she is regarded as a warped motherly figure due to her position as an administrator at the UCB Training Center.
Shannon quickly established herself as having one of the three most fucked up minds in the history of improv comedy. During her first Harold night show with The Joe Ross Tribe, she wound up in a scene that involved Chris Gethard playing double dutch over her character's humongous pussy lips, specifically the labia minora to scholars and other intellectual perverts.
Shannon O'Neill is directly responsible for at least eight of the most disturbing ten things ever said at Harold Night.
Shannon also put on a legendary performance during the third Del Close Marathon during a show called Substance Abuse, (Saturday @ 6am), in which each cast member repeatedly abused a substance at the audience's prompting. While most performers chose to abuse a joke substance, such as corn, candy masked as diet pills or "Man Cum" which was actually the icing from Domino's Pizza dipping dots, Shannon chose to abuse tequila. This lead to her vomiting off of the stage into a garbage can. She then entered every subsequent scene and ruined it by screaming about unicorns. After a certain point, every other member of the cast gave up and simply watched from the back line as Shannon gave a serious of bizarre rambling monologues that vaguely referenced dark aspects of her past. Some credit for this performance must be given to Amy Poehler who gave Shannon a free Beer at Midnight, thus beginning her drinking spree 4 hours earlier than planned.
To put a hardworking spin on this entry, it should be known that Shannon O'Neill missed very few rehearsals and shows during her 6 year run on Harold Night. She would leave family gatherings early or not attend at all to be at a rehearsal. She even performed the night of her Stepmother's funeral. Very little can keep Shannon from performing or honing her craft.
Shannon is also credited as being a driving force behind the DCM's annual Drunken Sonic Assault, a status that has led to the majority of New York improvisers knowing what her asshole looks like. She is also credited with drunkenly inciting a frenzy around Robot TV, creating a cult status for the show that still exists today. This "frenzy" could also be referred to as a chant.
ROBOT TV CHANT - to be started 15 minutes before, during and after the show.
SPO: Who Like Robots?
Crowd: I like Robots!
SPO: Who likes TV?
Crowd: I like TV!
Everyone: Robot TV. What! What! Robot TV. What! What!
(Repeat as necessary, and then an addition 10 minutes past that)
Shannon is regarded as the driving force behind the influential Harold team fwand. While everyone on that team worked hard and contributed greatly, it's agreed by all the other members that they were scared of Shannon, leading them to show up on time and keep their fucking opinions to themselves. That fear of disappointment and retribution quickly turned the team of underdogs into an unquestioned titan of the stage.
Teaching Style[]
No judgmental babies allowed. You are going to learn, you are going to have fun, you might cry. If you're late, She will call you an Asshole, and probably have the class chant along with her.
Teams Coached[]
Bombardo, Big Tobacco, Bastian, The Fucking Kennedys, a shit load of others.
Other Stuff[]
- Is madly in love with her husband.
- Totally gay for her dogs (both living and dead).
- Friends call her "SPO"
- If you Facebook friend request her, and she has never had a face to face conversation with you or taught you in class, she will not make you her friend.