Katy Colloton

A familiar face to fans of her series "Teachers" (TV Land, 2016-), actor Katy Colloton was first introduced to comedy by an inspiring middle school theater teacher who exposed her to the genius of "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-) and the works of Monty Python. Born in Chicago but raised in Kansas, Colloton double majored in psychology and theater at Vanderbilt University. When she moved to comedy-capital Chicago after graduating in order to study improv at Second City, she convinced herself that it would only be for a year, and that afterward she would return to her psychology studies for graduate school. However, Colloton found tremendous success in the improv scene, eventually performing with a number of successful ensembles including the Second City House Ensemble, iO Chicago, The Playground Theater, and The Annoyance. She also clicked with a very specific group of six performers-all of whom had names that could be shortened to "Katy." The troupe dubbed themselves the Katydids in 2009, and began performing original material at venues like Second City and the iO Theater, in addition to creating online videos, like the popular "People Against the Malling of Wrigleyville" (2010). In 2012, the group began posting a webseries about the ridiculous misadventures of a group of Midwestern educators called "Teachers" (YouTube, 2012). The videos proved so popular that the Katydids eventually expanded the show into a full half-hour comedy series for TV, premiering on TV Land in 2016.