Unexpected Company

Unexpected Company is an improvisational comedy group founded in Hollywood, California in 1986 by Tim Hillman, and recreated in Rhode Island in 2003 by Hillman and Justin James Lang.

The original iteration of Unexpected Company was founded by Tim Hillman in 1986 based on his desire to explore comedic improvisational theatre outside the boundaries of short-form improvisation. Hillman was formerly a director and teacher at the LA Connection in Sherman Oaks, California, where he trained under Kent Skov.

The original cast of Unexpected Company included-Emmy Award winners Lisa Kudrow and Conan O'Brien, experienced voice actors April Winchell and Paul Rugg from The Groundlings and LA Connection The company's body of work was created in Church of Scientology basement Celebrity Center Theatre in Los Angeles.

The group was originally known as "The Fun Onions" - a name discarded after one performance. Kudrow coined the actual name of the company after being inspired by a scene that involved company arriving unexpectedly for dinner. After a six-month run, the group disbanded.

In the 1990s, Unexpected Company was based in Sewanee, Tennessee, under Hillman’s direction at St. Andrew's-Sewanee School and the University of the South. It functioned largely as an educational entity.

In that era, over thirty different performers worked with the group, with alumni Joe Petrilla, John Stewart, and Michael Barker going on to successful careers with the Titanic Players at Northwestern University and ImprovOlympic in Chicago and Los Angeles.

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