Maniac

Todd Sullivan

writer/performer
Todd Sullivan is a Denver-based performer, filmmaker, theater-maker, and teaching artist creating original work across clown, devised theater, improv, and film. Combining physical comedy, cinematic storytelling, live audience interaction, and a strong interest in theatrical image-making, Todd devises pieces concerned with theatrical risk, visual composition, the comic, the uncanny and the tender. He has devised, directed and performed pieces with/for OK Go, The Today Show (NBC), La Mama ETC (NYC), The Hammer Museum (LA), Second City, UCB and for the SF, NY, and Denver Fringe Festivals. He holds an MFA from the American Film Institute Conservatory and an AB in Theater, Speech and Dance from Brown University.

Natasha Mercado

Director
Natasha Mercado is a performer, writer, and director whose work lives where vulnerability and absurdity meet. A first-generation mixed-Latina artist, she creates worlds that are intimate, strange, and unapologetically alive.Her work centers the intelligence of the body and the audience relationship, building comedy through presence and invitation. David Shiner, co-creator of Cirque du Soleil, once called her “fearless and completely out of her mind.” Natasha’s practice spans solo performance, immersive theater, and film. Her award-winning solo works Tree and #1 Son have toured internationally from Hollywood to the Edinburgh Fringe, earning sold-out runs, critical acclaim, and extensive recognition. Across her work as a performer and director, she has received over 50 award nominations, winning more than half. On screen, Natasha has appeared on HBO, Adult Swim, Broadway Video and TBS, and was named an Emerging Content Creator by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. Natasha is the creator of Soft Clown, a performance philosophy that treats sensitivity as a strength and pleasure as a compositional tool. As a director and teacher, she leads workshops in the U.S. and internationally, working both in-person and virtually with artists across borders.