cast & crew
ERIN CONROY A nice Catholic girl from Long Island, Erin received her B.A. in History from Siena College and her M.B.A. from Long Island University: CW Post Campus before landing a job in advertising in NYC. Since moving to Chicago, she has graduated from The Second City Conservatory & Writing Programs, the iO Chicago Training Center and has trained at The Annoyance and CIC Theaters. You may have recently seen her performing at Chicago Sketchfest and The Second City's Donny's Skybox in a show she co-wrote with her sketch group Mere Cats. She is a real-life Hermione Granger.
SPENCER HIGGINSON A sound guy working in the Chicago area. He likes to hold the mic steady and do a good job. He lives on a Naperville farm with his wife and a JRHNBR.
EDDIE LEDFORD A Chicago based performer, writer and producer. He was raised Southern Baptist in Virginia and figured that was close enough to working on a series about Catholic Guilt. Prior to moving to Chicago, Eddie worked on stages on film sets around North Carolina and his home state. He is a graduate of The Second City Conservatory program, where he met Kathleen Novotny. The rest is Guilty history.
MATT MAHAFFEY A dabbler. He dabbles. He can read ok, he can see all right. He can get by as a carpenter; he does standup from time to time; he'll change your oil, serve you dinner, drive you to the airport, massage your back, officiate your wedding, or talk you out of an anxiety attack. He's a nice guy who does a great job at being ok at most things. But God Damn It, is he good at filmmaking. He's done work for non-profits, corporate advertising, sketch comedy, episodic material, and promotional material for other broke ass performers. He lives to make people laugh. And he'll either die with a camera in his hand or a very expensive camera in his hand.
KATIE NOVOTNY A Catholic girl from the suburbs of Chicago who sought to seek journalistic excellence at the University of Missouri but wound up an ex-Catholic advertising creative. What a cliché. Since returning to Chicago to pursue comedy, she’s graduated from both The Second City Conservatory Program and the iO Training Center. She’s performed at Chicago Sketchfest 2015 & 2016, snagged an award from The Mary Scruggs Works by Women Festival, had a run at Second City’s Donny’s Skybox, written for iO Comedy Network, and took 2nd in iO’s Vidiocy Film Contest. However, her biggest accomplishment came last fall when she hit a home run over that stupid left fielder’s head who played her too shallow. She owes all of these achievements to her mom (her first drama teacher) and her dad (her first coach).
EMMA SMITH A former homeschooler and current badass. She hold a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from Columbia College Chicago and graduated the Conservatory training program at Second City. When she's not busy poking holes in the fabrics of various world religions, Emma enjoys reading all the books, rock climbing, anything hockey related, and budgeting for her next tattoo. If you enjoy her filmed quips, follow her on Twitter @CoachHerbie, where she is practicing the format for her next theatre bio.
Supporting cast
ELIZABETH ANDREWS is from the Ever-So-Green Washington State. She studied Theatre Arts at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Elizabeth worked at The Upfront Theatre, owned by Whose Line's Ryan Stiles. Since moving to Chicago in 2013, she's studied at The Second City Training Center, iO, and CIC Theaters. You can see her perform with duo team Catholic Guilt, iO Harold Team Comet, indie team Quaid, and all-female improv group Brunch. (And in her living room if you asked really nicely.) Her hobbies include eating too much spaghetti and her friendship can absolutely be bought with cupcakes/ice cream. Follow her on Twitter @ZubbyMight or visit catholicguiltchicago.com for upcoming shows.
JESSE KENDALL is an actor from Ellicott City, Maryland who now resides in Chicago. Jesse moved to Chicago to follow the path of his all-time favorite comedy actors and make a name for himself - he's still working on that haha. Prior to his move, Jesse was doing mostly stand-up comedy around the Baltimore/D.C. area and working for Sherwin-Williams (the paint store). Ever since his decision to move, he's been a lot happier and he's been dating more. You can see Jesse perform around Chicago at theaters such as iO, the Playground, and sometimes Second City. In his free time, Jesse likes to break dance with Ron, J-Boy, Krenshaw, Blaze Nuggy, and Sam. OVOXO.
JAVID IQBAL is a self-described, "All-around cool guy," Javid is a graduate of The Second City's Conservatory & Musical Conservatory, as well as the Annoyance Theatre. He's an ensemble member at Under The Gun Theatre, an understudy at Stir Friday Night, and recently performed in The Second City NBC Universal Breakout Comedy Festival. You can catch Javid performing with Infinite Sundaes at Second City on Sundays at 8pm.
SPENCER KOVACEVICH is a performer living in Chicago, transplanted from the Pacific Northwest. He's done classes, wrote some stuff, and was humbly asked to participate in season 2 of Guilty the Webseries. He just wants the crew to remember if his name isn't first in ALL credits, he will be taking legal action.
MARY QUINN is from Orlando, Florida. Yes, she did go to Disney everyday. She attended Fort Lewis college in Durango, Colorado where she had the opportunity to major in hiking but instead picked Education. In college, she joined Durango Dot Comedy and her love of improv began. This brought her to Ketchikan, Alaska to perform as Maple Syrup Mary in the Great Alaskan lumberjack show. It was the song, "Go the Distance" in Hercules that started her journey to Chicago. Mary has studied at iO, The Annoyance Theatre, and The Second City Training Center. She is now a proud producer of Blackout Diaries. You can find her performing with Original Improvised Lifetime Movie, Second Place Champions, Quaid, and of course, Catholic Guilt.
SOPHIA RAFIQI is a Chicago-bases artist. In addition to writing and performing comedy, she is a choreographer and movement artist which is a fancy way of saying she likes to tell stories with human bodies. She is both a proud Pakistani and a lover of old country music, which is probably the most apt clue as to the kind of art she likes to make. She has trained and performed at The Second City, iO Chicago, pH Comedy Theater, Stage 773 and the like. You can find her performing with the sketch duo Crescendo, on Twitter and Instagram @sophiqi, or more than likely on top of a mountain somewhere blasting Dolly Parton.
MARK RYDEN is a Chicago based actor and improvisor who was put through 13 years of Catholic education. Mark currently is involved with CIC and The Crowd Theatre, and most notably is a part of "Fear The Dreamer" Saturdays at 10pm at The Crowd Theatre. This show involves magical realism and the physicality of a stream of consciousness which is something rarely seen in Chicago improv. It makes Mark happy inside when a show can send a message to the audience. He is also on a few indie teams: Gallon, Mammal/mammal and Key Party. He knew he was destined for this life after he was cast as the back of the camel in St. John of the Cross' Christmas play in 2001. Making furniture out of reclaimed woof helps him keep his sanity most of the time.