Tim Walkoe

 "Nonstop laughter from start to finish" is what the Chicago Tribune had to say about the stand up comedy performance of Tim Walkoe. "Walkoe's rapid fire delivery and shoot from the hip style leaves audiences laughing so hard it's hard to catch up to the next joke".

    Tim is a veteran headliner at over 100 comedy clubs nationwide.  He has also been a featured performer at the Chicago Comedy Festival for the past 4 years.

   

 A $10,000 grand prize winner on ABC TV's "America's Funniest People", Tim has appeared in a recurring role on Fox TV's "Murder in Small Town X" as Mayor Emerson Bowden.  Other television credits include A&E, HBO, Showtime, TNN, PBS, and recently Fox Sports Net Profile Awards in Los Angeles and Chicago.

     A musician and improvisational actor: Tim has appeared in concert with the likes of Kenny Loggins, Whitney Houston, and Elvis Costello.  He is also a veteran of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered", and created the character of "Eddie Vestoon" which can be heard on over 200 radio stations nationally.  He was the #1 morning show host on WRXR in Chicago and KDWB in Minneapolis.

     Tim is also the author of the business parody book "Semi-Dynamics" and is adapting his nightclub show into a theatrical production based on his life entitled "The Comic Who Came in from the Cold".

Dennis Tufano

    Dennis, a native of Chicago, was the original "voice" of “The Buckinghams”. The Chicago-based group scored with a string of five Top Ten hits in the late-sixties including, the No#1 “Kind of A Drag”, “Don’t You Care”, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, “Hey Baby, They’re Playing Our Song”, “Susan” and “Back In Love Again”. 

Following his success in the Buckinghams, Dennis was part of the song-writing duo "Tufano and Giammarese" and recorded three albums with Lou Adler's custom label, Ode Records. Appearing as guest vocalist he went on to co-write with renowned composer and musician Tom Scott. With Scott as composer, Dennis performed the "original title/theme song" for the long running "Family Ties" television show. (First 13episodes)

    Dennis also wrote the music and performed with Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist, on Taupin's album, " He Who Rides The Tiger ". Subsequently he teamed again with Taupin to co-write, co-produce and perform the Farm Dogs album “Last Stand In Open Country”.

    Back on the road, Dennis joined Olivia Newton-John on her hugely successful tour and was featured, with her on the HBO Special in two dramatically inspired duets.

    As an actor, Dennis has appeared in theater productions in

Los Angeles and has worked in film, television, radio and commercials.

    He was also one of the founding members of an improvisational voice-ensemble called the “LA.MadDogs”. This group of actors performs on hundreds of movies and numerous television shows and have produced and performed seven "live" radio dramas, three of which Dennis directed, for KMPC RADIO THEATER in Los Angeles.

    Dennis produced, directed and shot a documentary in Chicago, "Major Hall: Therapy Tuesday" and is currently preparing it for release. He has just returned from taping a performance for, “PBS Music Series the ‘60s”, which will air in Spring 2008, and will be included in the award winning PBS-DVD series.

Ernie Lane

 Mr. Lane enjoys a wealth of experiences derived from a forty-year body of work that includes almost every aspect of the show business industry. He is a veteran of over 75 theatrical productions and more than 800 commercial, industrial, and trade shows.

 

Beginning as a singer in Chicago-area night clubs, he quickly became a featured player in the musicals "Man of La Mancha", "Fiddler on the Roof", "1776", "Mame" and "Most Happy Fella". He has been a corporate spokesman, stage manager, and director for multi-media industrial productions worldwide, for such clients as Century 21, Nikken, Merle Norman, Siemens, Foundry Networks, ACE Cable Awards.

 No stranger to working with well known artists, he has worked with industry giants like Paul Anka, Sammy Davis Jr., Natalie Cole, Robert Klein, Ben Vereen, Robert Goulet, George Hamilton and many other well known celebrities. Mr Lane most recently directed the HSM World Business Forum at Radio City Music Hall for which he coordinated Jack Welch, Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and President Bill Clinton.

Michael Acosta

    Grammy Award Winning arranger and performer, Michael Acosta has performed and/or recorded with The Brian Setzer Orchestra, James Brown, Kenny Rankin, Little Richard, Mary Wells, The Coasters, Emmylou Harris, Carl Anderson, Ry Cooder, Clint Black, Melissa Manchester, Atlantic Starr and countless other notables.

  Best known for his arrangements and Tenor Sax playing on The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s “Dirty Boogie” album. He also did work on the Leonard Bernstein Tribute Album, the soundtrack for “The Mask”, and VH-1 Duets with Brian Setzer and Bryan Adams. He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Jon Stewart Show, Today in L.A. and many others.

     In his role as musical director and performer Michael Acosta has toured internationally playing at such venues as the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, Pacific Amphitheater, Wiltern Theater, Irvine Meadows, The Great Western Forum, Los Angeles Sports Arena, Montreal Jazz Festival, Orange County Blues Festival, Milwaukee Summerfest, and the Catalina Jazz Festival.

    Michael is a native Californian and a father to five children, Michael Jr., Alexandria, Suzanne, and twins, Maria and Leah.