I’m a director, performer, and improviser based in New York. Most of my work lives somewhere between live performance, comedy, and emerging tech, and a lot of my time is spent helping other performers figure out what they’re actually trying to do onstage. Much of what I make—or help others make—leans on improvisation somewhere in the process.
My primary medium is collaboration, usually with people, sometimes with environments, often with code, occasionally with frames of animation.
My work has received awards and received grants (they're very nice, and they're here),
and a bit of press (also nice, and here).
I've also published a handful of academic papers and articles about my work and research - those are here.
I teach improvisation at the Atlantic Acting Studio at NYU, and regularly speak about virtual performance, mixed-reality creation, and adaptive storytelling. Recent talks and workshops include SXSW, Rutgers, SVA's Digital Animation Studio, CUNY, the Museum of the Moving Image/SEGD, Worlds in Play, the New York Independent Theater Film Festival, and presentations at SIGGRAPH and IEEE GEM.
I’m currently the Senior Experience Director at Agile Lens, where I help shape the company’s approach to XR-driven performance, collaborative tools, and emerging creative technologies. Earlier in my career, I served as artistic director for several New York–area theaters, including Magic Futurebox, The Peoples Improv Theater, and the Jersey City Children's Theater. I’ve also held artist residencies with the Mercury Store and the Wassaic Art Project.
I also work one-on-one with performers, particularly stand-ups and solo performers, on developing material and building sets.
Brooklyn Paper: At Caveat, Laibson’s tech-heavy Chekhov adaptation The HARMNF examines digital-age alienation
UploadVR: A Christmas Carol Is A Free Tradition Haunting Quest Headsets From Agile Lens
Broadway World: Agile Lens' A Christmas Carol VR to Return This Holiday Season
USA Today: Podcast Pick of the Week
Playbill: Leslie Kritzer Stars in Podcast Musical
Splitsider: This Week in Comedy Podcasts
Broadway World: Stage Tube - Sing Along with Wondery's New Podcast Musical
Chicago Tribune: Listen to Alan Schmuckler and Dave Holstein's 'Serial'-inspired Musical Podcast
Broadway World LA: Wondery Unveils First-Ever Podcast Musical
Toilet Fire
Abrons Arts Center
Time Out New York: critic's pick
Howlround: In Praise of Poop Jokes: Toilet Fire and the Merits of Unserious Theater
Manhattan Digest: Eliza Bent is on the Crapper and She Wants Company
Culturebot: A conversational Response
American Theatre: Abrons 100th Season
JACK
Exponential Fest
SEEWATCHLOOK - The High Line
The New York Times: Standing on the High Line, Watching the Actors Go By
The Washington Post: Brazilian Artist Plans for Arresting Street Theater
Back and Forth - Central Park
The New York Times: A Friendship Goes 'Back and Forth' in Central Park
Broadway World: Interview: Rich Hollman Talks Back and Forth
The New Yorker: The Homebound Project’s Original Plays, Performed in Isolation
Playbill, Theatre Community Bands Together to Help Children Affected by COVID-19 With The Homebound Project
American Theatre: ‘Homebound Project’ to Stream New Works From Prominent Artists
The New York Times: Making Theater Essential, Digitally
South by South Death: National Sawdust
Bedford + Bowery: South by South Death is the Music-Festival Slasher Musical You Didn't Know You Needed
Brooklyn Paper: Killing Them Softly: Slasher Musical Mocks Rock Festivals
Time Out New York: Art section feature
That's Not a Play: A Play by New Team Honeybear
Culturebot: We Wanted to Wear Turtlenecks
Comedy Cake: Quick Dish NY
Podcast Appearances
XR Network+ Royal Shakespeare Company R&D Challenge Grant 2024-2025
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Awarded grant for the purpose of working collaboratively with creatives, performers and technical teams from the RSC and other theatre organisations to build and test an advanced prototype for a virtual rehearsal room.
2021 Producers' Guild Awards
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Finalist, PGA Innovation Award for Jettison
2020 AWExr Auggie Award
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Finalist, Best Art or Film
2019 North Bend Film Festival
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*Winner, Most Innovative Immersive Experience for Ghosted
2019 Media Lab Expo
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*Winner, Audience Award for Ghosted
2017 Webby Award for WAIT WAIT DON'T KILL ME
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*Winner, Jury Award for Best Sound Design / Original Score
2017 Sarah Lawrence Award International Audio Fiction Award for WAIT WAIT DON'T KILL ME
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Honorable mention
2012 New York Innovative Theater (NYIT) Award Nominations for Demon Dreams
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Outstanding Director
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Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play
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*Winner, Outstanding Featured Actress: Celeste Arias
Improv News of New York (INNY) Award Nominations
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Best Sketch Group – City Hall (2010, 2011, 2012)
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Best Twoprov Group – rebecca AND ron (2010)
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*Winner, Best Short Form – National Comedy Theater (2009, 2010)
Department of Cultural Affairs Grant: Cultural Development Fund October 2011
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Funding for Magic Futurebox’s Public Domain series
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Funding for Improvisational Arts Festival co-curated with Chris Booth
chashama Space Grant June 2011
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Magic Futurebox awarded a 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse space for theater development and performance for 6 months – at 3 months, MFb was granted an 18-month extension by Bush Terminal, property owner
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Seeing Yourself on Stage: VR Self-Monitoring and Multi-Avatar Performance
SIGGRAPH 2025
Explores actor presence, avatar switching, and third-person tools for virtual performance. -
Directing AI Performers
Contemporary Theatre Review, 2026 (forthcoming)
Examines rehearsal methodologies and dramaturgical strategies for working with generative AI in performance. -
Virtual Reality Live Theatre on No Budget: A Model for Independent Theatrical Productions using Open-Source Social VR
SIGGRAPH 2021
Case study of Jettison, demonstrating how live theater can be staged in VR without traditional infrastructure. -
Avatar Selection for Live Performance in Virtual Reality: A Case Study
IEEE GEM, 2019
Research on performer embodiment and avatar design in real-time immersive storytelling.