Bio
Deb Maclean began performing improv and sketch comedy in Los Angeles with Dee Marcus, founder of Off the Wall and director of such early talents as Robin Williams. In Los Angeles she performed in plays and comedy shows at a number of theaters and clubs, including The Improvisation and the Odyssey Theater where she once made Leonard Nimoy laugh really hard.
Motherhood and Other Desperate Acts
Losing It... and Taking It Back
Two Original One-Woman Shows
Written and Performed by Deb Maclean
Directed by Paul Murphy
In the 80s, Deb moved to New York where she performed, directed and taught improvisational comedy with Shock of the Funny and appeared at venues such as StandUp New York, the West Bank Theater and Lincoln Center. After moving to New Jersey, she founded the improv comedy group Lunatic Fringe, now in its 23rd smash season.
As well as directing and performing with Lunatic Fringe, she has appeared in comedy shows with the Something for Everyone Theatre Company; worked as an actor, director and playwright for the Glasslight Theater Company; and performed in productions at 12 Miles West Theatre, The Theater Project, and Luna Stage Company in New Jersey. Twice she co-produced Improvapalooza, a four-day comedy festival at 12 Miles West Theatre. Most recently she appeared original playsat the American Globe Theatre, Manhattan Repertory Theater, and ANDTheatre Company, Theatre 54 in New York.
Her two original solo shows, Motherhood and Other Desperate Acts and Losing It...and Taking It Back, have been produced at Luna Stage Company, 12 Miles West Theatre, Garage Theatre the Puffin Foundation Theater, and most recently at The Theater Project. She has also performed her shows for fundraisers at schools and non-profit organizations such as the United Way.
In addition to being a comedy performer, Deb is a fluent speaker of Russian. She has worked on looping for films such as Rocky IV, where she can be heard in the fight scenes yelling in Russian, “Punch him in the nose! Hit him in the ear!”
Deb has taught improv and theater to people of all ages from kindergarten to high school and college students to adults. One student who took her class in kindergarten years later proclaimed, "I formed my personality in your class!"