Marcus Sams is a professionally working actor in the Greater Bay Area. With representation in San Francisco and Sacramento he performs in films, commercials, and corporate industrials. Sams received his B.A. in Theatre Arts from CSU, Chico in 2004, studied Improv at the Lila Theatre in San Francisco, and has been trained by some of the most influential improv teachers of our time including David Razowsky, Susan Messing, Joe Bill and Mark Sutton to list a few.
In the Improv world, Sams currently performs with the improv duo Shades of Grey which was recently invited to perform and teach at the Gainesville Improv Festival in Florida. Sams taught his two hour workshop on World Creation at the festival. Sams also currently Co-produces an improv jam show in the San Francisco called ImprovLUV. One of the major successes of 2010 was a co-produced/co-created 6 week long sold out improvised sitcom called, Future Style ’79 where he was in a brown corduroy suit and roller-skates the entire show. He was also a member of the critically acclaimed improv group, Oui Be Negroes, where he performed at improv festivals around the country and in the San Francisco Improv Festival three times. Sams directed and produced the monthly improv jam/show, Temenos for the Lila Theatre as well as performed in over 12 of their shows. In college he directed the CSU, Chico’s improv ensemble, Wandering Minds.
In the film world, Sams has just come from the set of Nobody’s laughing; a hilarious mocumentary of a clown’s coming out. He has been seen in Unflinching Triumph: The Phillip Rockhammer Story, which was hailed by The Wall Street Journal, as “one of the top five of what to watch on the web”, and has done dramatic work in the film Gangsters Guilt that examines cycle of violence that plagues the streets of America. Currently Sams is also the comedic news anchor/writer for the Variety Society, a San Francisco based late night talk show. Sams is also filming a web series, where he plays the PR Manager to a has-been Christian rock group entitled Honest to Goodness, which will air mid 2011.
Sams teaches improv workshops middle schools and high schools as well as to colleges and universities. Some of his specific workshops include improv basics, Acting & Improv, and World Creation: A systematic approach for anyone to create an entire world on stage from one suggestion or from one space object. He believes that improv is theatre and that it can have all the cathartic elements of scripted theatre when commitment to craft is pursued vigorously. He enjoys innovating improv by creating new formats and aggressively integrating technology into the art form to create seamless and visually amazing improvised shows.Sams sleeps little and is always looking for the next top notch project to sink his teeth into. His dedication and attention to detail on projects is unwavering and he is the only actor, that he knows of, that has put his ability to make tasty tacos in the special skills portion of his resume.
