Vincent van Gogh

About Phyllis

 

A native Philadelphian, Phyllis Voren has always loved performing.  Even as a child she would perform for any group she could muster.  When she was 7 she was taken to see the famed comedy duo Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis perform live.  She was transfixed by their performance and it seems to have planted a comedy bone in her body.

 

Phyllis began her career in acting and modeling in New York City.  She studied with the famous Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.   Her stage performances included roles in “Voice of the Turtle” and “Stop, You're Killing Me.”  She also appeared in many movies, including “Annie Hall”, “Dead Poets Society” and “An Unmarried Woman”, as well as television soap operas, commercials, and a role in the hit series “Hart to Hart.”

 

In Los Angeles Phyllis joined the all women comedy improv group, “And Company” and performed with them at the famed “Comedy Store”.  Her greatest moment, she says, was when Robin Williams came up to her after the show and complimented her material.  She also continued doing TV, had a part in the movie “Agent on Ice”, and won a best actress award for her stage role in “Bell, Book & Candle”.

 

Back on the East Coast, stand up comedy became Phyllis’s focus as it combined her love of writing and performing.  Ultimately Phyllis went on tour performing stand-up at clubs and colleges all over the U.S.  She also performed in the Arctic Circle as part of a Department of Defense entertainment tour.  Back home, she was awarded Philadelphia’s Funniest Jewish Comic at  FunnyBones Comedy Club in an ABC televised competition.  In New York she was a regular performer at Dangerfield’s Comedy Club. 

 

In Philly, she created three long-running comedy shows: “Belly Laughs” at Bacchanal Nightclub, “What's Funny About That” at the Moonstone Arts Center, and the award-winning, all-women comedy show, “FUNNY FEMALES” which “TimeOut” called “One of the 10 Best Things to See in Philadelphia”.  She also co-created a show, “Generations”, for the “Five Dollar Comedy Festival”, an acclaimed 7 day event now in it’s 6th year.  

 

In both Philly and L.A. Phyllis continued to teach comedy improvisation.  She has been teaching ever since she was 11 when she created a summer nursery school for children in her neighborhood - some only 1 or 2 years younger than her!  In Philadelphia she was awarded the Mayor’s Summer Youth Theater Project enabling her to teach comedy improv to inner city youth.  Using her students from her Temple University comedy classes Phyllis put on monthly improv shows for the patients at Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House.  She also brought comedy improv shows to many area hospices, senior centers and hospitals.

 

Phyllis is also a gifted artist in different genres.  Among them is jewelry making and her designs have been exhibited in several Philadelphia galleries. 

 

Since moving to Arizona Phyllis has performed widely in Phoenix , Flagstaff and Las Vegas as well as returning to New York periodically to perform.  She is known for her high energy performances and material that’s quirky, smart, hilarious and respects no boundaries.  “At this point,” she says, “I’m making as many new friends as I can so I’ll have a nice turnout at my Memorial Service”

​