Karen Volpe(1970-2019)
- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Karen is originally from Jamestown, New York, the birthplace of Lucille
Ball and The National Comedy Center. At an early age, she was inspired by her love of singing and
comedy to earn a BFA in Musical Theatre from Fredonia State
University. She met her husband and fellow comedian, Paul Preston,
while in college. Together they performed regional comedy for a few
years and then moved to Chicago to study improvisation with the
legendary comedy theatre, The Second City where her favorite comedian
Gilda Radner had once studied and performed.
While in Chicago, Karen also studied with The Improv Olympic under such legendary teachers as Del Close and Charna Halpern. She also was coached by Tina Fey and Ian Roberts. She made her living as an actress in Chicago in such productions as Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Tony n' Tina's Wedding, commercials and industrials. Both she and Paul were hired by Disney Cruise Lines to perform improvisation in their adults only venues and so they packed up and moved to Florida.
After a fantastic year working for Disney, Paul and Karen re-located to Los Angeles and still toured the country as the comedy duo Preston & Volpe. In 2005 they produced/performed "Bunny, Bunny, Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy" and raised money for Gilda's Club WNY. This re-ignited Karen's love for theatre and she joined AEA and started starring in musical theatre productions in the Los Angeles Area. She received rave reviews for her performance as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" at The Downey Civic Light Opera. Karen is 1/3 of the Musical Comedy Group The Boobé Sisters. They have appeared on America's Got Talent and won Best of Fest at The Burbank Comedy Festival (2016).
She hosts a monthly comedy show in Los Angeles, The Karen Volpe Comedy & Music Hour, and is a vocalist in Chuck Wright's (Quiet Rio) Ultimate Jam Night at the world famous Whiskey A Go-Go. She and Paul are working together performing/writing comedy for their show "The Movie Guys" - an internet comedy show all about movies.
While in Chicago, Karen also studied with The Improv Olympic under such legendary teachers as Del Close and Charna Halpern. She also was coached by Tina Fey and Ian Roberts. She made her living as an actress in Chicago in such productions as Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Tony n' Tina's Wedding, commercials and industrials. Both she and Paul were hired by Disney Cruise Lines to perform improvisation in their adults only venues and so they packed up and moved to Florida.
After a fantastic year working for Disney, Paul and Karen re-located to Los Angeles and still toured the country as the comedy duo Preston & Volpe. In 2005 they produced/performed "Bunny, Bunny, Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy" and raised money for Gilda's Club WNY. This re-ignited Karen's love for theatre and she joined AEA and started starring in musical theatre productions in the Los Angeles Area. She received rave reviews for her performance as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" at The Downey Civic Light Opera. Karen is 1/3 of the Musical Comedy Group The Boobé Sisters. They have appeared on America's Got Talent and won Best of Fest at The Burbank Comedy Festival (2016).
She hosts a monthly comedy show in Los Angeles, The Karen Volpe Comedy & Music Hour, and is a vocalist in Chuck Wright's (Quiet Rio) Ultimate Jam Night at the world famous Whiskey A Go-Go. She and Paul are working together performing/writing comedy for their show "The Movie Guys" - an internet comedy show all about movies.
