Creativity in Captivity

The founder of TheOnion.com, a best-selling author with over 30 published books including the million-copy #1 bestseller Our Dumb Century, and a creative catalyst and coach. In his 20s, he created the comic strip Jim’s Journal, which ran in over 100 college newspapers and spawned a self-published book collection that made the New York Times bestseller list. He helped create The Onion and led it from small college newspaper to internationally known humor brand. He founded The AV Club. He won the Thurber Prize for American Humor and a Peabody Award.  Scott has authored over 30 books,. Entertainment Weekly placed him on their “It List” of the top 100 entertainers in Hollywood. He amassed millions of social media fans, performed on Saturday Night Live and on stages around the world. His video shorts are viral hits online with millions of views. He founded How to Write Funny in 2014 in partnership with the Second City training center in Chicago, sharing his signature method for unleashing creativity and writing humor. His students have gone on to win Emmys, Grammys, and Oscars.

A bestselling writer, public speaker, gender equality advocate, cofounder of the acclaimed Iceland Writers Retreat and former first lady of Iceland. She was born and raised in Canada but has lived in Iceland for over twenty years. Eliza’s first book, Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World, was an instant bestseller in Canada and Iceland, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Pick, and translated into numerous languages. Her first novel, an Iceland-set mystery called Death on the Island (Death of a Diplomat in Europe), is now available worldwide. From 2016 to 2024, Eliza served in the unofficial role of First Lady while her husband was President of Iceland, during which time she served as patron of numerous organizations and was named a United Nations Special Ambassador for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals. Passionate about inclusion, belonging, and equality, she wielded her influence through poignant op-eds, a compelling TEDx talk, and dozens of keynote addresses to audiences of hundreds around the world, including presidents and royalty. Eliza has degrees from the University of Toronto (Trinity College) and Oxford University (St. Antony’s College). She lives in the outskirts of Reykjavík with her husband and four children.

An Internationally acclaimed visual variety artist from Adelaide, Australia who excels in humor, magic, ventriloquism, and physical comedy. His hand shadow act has been seen by over 5 million people world-wide. Raymond’s beguiling bewitchery has delighted audiences on Broadway, the Royal Variety Performance, the Sydney Opera House and the London Palladium, to name just a few. You might also recognize him from appearances on both Australia’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent. 

A singer-songwriter and former frontman of The Ugly Americans and The Scabs, Bob Schneider is one of the most-celebrated musicians in Austin. Combining diverse styles, Schneider’s music spans genres, blending elements of folk, rock, rap, funk, bluegrass, reggae and country with the more traditional singer/songwriter aesthetic. Schneider has won more than 59 Austin Music Awards including: Best Album, Best Songwriter, Best Musician, and Best Male Vocals making him the most decorated artist in Austin’s music history. He started gaining national recognition with his major-label debut Lonelyland. A fiercely-independent artist, Schneider opted to start his own label, Shockorama Records, which has afforded him the freedom to make the music his fans love, on his own terms. Schneider’s live performances, both solo and with the band, are legendary. He has two appearances on the Austin City Limits television show and is also in the 20th year of his residency at The Saxon Pub. Bob is also an accomplished visual artist who transforms found visual media into thought-provoking works of art that challenge the viewer's perceptions of contemporary and popular culture. He juxtaposes iconic figures from comic books and other mass media and places them in everyday situations, leaving the viewer to interpret the meaning of the artwork. By appropriating old and valuable books, often intended for mass consumer consumption, Schneider creates something unique and personal for each viewer.

A Senior Research Scientist at the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence where she currently serves as the Director of the Creativity and Emotions Lab. Zorana is the author of the new book The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action. She is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and Creativity Post and co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Emotions and Crisis, Creativity and Innovation. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, ArtNet, US News, Education Week, Science Daily, El Pais, and others.

A Show Director and writer whose clients includes Disney, Disney Cruise Line, SeaWorld, the Tribeca Film Festival and the World Science Festival. Other clients include the BBC, TLC, ABC, Carnegie Hall, Scholastic Publishing, South Africa Tourism, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Light the Night for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New York.  As an improviser Greg has worked with some of the premiere sketch comedy troupes in the country including the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis and the Who, What and Warehouse Players at Disney’s Comedy Warehouse. He also co-produces and appears with the MAC Award Winning Ensemble of Broadway's Next Hit Musical. Triggs regularly teaches improvisation, trust and teamwork seminars for The Disney Institute, the American Council of Mayors, Microsoft, the United States Navy, and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals. 

A rock & roll marionette artist that brings to life the iconic rock performances of Jimmy Hendrix, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and others by pulling a few strings. Lee Zimmerman, aka “The Puppet Guy” has been doing his show all over the world for more than 40 years. Some of the greatest names in music history come alive in a unique and amazing display of humor and skill. Lee was a regular performer at Universal Studios and The Improv in Hollywood and has appeared on dozens of TV shows and films, including The Drew Carey Show and the cult film, Eddy Presley with Quentin Tarantino. Lee also entertained the cast and crew at the Seinfeld final wrap party and has done command performances for many dignitaries and celebrities such as the Sultan of Brunei, Hugh Hefner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zappa and Guns 'N' Roses. Since 1998, Lee has been a performer/instructor at numerous circus camps, including the Winnipeg International Children's Festival Circus and Magic Partnership, (CAMP) a circus arts program designed to help kids-at-risk. For Custom Puppet Portraits as gifts visit thepuppetguy@hotmail.com

A Los Angeles-based artist, writer, poet and actor whose art is full of vibrant texture and layers, exploring the depth and beauty of imperfection. As the third female solo dating game show host in television history, she brought her signature wit and charm to the nationally syndicated dating game show, BZZZ!, which reran on BUZZR TV in 2020. Annie is the author of three books: Just a Girl in the Whirl, Dandy Day, and A Quantum Love Adventure. Whether crafting paintings with loose figures and impressionist flowers, penning and performing evocative poetry, or breathing life into characters, Annie inspires others to explore freely, feel deeply, and create unapologetically.

A Nuclear Engineer and environmentalist who spent the first ten years of her career redesigning nuclear reactors to make them safer and reducing the amount of waste they produce. Together with a classmate from MIT, she created and served as CEO for Transatomic Power, reimagining a 1960s design for a molten salt reactor. Leslie earned a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering with a research focus on computational nuclear materials from MIT, where she also earned S.B. degrees in mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering. She has served on the MIT Corporation, MIT’s board of trustees, and on the National Academy of Engineering’s study, “Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the United States.” Leslie has been named a TIME Magazine "30 People Under 30 Changing the World," an MIT Technology Review "Innovator Under 35," a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and a National Geographic Explorer.

An accomplished Electronic Dance Music DJ, producer and songwriter that plays worldwide at festivals, clubs and appears in Las Vegas as a part of his Wynn Nightlife residency. In 2011, Elliott was introduced to EDM and was instantly hooked. He remembers the first song he fell in love with was “First of the Year (Equinox)” by Skrillex. He focuses his production skills on EDM with some pop and hip-hop crossover, Elliott draws heavy influences from some of the greats in the industry like Afrojack, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and Avicii. By 2019, Elliott had opened for many of the greats at SoundCheck, a venue owned and operated by Club Glow, the list of performers includes: Sander Van Dorn, Dirty South, ilan bluestone, and Matt Zo. Nick has also performed at Bootsy Bellows, a club in Aspen three times; once when the club opened in January 2019, again for X-Games 2019, and for Ajax mountain’s closing weekend. Nick also performed at Moonrise Festival 2019 on the Celestial Garden stage.