Bio - Rachel Stark

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Rachel embraces the idea of gorilla creativity. Not like primates. Not that she is opposed to monkeys being creative. That's just not what she meant when she typed this. She meant like being creative when you are so inclined, wherever you are. She’s been like that for a while.

As a child she believed she invented the phrase “shut up” for a long time, taking pride in how quickly it seemed to catch on nationwide. In high school, she wrote comedic monologues and began blogging on such important topics of “why my feelings are more important than a baby’s” and “what kind of lawn ornaments make me angry.” She once created an Etsy listing of a Grimace autograph her friend gave her which was subsequently featured on Buzzfeed’s article Top Ten Most Expensive Etsy Items. She once wrote such hilarious responses on Yahoo Answers that she was banned from ever opening a Yahoo email account ever again.

Eventually Rachel put some structure around her creativity and took classes at iO and Second City eventually auditioning for and making it into their Conservatory Program. While there she (along with some other creatively inclined folks) formed the Awesomonster theater troop. They performed around the Chicago area during the height of the sketch comedy rebirth era. During this time she gained experience creating sketches, workshopping ideas, collaborating with others, improvising, and producing  live theater & short films.

In 2023, she became passionate about providing kids with the resources to bring creative ideas to life. That’s how Showstarter was created.