Senior Faculty Member

As a competitor in both high school and college forensics, Mr. Knowles amassed an impressive record of consistent successes, including: Over 300 trophies and awards, 9 State Championships, 5 National Final Rounds, 2 National Championships, as well as becoming the first American in history to win a WUDA World Championship. As a coach, Ryan Knowles has taught at some of the most respected and successful high school programs in the nation, including Cleveland High School (CA), Leland High School (CA), James Logan High School (CA), Albuquerque Academy (NM), Holy Ghost Preparatory (PA), Stuyvesant High School (NY), and Bronx Science (NY). He has spoken at Cambridge and Oxford University (England), Strasbourg University (France), Glasgow University (Scotland), and the Takarazuka Theatre (Japan). His students have been in numerous state and national final rounds and have won multiple state and national championships. In addition to coaching, Mr. Knowles is an actor and a writer based in New York City. He starred in over 400 performances as The Genie in “Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular,” the multi-million dollar production at the Disneyland Resort directed by Tony-nominee Francesca Zambello, for which he wrote his own comedy material. Mr. Knowles is perhaps best known for his time as a host of Nickelodeon’s daily live 2-hour television show, “Me:TV.” His feature film debut as The Devil in “Camp Hope” is due in theaters in late 2009. On the off-Broadway stage, Mr. Knowles originated the role of Nick Bottom in the hit off-Broadway musical “Fools in Love,” performing for over a year to great critical acclaim. In 2005, he starred as Prospero in the new musical version of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” In addition to performing in “The Tempest,” Mr. Knowles adapted the text of the Bard’s play for the book of the musical and worked with Tony award-winning legend Thomas Meehan (“The Producers,” “Hairspray,” “Annie.”), who authored the concept of the show.
Mr. Knowles is the author of 8 plays, including the recent New York sketch comedy show “Nick Bottom’s Extravaganza!”, the short play collection “Super Happy Fun Time” and the musical “24 Hours with Eddie Cantor” (co-authored with Justin Heyman). His next play “Husky Valentine,” a noir-detective parody, opens in New York in the fall of 2009. As a Stand-Up Comic, he has performed at Gotham Comedy Club, New York Comedy Club, The Comic Strip and Stand Up NY. For a closer look, please visit www.ryanknowles.com