
OUR MISSION
The CROW was founded on the principle that comedy and storytelling can change the world. In disarming people through laughter, we are able to share different perspectives, stories, and world lenses, ultimately creating a more accepting, understanding society. Through storytelling we create a brighter, richer, and more eclectic cultural landscape by opening audiences up to new voices and ideas.
The Crow's focus is not only on providing opportunities to storytellers and comics, but also deliver to audiences the importance of being able to see their humanity reflected in the artist on stage.

OUR MISSION
The CROW was founded on the principle that comedy and storytelling can change the world. In disarming people through laughter, we are able to share different perspectives, stories, and world lenses, ultimately creating a more accepting, understanding society. Through storytelling we create a brighter, richer, and more eclectic cultural landscape by opening audiences up to new voices and ideas.
The Crow's focus is not only on providing opportunities to storytellers and comics, but also deliver to audiences the importance of being able to see their humanity reflected in the artist on stage.
Nicole Blaine
Executive Producer
is the owner and artistic director of The Crow, LA’s newest mission-driven comedy club. With a 20+ year background in producing live comedy shows in Los Angeles and New York, comedy festivals (Bergamot Comedy Fest, Westside Showdown), stand-up specials (HBO), her self-produced comedy special, Life’s A Bit through Comedy Dynamics on Amazon Prime, and her critically acclaimed one-woman show, Pipe Dreams, she is thrilled to bring humor to those who need it most.
The culmination of Nicole Blaine’s life’s work is Storyectomy, a mental health initiative she founded to foster healing through storytelling. Blaine hopes to cultivate a community of survivors, thrivers, and caretakers who will find respite and relief in cathartic storytelling.
Blaine holds a liberal arts degree in both theater and education from Loyola Marymount University. She has always been passionate about teaching storytelling and comedy on a stage that is inclusive and empowering for all. Everyone deserves the opportunity to find their voice and share their point of view with the world.
Because… What if hearing a person’s backstory changes how you move forward? Maybe, just maybe, one person’s story can make the world a better place.
Nicole Blaine
Executive Producer
is the owner and artistic director of The Crow, LA’s newest mission-driven comedy club. With a 20+ year background in producing live comedy shows in Los Angeles and New York, comedy festivals (Bergamot Comedy Fest, Westside Showdown), stand-up specials (HBO), her self-produced comedy special, Life’s A Bit through Comedy Dynamics on Amazon Prime, and her critically acclaimed one-woman show, Pipe Dreams, she is thrilled to bring humor to those who need it most.
The culmination of Nicole Blaine’s life’s work is Storyectomy, a mental health initiative she founded to foster healing through storytelling. Blaine hopes to cultivate a community of survivors, thrivers, and caretakers who will find respite and relief in cathartic storytelling.
Blaine holds a liberal arts degree in both theater and education from Loyola Marymount University. She has always been passionate about teaching storytelling and comedy on a stage that is inclusive and empowering for all. Everyone deserves the opportunity to find their voice and share their point of view with the world.
Because… What if hearing a person’s backstory changes how you move forward? Maybe, just maybe, one person’s story can make the world a better place.
Meet the Board
-
Jason Rudolph
President | Comedy Reflects our World.
Chief Finance and Operations Officer & General Counsel, Equitas Academy Charter Schools. Executive leader, attorney, and policy advocate in a charter management organization.
Education: Loyola Marymount University, B.A. Political Science, 2002; Southwestern University School of Law, J.D., 2005.
He/Him, 45 | Black, Pacific Islander -
Monica Avina Granados
Treasurer | Comedy Reflects our World.
Controller at Greene Broilette & Wheeler, LLP. Monica Avina Granados is the mom of two video-game obsessed boys, the wife of a super hot lesbian, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, and the good friend of the funniest smartest comedy club owner in LA. She keeps her finger on the pulse of all things pop culture, women’s sports, and broadway musicals while also making gourmet meals for her family and managing all the paperwork and appointments and shoe sizes it takes to raise two kids. She only wears black, but has recently incorporated a stripe or two of color in her socks and baseball caps. She is the Chief Vacation Organizer for her friends. She serves as Controller for a prominent law firm in LA. Her claim to fame is that she and her wife were the first gay couple to get married in the city of LA when it became legal in 2008
Education: BA in Accounting.
She/Her, 47 | Lgbt | Latina -
Shane Murphy Goldsmith
Shane has worked in nonprofit and government for twenty-seven+ years on justice and equity, including: housing/homelessness, LGBTQ, racial justice, public safety and criminal justice.
Education: Kenyon College, BA (1998); Cal State Long Beach, MA
She/Her, 47 | lgbt -
Camilla Chan Benham
Partner | Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz PC Attorney | Business and Entertainment Litigation
Education: College of William & Mary, BA (2000); London School of Economics, MSc (2001); Georgetown University Law Center, JD (2005)
She/Her, 46 | Asian | Chinese -
Jayme Mechur
Marketing consultant. Brand builder, event expert, website creator, content developer, bringer together of people.
Santa Monica native.
Education: UC Santa Barbara, BA (2003)
She/Her, 42 -
Erin Einstein Dale
Attorney at Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Kole, LLP
Entertainment transactions and representation
Education: UCLA, BA (1995); Loyola Law School, JD (1999)
She/Her , 51 -
Jeff Morrow
Jeff has been a teacher or counselor for 29 years.
Most recently he’s been the Director of college counseling at Oaks Christian School for the past 22 years. During that time he’s managed to staff of eight counselors, taught English, and serve a term as the president of his professional organization, semi, The western association of college admission counseling. He believes deeply in government advocacy and has the opportunity to advocate for counselors in both Sacramento and Washington DC as well as white papers on policy counselors in California. He’s been a part of theater, his entire life, including 14 years as a company member of the Santa Monica Civic light opera. -
Sapna Iyer
Internal Medicine Hospitalist, Kaiser San Diego Medical Center
Sapna Iyer is a physician, stand-up comedian, and Nutella enthusiast based in San Diego ,CA. She has a passion for delivering evidence-based patient care and bringing humanity to an often depersonalized, inequitable health care system. She is, as the kids say, "chronically online," and enjoys arguing about movies/television, trying to improve her conversational Italian, and eating her way through every restaurant in town.
Education: University of California San Diego, BS Biochemistry, Minor English Literature 2008; Columbia University, Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, 2011-2012; University of Medical School San Diego, MD, 2013; Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, Internal Medicine Residency, 2013-2016.
She/Her, 38
Meet the Board
-
Jason Rudolph
President | Comedy Reflects our World.
Chief Finance and Operations Officer & General Counsel, Equitas Academy Charter Schools. Executive leader, attorney, and policy advocate in a charter management organization.
Education: Loyola Marymount University, B.A. Political Science, 2002; Southwestern University School of Law, J.D., 2005.
He/Him, 45 | Black, Pacific Islander -
Monica Avina Granados
Controller | Greene Broilette & Wheeler, LLP.
Monica Avina Granados is the mom of two video-game obsessed boys, the wife of a super hot lesbian, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, and the good friend of the funniest smartest comedy club owner in LA. She keeps her finger on the pulse of all things pop culture, women’s sports, and broadway musicals while also making gourmet meals for her family and managing all the paperwork and appointments and shoe sizes it takes to raise two kids. She only wears black, but has recently incorporated a stripe or two of color in her socks and baseball caps. She is the Chief Vacation Organizer for her friends. She serves as Controller for a prominent law firm in LA. Her claim to fame is that she and her wife were the first gay couple to get married in the city of LA when it became legal in 2008
Education: BA in Accounting.
She/Her, 47 | Lgbt | Latina -
Shane Murphy Goldsmith
Shane has worked in nonprofit and government for twenty-seven+ years on justice and equity, including: housing/homelessness, LGBTQ, racial justice, public safety and criminal justice.
Education: Kenyon College, BA (1998); Cal State Long Beach, MA
She/Her, 47 | lgbt -
Camilla Chan Benham
Partner | Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz PC Attorney | Business and Entertainment Litigation
Education: College of William & Mary, BA (2000); London School of Economics, MSc (2001); Georgetown University Law Center, JD (2005)
She/Her, 46 | Asian | Chinese -
Jayme Mechur
Marketing consultant. Brand builder, event expert, website creator, content developer, bringer together of people.
Santa Monica native.
Education: UC Santa Barbara, BA (2003)
She/Her, 42 -
Erin Einstein Dale
Attorney at Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Kole, LLP
Entertainment transactions and representation
Education: UCLA, BA (1995); Loyola Law School, JD (1999)
She/Her , 51 -
Jeff Morrow
Jeff has been a teacher or counselor for 29 years.
Most recently he’s been the Director of college counseling at Oaks Christian School for the past 22 years. During that time he’s managed to staff of eight counselors, taught English, and serve a term as the president of his professional organization, semi, The western association of college admission counseling. He believes deeply in government advocacy and has the opportunity to advocate for counselors in both Sacramento and Washington DC as well as white papers on policy counselors in California. He’s been a part of theater, his entire life, including 14 years as a company member of the Santa Monica Civic light opera. -
Sapna Iyer
Internal Medicine Hospitalist, Kaiser San Diego Medical Center
Sapna Iyer is a physician, stand-up comedian, and Nutella enthusiast based in San Diego ,CA. She has a passion for delivering evidence-based patient care and bringing humanity to an often depersonalized, inequitable health care system. She is, as the kids say, "chronically online," and enjoys arguing about movies/television, trying to improve her conversational Italian, and eating her way through every restaurant in town.
Education: University of California San Diego, BS Biochemistry, Minor English Literature 2008; Columbia University, Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, 2011-2012; University of Medical School San Diego, MD, 2013; Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, Internal Medicine Residency, 2013-2016.
She/Her, 38