Phil Ranta

Phil Ranta grew up in the small suburban town of Grandville, Michigan before moving to Ann Arbor to pursue a degree in Film and Video studies at the University of Michigan. In college, he discovered his love for improvisational, sketch, and stand up comedy, performing as often as he could at the local Improv Inferno and Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase. Upon graduating with High Honors, he moved to Los Angeles with a pilot he shot while a student called "Party Animals" which was pitched to major networks including Comedy Central and G4TV before finally landing at SuperDeluxe.com, Turner's ill-fated video network. Six episodes were produced for the network. In Los Angeles, Phil studied comedy at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater, the iO West Theater, the Second City, and the Westside Eclectic. He spent years performing comedy nearly every night before 2009 when he was hired by Second City to perform improv and sketch comedy with their traveling troupe aboard Norweigan Cruise ships. Phil also writes for the award-winning sketch comedy show Top Story! Weekly at the iO West, performs across America with his comedy team Bro Squad 5, and acts as Executive Producer and CEO of the Comedy Podcast Network.