Raised in the cradle of the free-speech movement in Northern California, Mary Jo performed standup comedy with the likes of Margaret Cho and Diane Amos until she got hooked on improv comedy by Jim Cranna from the Committee. Since then, she has played from San Francisco to Los Angeles with Groundlings and UCB Theatre; and plays to audiences throughout Alaska with Urban Yeti Improv and Scared Scriptless Improv. Her television highlights include guest starring opposite Cheech Marin on Nash Bridges and a recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigators (Las Vegas) as the Child Advocate, Ms. Karpell.