Matt Herzau

Herzau studied physics at Illinois State University, graduating in 2008, and trained with the Improv Mafia, the university's student improv program, during his time there. After graduation he briefly taught science at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, where he also helped coach the school's improv troupe and assisted with theatrical productions.

In April 2009 Herzau co-founded Octavarius, a Chicago-based independent improv ensemble made up primarily of Illinois State alumni from the Improv Mafia program. The group began performing at Chicago venues including the Crocodile and later took up a regular performance slot at ComedySportz Chicago. The Chicago Reader voted Octavarius Best Improv/Sketch group in 2011 and named it runner-up the year prior.

In addition to Octavarius, Herzau has performed at iO Theater, Second City, and the Piven Theater. He has worked as a musical director, a role that complements his parallel career in composition and music production. He produced two musical comedy albums with Keith Habersberger, a fellow Illinois State and Improv Mafia alumnus, under the collaborative name Keith and Tinz.

Octavarius created the webseries I Made America, a comedy project built around the Founding Fathers arriving in contemporary America, for which Herzau contributed writing and performed. The group has also performed at college venues as a touring ensemble. Herzau has maintained a day position as physics lab manager at Oakton Community College while continuing his improv and music work. Herzau's dual career as a physics lab manager at Oakton Community College and an active improviser, musical director, and composer reflects a pattern common among performers in Chicago's independent improv community, where day employment supports the ongoing investment in performing and creative work that non-major-institution ensemble careers typically require. His sustained engagement with Octavarius across multiple years of Chicago Reader recognition, touring, and college performance demonstrates a commitment to the ensemble's creative work that his physics laboratory position has financially supported.

His musical direction work at Octavarius, developing the live musical accompaniment that gives the ensemble's long-form its distinctive character, represents a specialized contribution that few Chicago improv ensembles have developed with comparable consistency. The integration of live musical performance into long-form improv requires sustained rehearsal and performance coordination between improvisers and musicians that most improv ensembles, without a dedicated musical director, cannot achieve at the level Octavarius has sustained.

His writing contributions to Octavarius productions, including his work on the Founding Fathers contemporary America sketch format, demonstrate a creative range that extends beyond musical direction into the scripted and semi-scripted formats that have supplemented Octavarius's improvisational work. His involvement in the ensemble's touring program, which has reached college venues across the region, has extended his Chicago improv experience into the national college entertainment market that supports independent ensembles seeking performing opportunities beyond their home city.