Kirby is a professional actor, director, and dialect coach. He is a Certified Teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork, and an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, and he applies his extensive study of Body-Mind Centering to his teaching. He works at Elon University, where he is a Professor in the Department of Performing Arts and an Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences. His past performances include productions at the Triad Stage, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and the Arizona Theatre Company, and in the first national tour of Ken Hill's Phantom of the Opera. He has served as the speech or accent coach for productions at Elon University, Duke University, the Burning Coal Theatre (including the 2014 production of David Edgar's Iron Curtain Trilogy which was performed in Raleigh, NC and London, England). Kirby holds a BFA from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Professional memberships include AEA, VASTA, and BMCA. He has two grown sons and resides in Burlington, NC with his wife and multiple rescue dogs.