As audience members scanned their tickets for Chicago’s queerest, scariest sketch comedy shows in October, there was one sure way to know they were in the right place: a playlist spouting the likes of Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan that filled the dark theatres and built energy as show time approached.

In the whirlwind of Chicago’s legendary sketch and improv comedy scene, opportunities to attend unique shows are ample. For someone seeking out queer comedy, however, the options are slimmer. In fact, some may not even realize that queer comedy exists in an industry long-dominated by the straight, cisgender, white male voice.

Yas, And! Comedy, a queer sketch and improv collective in Chicago, is proof that it does. The collective, which debuted in June 2025 with its pilot show “Yas, And!,” was the brainchild of couple Tom Beheler and Chris Willumsen, who met in Arlington, Virginia, working for a theatre company. In the three shows that Yas, And! has put on, Beheler served as writer, actor and producer while Willumsen wore the director’s cap.

“I’m grateful every day,” Beheler said. “I think that it’s one of my favorite things about our relationship, is how much we support each other and how much our artistic goals align.”

The other two shows, titled “Slay!” and “Queers and Fears” — both horror comedy revues — ran as “sister shows” every Friday in October 2025 at different venues. “Slay!” was hosted at the Annoyance Theatre & Bar, while “Queers and Fears” played at Donny’s Skybox Theatre on the fourth floor of The Second City.

According to Beheler, the ideas for the two shows spawned from combining Halloween season spookiness with a desire to tackle (or slay) challenging topics (or fears) through comedy.

“We thought [the shows] would be a good way of relating some of the LGBT experience to the general public as a whole. If we were like, ‘This is all about gay fears — wait, you’re saying they’re the same as straight fears? We’re scared of the same stuff? It’s like we’re people!’ kind of thing,” Beheler said.

If you were to attend both shows as a double feature, you would have been treated to about two hours of pure laughter, a dose of absurdity, some genuine fear-tackling and a whole lot of queerness.

In a small room at the Annoyance, the ensemble of “Slay!” performed a wide array of horror-themed sketches that served as metaphors for queer experiences. After a musical number about getting “ghosted,” vampirism was a vehicle to represent the process of coming out. Later, “Twinkle Fairies” named Sugar Dust and Kyle ventured into the audience to give some improvised advice. A 1950s showtune touched on lavender marriage, and a haunted house ride was filled with nightmares of one’s dreaded, straight past.

A short train ride away and a few hours later at The Second City, the hilarious terrors continued with a new cast in “Queers and Fears.” One sketch centered on the line “Trick-or-treat, are you my tribe?” as a newly-out queer person tried to find their tribe in the diverse, sometimes scary landscape of queer labels. In another, a pickleball game set the stage for a discussion about the struggles of asexuality. Other sketches touched on IVF and adoption, fears of turning 30 (but then becoming daddy) and ultimately finding community.

In both shows, creativity and comedy communicated under-discussed and often challenging topics. According to some of the cast members, comedy serves as the perfect vessel for these discussions.

“I think because it’s presented in a way that feels safe, that you can laugh at,” said Chris Sylvie, a “Slay!” cast member and Chicago-based actor and model. “I think that allows people to open their mind, and kind of think about those harder subjects or digest it in a way that is easier.”

Beyond inviting discussion, the two shows are also a beacon of representation. Even today, queer people often have to search to see themselves represented, let alone be exposed to important conversations surrounding queerness. To the casts and creators of the shows, this is part of why queer comedy is so important.

“We need our own safe space, we need to be represented properly, and we need to be respected and represented with respect,” said Whitney Randall of “Slay!” “Being able to have a place for us, is like — who doesn’t want a place for them? We deserve that little spot to fit in.”

For others, the existence of queer comedy has taken on a particular importance in the context of politics and attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. For Emma Samson, (“Queers and Fears”) an experienced sketch and improv comedian, it’s a way to fight back.

“Honestly, to me, comedy is like rebellion,” Samson said. “It is community, it is so many things to so many people, and to be able to find joy and to find community, especially in times like these, is super important.”

The creatives of Yas, And! Comedy are building a space for that community to thrive in their audiences — an accomplishment in itself. But for the cast members, being part of a diverse, queer cast has been equally rewarding.

Dan Hickey (“Queers and Fears”), a veteran Chicago comic, agreed that it’s important for queer creatives to be in queer spaces, and described the alienation that one can feel outside of those spaces.

“When you walk into a room with straight people who don’t know who you are, it can be really hard to break through to that crowd,” Hickey said.

Yet this doesn’t mean that queer comedy — or queer media in general —  can’t be consumed by those outside of the LGBTQ+ community. As much as being part of a queer cast and creating queer-centered material has helped the members of Yas, And! Comedy, a few expressed the importance of reaching a wider audience. Hickey said that he wished more people outside of the queer community would come to their shows because comedy can be a place to find common ground.

Beheler echoed Hickey’s sentiment and said that the writer’s room made an effort to write sketches with something for everybody.

“It’s really important because you’ll realize very quickly that we’re not that different,” Beheler said. “That was something that we looked at a lot with the scripts for everything, because we definitely wanted to have a good balance of things that we know that people will be able to enjoy no matter where they’re coming from.”

At the heart of “Slay!” and “Queers and Fears” is an invitation to face the challenges of discovering identity, searching for acceptance and finding community. While the shows may be shaped by queer experiences, the themes within them are common, human truths: identity, acceptance and community.

Looking forward, Yas, And! Comedy plans to continue giving voice to marginalized groups. According to Beheler, the collective is putting on a new show called “March!” in March 2026. It will take place on Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Judy’s Beat Lounge on the third floor of The Second City, and aims to elevate the femme-identifying members of Yas! And Comedy’s ensemble, Beheler said. And when summer rolls around, the group has big plans to put on their first 90-minute show for Pride.