Cole Escola

Cole Escola is an American comedian, writer, and performer who has been openly queer throughout their career, building a devoted following through a blend of absurdist humor, camp drag, and deeply personal theatrical work. They first gained a following with the comedy series Jeffery & Cole Casserole (2009) before earning wider recognition on Difficult People (2015) and At Home with Amy Sedaris (2017). Escola became a fixture of New York's downtown queer cabaret scene, developing a persona that draws on Old Hollywood glamour and tragicomic self-revelation. That persona crystallized in their Broadway debut, Oh, Mary! (2024), a comedy Escola wrote and starred in, playing a put-upon, cabaret-hungry Mary Todd Lincoln with savage wit. The show became a Broadway sensation, and at the 2025 Tony Awards Escola won Best Leading Actor in a Play — the first openly nonbinary performer to win the category — cementing their status as one of the most original queer theatrical voices of their generation. Their work consistently blurs the line between autobiography and performance, exploring desire, loneliness, and the absurdity of identity with warmth and ferocity.