Kelly Beeman attended
college Roanoke College where she received a bachelors degree in
Physics. She graduated Second City’s Writing program
in 2003 after which she founded the sketch comedy group The Uncomfortables. During
The Uncomfortables run she wrote, produced, directed and performed
in more than seven revues at Second City’s Donny’s Skybox,
Trap Door Theater, The Theater Building, Lions Lincoln Theatre (Massilon,
Ohio), and The Cove of Lake Geneva. She also wrote and produced
the show "Political Crap" with the political satire sketch group
All Word Cowboys. She graduated from the Second City Beginning
Improv program in 2006 and from Andy Eninger’s Sybillization
solo improvisation program. She performed solo improvisation
at The Playground Theater and Donny’s Skybox. In
2007, she became an ensemble member of GayCo where she wrote and
performed in the critically acclaimed show "iHole," the revival
of "Whitney Houston We Have a Problem," and "This Country’s
F$cked." She recently directed the gay sketch comedy "White
Rainbows" at the Gorilla Tango Theater.
Jim Bennett is
a company member of the award winning sketch comedy ensemble, GayCo
Productions. Jim
has the key ingredients necessary for brilliant comedy: an
obsession with all things political and ADD. A graduate of
iO under Del Close and Second City's Conservatory program, he has
written and performed 6 revues with GayCo Productions, and an additional
revue, 'Weddings of Mass Destruction' produced by Second City Theatricals. Bennett
has performed at countless festivals and corporate gigs. He
has appeared in comedy film shorts including three, 'Baby Time Share',
'Old Maid' and 'Summer Sex' that screened at festivals nationwide
with premieres at OUTFest. In addition to writing sketch comedy,
he writes speeches, scripts and sometimes produces programs for major
events in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. And in the past,
2001 to 2005, Jim was the host of Windy City Radio, the voice of Chicago's
LGBT community, on WCKG-FM. Bennett holds an M.B.A.
from the University of Illinois and a B.S. from Illinois State University
and, since December 2000, has been holy unionized to the brilliant
scientist, Dr. Terry Vanden Hoek, making him GayCo's resident expert
on long-term relationships. So far, so good!
Andy Eninger is a Chicago-based playwright, actor and director. He
has performed as an understudy for Second City’s Mainstage,
and has taught thousands of corporate clients to communicate through
workshops with Second City Communications. Andy has taught
improv and sketch courses for the Second City Training Center since
2000, and is a founding member of GayCo Productions and a founding
member of Chicago Comedy Company. He is the After-Dark Award
winning composer for “Bandgeeks: A Halftime Musical,” which
he also directed. Andy’s solo improv show “Sybil” has
been seen across the country, and in Europe, and was featured in
the book “Shortcuts to Longform Improvisation.” He
is currently at work creating a performance piece for GayCo based
on the experiences of GLBT elders.
Judy Fabjance is
a founding member of GayCo andhas been teaching
improvisation professionally since 1999. She has taught improv
workshops for High Schools, Junior Highs, After School Programs,
Family Nights and Corporate groups. Judy is a graduate of The Second
City Training Center's Conservatory and Comedy Writing Programs and
Improv Olympic. She has studied at The Annoyance Theater and Columbia
College. Judy has studied improvisation under notables as Stephen
Colbert, Stephen Carrell, Nia Vardalos, Charna Halpern and Del Close.
Clay Goodpasture is
a good ole’ southern boy originally
from Tennessee. He has his B.A. in Theatre Performance from
Berea College and has been trained by and performed with Chicago’s
best at Second City, Improv Olympic, and The Annoyance. He
currently performs at iO with Archimedes and is in Chicago’s
beloved longest running musical, CoEd Prison Sluts, at the Annoyance. Clay
loves GayCo and thinks that you should give them all of your money.
Vincent Kracht toured the country for five years as the solo actor/writer for an
NEA-funded educational theatre. He then moved to Chicago where he
has performed with ComedySportz, The Bailiwick Theatre, About Face
Theatre, The
Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, Open Door Rep, and Alphabet Soup Productions
among others. As a founding member of the completely improvised
play, Cast on a Hot Tin Roof, he has performed in its many
incarnations since the show was conceived by The Free Associates
fifteen years ago. Vincent was recently invited back for his
third season at ImprovAcadia in Bar Harbor, ME. He currently
performs at Laugh Out Loud Theater and teaches and performs in Naperville
at The Comedy Shrine.
John Loos
Homer Marrs is
the Mickey Rourke of GayCo, for whatever that means. Since becoming
an artistic associate in 2000, he has appeared as a cast member or
understudy in six original GayCo revues and countless touring productions.
Homer is an understudy to the Second City National Touring Company,
with whom he's traveled to rich-people ski towns and weird-people
ghost towns and lived on a cruise ship for twelve months. His column, "Marrs Attacks," has run in
five LGBT monthlies since 2005, and is currently in Chicago's Nightspots. In
Las Vegas he hosted QRadio, a weekly LGBT talk show. In 2009 he
created and performed the sketch revue Smile! You Have Depression and The
Song Show: Tunes of Terror, a musical comedy act. Homer has
also performed at iO, the Annoyance, WNEP and the Playground,
and was recently a semi-finalist in Chicago's "Gays Got Talent."
Artistic Associates
Rob Anderson is originally
from the Jersey Shore (fist pump) and studied film production and
theatre at James Madison University in Virginia. In 2008
he lived on the Gold Coast of Australia where he wrote the screenplay
for the short film 'Tinsel.' He relocated to Chicago in 2009 to study
musical and long form improvisation at iO and The Second City. He
is absolutely thrilled to join GayCo Productions and thanks his family
for their support!
Kat Barker
Kathy Betts has been
doing/studying improvisation for over 10 years, peppered with an
occasional sketch show here and there. A graduate of iO, The
Annoyance and The Second City's Conservatory, she's improvised with
several Chicago groups including, most recently, the Playground
Theater member team, International Stinger. By day she is an electrical
engineer that makes sure the products in your home are safe.
Colleen Breen is a Graduate
of the IO Theater and Annoyance Theater, Colleen has been performing
in Sketch and Improv in Chicago for the past 5 years. She currently
performs with the ensemble at Comedy Sportz, FireCup at the Improv
Olympic, and the occasional musical at the Annoyance Theater. She
is excited to be performing with the attractive and oh so talented
actors of GayCo.
Jake Carr is a graduate
from Miami University with BA’s in Theater and Psychology.
Much of his experience lies in physical theater and devising original
pieces—including several focusing on issues affecting the gay
community such as marriage rights and hate speech—and he is
extremely excited to be able to flex his comedic muscles with the
likes of GayCo. He is an Artistic Associate of Genesis Ensemble and
has performed with Redmoon Theater several times since moving to
Chicago. Carr’s mission is to create theater that moves people
on a testicular level (well, figuratively speaking for those without
testicles) and hopes that through performance he can inspire thought
while still providing convulsive belly laughs along the rest of the
immensely talented GayCo team. Cheers to all!
Amanda Cohen has been
an artistic associate and occasional understudy for, like, ever.
She trained at Second City Conservatory, ComedySportz, and the Annoyance,
and she produced and directed Chicago's first long-form competitive
improv show, The Improv Challenge. Some nights she can be seen at
the Wild Pug's Game Show Nights playing one of her heroes, Joanne
Worley. Some days she can be seen doing "improvised art" for
Hogwash, an improv fairy tale for kids. In real life she's a professional
face painter. If you dig around the interwebs, you might hear her
as Amy Cohn on Foulmouth News. While it has not been scientifically
proven, Amanda is pretty sure she's a gay man trapped in the body
of a straight woman.
Stacey Crawley grew
up on Chicago’s northwest side where her middle-class, Irish
catholic upbringing started her on a path to numerous life mistakes,
and eventually, comedy. After studying theater & graduating
from College of Dupage, she did the only logical thing and moved
to South Africa to finish school. When she returned to the states,
Ms. Crawley headed west to sunny San Diego, visiting L.A., mostly
to remind herself how much she would hate being a star because
of the crazy photographers that would hide in her bushes. Upon
returning to Chicago, she joined I.O. and began a career in voice-over,
while continuing to hit the comedy scene. She currently resides
on the south side of Chicago & has performed stand-up comedy & improv
throughout the city including Zanies & the Wha Who Cafe.
Seth Dodson
Cyndi Ferkol
Armand Fields hails
from the hustling and bustling capitol of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City.
There he attended OKC's 1st magnet school, Classen School of Advanced
Studies, it was kind of like the movie Fame, only no Debbie Allen.
There he studied Theater, Choir, as well as Ballet. He's lived in
Chicago for the past 9 years, and has pursued any and everything,
with a few exceptions. He is a graduate of Second City's Conservatory
program, and has been a part of Gayco's associate pot for the past
two years. He has been extremely fortunate to perform with them for
various events, which usually include free food or booze. He's thankful
for that! He's also had the great opportunity of meeting other associates
and company members, to do other sketch comedy shows around the city.
He's looking forward to see what this gay marriage will unfold, until
then he's still enjoying the Honeymoon Hangover!
Jason Geis is
so excited to be an artistic associate with GayCo. Jason has been
in Chicago for over ten years now making the funnies. In 2002, Jason
and four other fine folks founded pH Productions - and now 8 years
later it's still going strong. Jason serves as Co-Artistic Director
for pH, and is seen playing in all their shows as often as he can.
Jason has directed several hit shows including pHrenzy (Highly
Recommended), Women On Top (Highly Recommended) and recently The
Breakfast Club Muscial (Critics Choice, Readers Pick), of which
he also adapted and wrote the lyrics for. Jason is also the proud
coach of the Depaul Cosby Sweaters and a member of the iO House
Team, Mrs. Dad. Jason has had the privilege of studying at iO,
Second City and The Annoyance. Jason has taught improv all over
the country, but is most excited to live in the greatest theater
city in the world. Thanks also to Jason's family for being the
most supportive family ever.
Martha Hearn
Lisa Herceg
has been a GayCo artistic associate for a while now and has been
around the Chicago theater scene for longer than she's willing to tell you.
Improv scares the devil out of her and that is exactly why she does it.
She's also an artistic associate of Babes with Blades Productions,
where she has the privilege of kicking wonderful people's butts on a regular
basis. Lisa has worked with companies such as The Side Project,
Bailiwick Repertory Theater, Stage Left, The International Theater of
Chicago (now Premiere Theater), Raven Theater, Stockyards Theatre Project
and Theatre Building Chicago.
Steve Hnilicka
Steve Hickson Chicago’s
reigning Miss Looptopia, Steve most recently appeared A Reasonable
Facsimile Theatre Company’s “Another Year Without
A Witty Title Chicago Christmas Spectacular”. Other credits
include the Chicago premiere of “Zombies From The Beyond” (Backstage
Theatre Company), “Psycho Beach Party”,“Sordid
Lives” (Easy Street), “Band Geeks: A Halftime
Musical” (Single Box Turn Productions), “The
Skin Of Our Teeth” (Backstage), “Psycho Beach
Party”,“Death Comes To Us All, Mary Agnes” and “Medea” (all
with A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company, where he is an Ensemble
Member), “Twilight Gallery”, “How ‘What
Ever Happened To Baby Jane?’ Happened”, “POSEIDON!
An Upside Down Musical”, “Rudolph, The Red Hosed
Reindeer”,“Plan 9 From Outer Space”, “Female
Trouble”, “SuperPussyVixens, Go Faster, Kill!”, “SCARRIE!”, “Valley
of the Dolls” (which he also co-directed) and “The
Birds”. Directing credits include “Joan
Crawford Goes To Hell” and “Touched By Jayne
Mansfield” (where he also played the nefarious Pope John
Paul George). Steve regularly serves as a judge for “The
Original Improv Gladiators” at Corn Productions. Look
for him in ARFTCo’s “TV ReRun” Series
at Mary’s Attic starting in April.
Jerrod Howe (Production
Manager) comes to us from a
federally mandated program which states that all 501(c)(3)'s must
employ the mentally and physically disabled and veterans of military
service. Since Jerrod fits all three categories GayCo enjoys
yet another tax break. He has studied at iO and Second
City, among other prestigious institutions, and looks forward to
advancing his education in watercolors and other "pretty" things. He
will continue to support GayCo productions in all endeavors until
such time that he may violate his reasonable accomodation agreement
or his prescription runs out."
BrendanKelly lives
in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, a.k.a. ‘the village where
joie de vivre comes to die.’ He is a gay man trapped
inside a straight man’s apartment so he is thrilled to have
an excuse to abandon the piles of laundry and come to the city
to play with the wonderful team of artists who comprise GayCo. Prior
to his GayCo collaboration Brendan was a member of Noble Fool. He
appeared as Sissy Concertina with The Weird Sisters, he’s
been in shows at TimeLine, worked with the Free Associates and
he formerly narrated the marine mammal presentation at the Shedd
Aquarium. If he wasn’t so bothered by just how long
he’s been around he’d confess to having been a member
of Beyond The Pale the Irish folk trio which performed
throughout the greater Chicagoland area (Des Moines counts, right?)
back in the early 90’s.
Andrew Kraft is a
graduate from The Theatre School at DePaul University, as well
as Second City’s Conservatory and Musical Conservatory, and
soon from iO. He has performed at venues all over Chicago,
including Chicago Sketchfest. Andrew was last seen
in Robot vs. Dinosaur’s Mrs. Gruber’s Ding Dong
School. Other sketch productions include Improviser!:
A Musical Sketch Comedy Revue and Run, Palindrome, Nur. Andrew
recently performed with Comedy Sportz in their REC League. He
also performs in his two man show A Good Idea (In Theory). Andrew
is a founding member of Trying Too Hard, which had a year and half
long run at The Playground Theater and went to the Los Angles Comedy
Festival. Originally from St. Louis, MO, Andrew now
calls Chicago his home.
Becca Levine grew up in the hills
of Colorado, performing and teaching improvisation at The Bovine
Metropolis Theater in Denver. Lured by the lights of the bigger
city, she ventured to Chicago to study improvisation at The Second
City, iO, and The Annoyance Theater. Levine improvises at various
venues, and also enjoys writing and solo performance. She can often
be seen performing monthly at CAKE Chicago, voted 2009 - Readers'
Choice for best LGBTQ Variety Show. Most recently, Becca
played Mrs. Gruber in Robot VS Dinosaur’s Mrs. Gruber’s
Ding Dong School. She’s happy you’re here.
Christopher Lotito is
a recent transplant to Chicago all the way from the sunny beaches
of Florida. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from
The University of West Florida. Chicago debut in Letters
from Cuba with Halcyon Theatre. Other theatrical credits
include Once on this Island (Papa Ge), Disney's
Beauty and the Beast (Lefou), Kiss Me Kate, She
Loves Me, Man of La Mancha(Sancho), Shakespeare’s A
Midsummer Night's Dream, and As You like It. Principle
member of Florida based improv group IMPROVable Cause. And
don’t forget about his pretty eyes and winning smile!
Brett Mannes came to
Chicago in 2006 and is thrilled to be a part of Gayco. He hails from
Washington, DC, where he played with the DC Improv's premier comedy
team, bright young things, for 4 years. After studying at iO and
the Annoyance, he joined pH Productions, soon became a Company Member,
and currently serves as their Marketing Director. When not improvising,
Brett is reading comic books and yapping about them with other gays
on his award-nominated podcast, Comic Book Queers. Brett loves only
one thing more than comedy and comics, and that's his hubby Jeff.
Brett's dirtiest secret: he was born and raised on the Jersey Shore.
Michelle Marquardt
joined GayCo as an Artistic Associate in the summer of 2008. Since then she has performed proudly with GayCo at SketchFest in both 2009 and 2010 as well as other GayCo performances and events around town. She made her mainstage debut with GayCo in the critically acclaimed revue "The Audacity of Nope" and will be seen next in Breast in Show this summer. Michelle is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and Writing programs, and has also studied at Victory Gardens Theatre and Improv Olympic. She can be seen performing regularly with another fabulous Chicago company, pH Productions where she is a Repertory Cast Member.
Meredith Melville has
a BA in theatre from University of North Texas and has completed
the Conservatory at the Second City Training Center. She has most
recently been seen with The Understudies at Chicago Sketchfest
2010, and is an understudy with the Cupid Players. Meredith is thrilled
to be an artist associate with Gayco!
Molly Merkel
Jamie Newland
hails from the great, gay-friendly state of Vermont. He graduated from Tufts University where he first studied acting. In Atlanta, he studied improv and was an ensemble member at Whole World Theatre. In Chicago, he has studied at Second City, the Annoyance, IO, and performed with the teams Mammal 79, Honeyslide, Garbagé, and Fashion Bug. He has performed and written sketch comedy with his own groups Asterisks and NIXON and was a cast member of Smile You Have Depression, written by GayCo's own Homer Marrs. He has also performed in productions of such "straight" plays as The Misanthrope, Richard III, Keeping Tom Nice, and The Phantom Tollbooth in Chicago and Atlanta. He was also a finalist in Gay Idol 2008, where he was better known as "The Funny One Who Isn't the Best Singer."
Kat Paddock is so excited
to be joining up with the lovely Gayco! While in Chicago she
has performed with Arftco, Collision Theatre Company, Around the
Coyote stage reading series and the Genesis Ensemble (of which she
is both a founding and current company member.) While
receiving her BA in Theatre from Miami University...in Ohio, Kat
also Co-Founded The Walking Theatre Project, a theatre collective
committed to using art and theatre to raise awareness of social issues,
create dialogue, and express the values, interests, and concerns
of particular communities. Kat also enjoys playing her guitar
and her wonderful "day job" and Rogers Park Montessori School....in
Andersonville.
Robin Trevino has been
an Artistic Associate with GayCo since March of 2006. You might have
seen him in The DaVinci GayCode, Do You Fear What I Fear, iHole,
Stop Those Homos, Sketchfest 08/09, at various events around
Chicago, or maybe even in New Brunswick, Canada. Robin has
a BA in Theatre from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and
takes classes at Second City. He is the founder of Quixotic,
another gay themed sketch comedy group that is geared more toward
the rowdy, drunken gay bar crowd. Quixotic performs regularly at
Hydrate Nightclub and aims at putting up two full length shows
a year. Robin has been legally gay married to the love of his life
for the last few years, and while not on stage, shares a home,
a car and a last name with him.
Jeremiah Tuttle
Nancy Howland Walker
Katie Watson
Arianna Wheat hails from Los Angeles,
and loves the snow of Chicago. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Theater Arts from California State University Northridge.
She recently began her career in improvisation and sketch comedy
with her debut in White Rainbows presents White Rainbows. Most recently
she completed a run of White Rainbows' second show In Gaga We Trust.
Currently, she is involved in Second City's Improv for Actors program.
Arianna is thrilled to be an artistic associate of Gayco, and is
looking forward to helping Gayco shape a better world through laughter,
honesty and humor.
Kelly Yacono has been
an Artistic Associate with Gayco since 2007 and took part in her
first Gayco mainstage, The Audacity of Nope. Kelly graduated
from the University of Illinois at Chicago where she was fortunate
enough to take improv with Bernie Sahlins and work on multiple productions during
her time there. Throughout the years, Kelly has had the privilege
to work with The European Repertory Company (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
Are Dead, Agamemnon, Madame DeSade), The Irish Repertory
Company (The Well of the Saints),Emerald City
Theatre (Snow White, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie),
MidTangent Productions (Midsummer Night's Dream: A Queer Tale,
I Am Hamlet),Grey Zelda Theatre (The Skriker),
Chicago Opera Vanguard (Greek), and of course, Gayco. She
currently can be seen yukking it up for the kiddies in Fractured
Fairy Tales, 50 States in 60 Minutes, and Sleepy Hollow with
Greatworks Theatre Company.
