Cole Escola (born November 25, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, singer, and playwright. They are best known for their cabaret work and appearances on the
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
series ''
Difficult People'' (2015–2017), ''
At Home with Amy Sedaris'' (2017–2020), ''
Search Party'' (2020–2021), and ''
Big Mouth'' (2022), as well as for writing and starring in the play ''
Oh, Mary!'' which opened on Broadway in 2024. Escola received two nominations for two
Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...
for their work on ''Oh, Mary!'', winning the
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. They were also named a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
.
Early life
Escola was born and raised in
Clatskanie, Oregon. They are of Finnish and Norwegian descent. When they were six, their father chased the entire family out of their
mobile home
A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabrication, prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or ...
with a gun,
[Sharkey, M. (June 11, 2015)]
"Comedy School with Cole Escola"
''Out
Out or OUT may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
*Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
*Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander
*O ...
''. Retrieved September 18, 2017.[Vincentelli, Elisabeth (July 6, 2017)]
"He's Got a Good Wig on His Shoulders: Meet Cole Escola,"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Retrieved September 18, 2017.[Goodman, Elyssa (July 18, 2017)]
"Is America Ready for Cole Escola?"
''Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
''. Retrieved September 18, 2017. after which Escola, their mother, and their brother subsequently lived in government housing. Their sister was not living with them at this time. Escola participated in community theater and starred in high school productions of ''
Fiddler on the Roof
''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...
'', ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...
'', and ''
Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors may refer to:
* '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film
* ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film
* ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...
''.
[Rowe, Amy (August 8, 2017)]
"A glimpse into rising comedy and 'Difficult People' star Cole Escola's way of life"
''New York Daily News
The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
''. Retrieved September 18, 2017. After graduating from
R. A. Long High School in 2005, Escola moved to New York City to study humanities at
Marymount Manhattan College
Marymount Manhattan College is a private college on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As of 2020, enrollment consisted of 1,571 undergraduate students with women making up 80.1% and men 19.9% of student enrollment.
Columbia University
Masters ...
, dropping out after one year.
[Paulu, Tom (June 15, 2009)]
"R.A. Long grad stars in new LOGO TV comedy series"
'' The Daily News'' (Longview). Retrieved September 18, 2017. They subsequently performed at children's birthday parties and worked at the
Scholastic bookstore.
Career
Stage
From 2008 to 2012, Escola was a regular guest performer in the ''Our Hit Parade'' cabaret series, and later began performing monthly solo shows at the
Duplex Cabaret Theatre. They appeared in
Scott Wittman's 2012 cabaret show ''Jukebox Jackie'' at
La MaMa and played an unborn fetus in
Bridget Everett's 2014 cabaret show ''Rock Bottom'' at
Joe's Pub. In a sketch called ''Queers in History'', Escola strutted "jauntily across the stage wearing a newsboy cap and underwear."
On June 14, 2017, Escola's hour-long solo show ''Help! I'm Stuck'' premiered at Joe's Pub, where it has since played numerous sold-out engagements.
In 2013, Escola played Roland Maule in the
Two River Theater revival of
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
's ''
Present Laughter''.
In 2024, Escola wrote and starred in their play ''
Oh, Mary!'' at the
Lucille Lortel Theatre, in which they played
First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (Birth name, née Todd; December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) was First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865.
Mary Todd was born into a large and wealthy ...
. It was directed by
Sam Pinkleton and also starred
Conrad Ricamora and
James Scully. The show transferred to Broadway in July 2024, marking Escola's Broadway debut as an actor and playwright. At the 2024
Outer Critics Circle Awards, Escola was awarded the John Gassner Award for ''Oh, Mary!''. The piece was a 2025 finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
. Escola won the
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
for
Best Actor in a Play in
2025
So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
, for their performance in ''Oh, Mary!,'' becoming the first non-binary performer to do so''.''
In October 2024, Escola was included in the
''TIME'' 100 Next list of the world's most influential rising leaders.
Television
In 2008, Escola met fellow comedian
Jeffery Self in New York; bonding over a shared love of theater and 1990s sitcoms, they began creating surreal, semi-scripted YouTube videos under the moniker "Very Good Looking (VGL) Gay Boys." The sketches, in which Escola often played the demented comic
foil
Foil may refer to:
Materials
* Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine
* Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal
* Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food
* Tin foil, metal foil ma ...
to Self's
straight man
The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...
, received over 100,000 views, prompting coverage in ''
New York'' magazine and a development deal from
Logo TV
Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...
.
''
Jeffery & Cole Casserole'' premiered on Logo on June 19, 2009; it ran for two seasons and has been deemed as a "cult classic" by ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' magazine.
Escola and Self also wrote the screenplay for an as-yet-unproduced comedy in which two friends "have to go through a lot to redeem their free sandwich."
From 2015 to 2017, Escola played Matthew on the
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
television series ''
Difficult People'', a role that series creator
Julie Klausner wrote with them in mind.
They have appeared in recurring roles on ''
Mozart in the Jungle'', ''
Girlboss'', and ''
At Home with Amy Sedaris'', in which they play Sedaris' neighbor, Chassie Tucker.
In 2020, Escola appeared as Chip (The Twink) on the
HBO Max
Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...
original ''
Search Party''. Chip became a season regular in season 4. Escola voiced The Secret Keeper on the
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
animated series ''
Craig of the Creek'' in the episode "Secret in a Bottle". In 2021, Escola voiced a gargoyle in an episode of ''
What We Do in the Shadows''.
Personal life
In 2022, Escola came out as
non-binary
Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escola, Cole
1986 births
20th-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American LGBTQ people
American gay actors
American gay musicians
American LGBTQ comedians
American LGBTQ singers
American non-binary actors
American people of Finnish descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American voice actors
Comedians from Oregon
Gay comedians
LGBTQ people from Oregon
Living people
Non-binary comedians
Non-binary gay people
People from Clatskanie, Oregon
Theatre World Award winners
Tony Award winners
Writers Guild of America Award winners