Thank God You’re Queer | Second Beat Productions & Big Fork Theatre

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This is the second year in a row that I’ve seen Thank God You’re Queer at the Powerhouse, and I’m beginning to think I may have to make it an annual tradition.

In case you couldn’t tell from the title, Thank God You’re Queer is a delightfully gay spin on the classic Channel 10 improv show. Thank God You’re Here. Four heterosexual comedians, supported by an entirely queer cast of improvisers, find themselves in scenes inspired by real audience questions and experiences (sourced via QR code in the line to the show), all competing for the title of Brisbane’s Best Ally. Audience responses range from silly to sincere - my personal favourites being  “How do I confront my internalised misogyny?”, “Am I bisexual or just ovulating?”, and “I grieve the loss of public spaces for gay experiences”. This authentic (and suitably vast) range of queer perspectives and queries gives way for some of the funniest, most daring improvised comedy you’ll see on a main stage in Brisbane.

The best thing about reviewing improv comedy is that I can entirely spoil it and reliably know that the scene I saw will never happen again for another audience. For example, I could say that my favourite scene of the show featured a woke caveman sex therapist teaching men to hit themselves with rocks in order to stop being afraid of women, and you would have no idea whether that was a real thing. It was, in fact, both real and my favourite moment, and a testament to the absurdist creativity that improv as a medium can offer, particularly in the hands of skilled comedians.

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The show’s four token heterosexuals (Liz Talb, Taylor Edwards, Luka Dale, and Rhys McCane) all deftly navigate the perils of being the show’s straight man (if you will). All equipped with a firm understanding of the punching up conceit of the show, their commitment to making utter fools of themselves allowed for scenes to flourish, growing beyond their concept into increasingly manic comedic beats. My favourite performances of the evening came from Talb and Dale, with their earnest discussions of situational lesbianism and yiffing respectively giving me some of the most embarrassingly loud laughing fits I’ve had in a long time.

On top of these performances, it’s important to note the terrific work of queer improvisers Beef, Caitlin McGrath, Cam Watson, Kelsey Wynn, & Ollie Windsor - while their positioning as support cast meant that much of their work was built around facilitating moments for the straight cast, I found that many of the strongest moments of the night came from within this support space, thanks to the consistent boundary-pushing and stakes-raising from each improviser. 

Thank God You’re Queer has concluded its run as part of Brisbane Comedy Festival at the time of writing, but it will no doubt appear on the Powerhouse stage again sometime soon. When it does, I implore you to attend - after all, how else will you prove your ally credentials?

Thank God You’re Queer was produced by Big Fork Theatre and Second Beat Productions and held as part of the Brisbane Comedy Festival from 2-3 May 2026.

Images supplied.