Andy Iwancio is Queer, as in Funny - Safe Words Comedy Showcase

📅 Wednesday, January 28, 2026 | ⏰ Doors 6:30 PM · Show 7:00 PM | 📍 SF Eagle

🎟 Tickets: Pay What You Can + VIP (VIP includes a reserved table + free drinks)

San Francisco’s longest-running mission-driven queer comedy showcase is back.

Safe Words creates a room where queer audiences can actually exhale — big laughs, real community energy, and a lineup of hilarious queers bringing their sharpest, weirdest, most cathartic material to the stage.

This is our regular 4th Wednesday Safe Words — and since it lands during Sketchfest, we’ve got two special out-of-town gets who are in town for the fest: Andy Iwancio (headlining) and Tara Jepsen.

Quick aside: This isn’t our Sketchfest show (that one’s Sunday, Jan 25). If you’re looking for that lineup, grab tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/safe-words-queer-comedy-showcase-with-wonder-dave-tickets-1969995179613

Safe Words creates safe spaces for laughter and belonging while accelerating the careers of queer comedians. We believe words inspire action — and comedy has the power to change minds.

⭐ LINEUP ⭐

Andy Iwancio (she/her) — HEADLINER (in town for Sketchfest)

Queer, Transgender

Andy Iwancio is a queer trans comedian from Seattle (by way of Baltimore) with a witty, sardonic, slightly profane style on marriage, music, and puns. Her 2023 EP Hard Trans (Radland Records) debuted at #2 on the iTunes Comedy chart, and her album Better Living Through Femmistry (Kill Rock Stars) hit #3 on iTunes Comedy and #1 on the Amazon Comedy chart. She’s done festivals like SF Sketchfest and Bumbershoot, and has opened for Kyle Kinane and Cameron Esposito.

Tara Jepsen (she/her) (in town for Sketchfest)

Queer, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual

Tara Jepsen is an LA-based writer, comic, and actor — and a long-time SF queer-scene staple. She’s the author of Like a Dog (City Lights) and a Sister Spit alum, and she co-hosted the legendary queer literary open mic K’vetsh for over a decade (yes, at a gay men’s bathhouse). Tara also co-hosted the monthly comedy show JOSH with Michelle Tea.

She co-created the web series Rods and Cones (named one of Indiewire’s 25 Best Series/Creators of 2014) and appears in Season 2 of Amazon’s Golden Globe-winning series Transparent.

CYNTHIAINPUBLIC (she/they/he)

Bisexual, Pansexual, Gender Queer, Gender Fluid

CYNTHIAINPUBLIC is a Bay Area-based comic, producer, activist, bad dancer, cohost at the Strut Queer Open Mic, and Overlord of Bangou Productions — focused on creating community through comedy and supporting diverse artists and their stories. They’ve appeared on the Flappers Yoo Hoo room, Variety, Laugh Riot Grrrl Festival, and opened for Amy Miller.

Casper Sweeney (she/they/he)

Bisexual, Non Binary, Transgender

Casper is a transmasc nonbinary Jewish entity born and mostly raised in the Bay Area. His comedic influences include Hasan Minhaj, Anna Akana, testosterone, and too many years of lived experience in Utah. Casper has performed in the TNT comedy showcase with Comedy Q and has hosted Comedy Q and Is It a Bit? open mics.

Yi Ren (he/him)

Queer, Gay

Yi Ren is a comedian new to the scene, offering his hilarious — but mostly wrong — perspective on life in America as a gay Chinese immigrant. Taking inspiration from Shen Yun, he dreams of one day becoming the other Chinese cultural phenomenon that disappoints millions.

Hosted by Wonder Dave (he/him)

Wonder Dave (Dave Crady) is a Bay Area comedy staple and the co-producer + host of Safe Words — known for warm, fast-paced, subversive comedy and for keeping the room feeling like a party where you can actually exhale.

Final Notes

🍸 21+ | Come early | Bring a friend who needs a laugh

Safe Words is San Francisco’s longest-running queer comedy showcase. Each show is carefully curated to highlight both emerging talent and seasoned voices from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum — creating a space where queer and trans performers can take the stage without compromise, and where queer audiences feel seen, celebrated, and safe.

Whether it’s your first show or your fiftieth, welcome to the room. We’re glad you’re here.