# Ally Beardsley
**Ally Beardsley** (born 1988) is an American actor, writer, and comedian who uses they/them pronouns, known for their work on the Dropout streaming platform and for being a member of the Intrepid Heroes, the core recurring cast of the [Dungeons & Dragons](https://www.edgepedia.org/dungeons-and-dragons) actual-play (show where performers play the game live) show *Dimension 20*[1](https://ucbcomedy.com/people/ally-beardsley/) • [2](https://dimension20.wiki.gg/wiki/Ally_Beardsley). They also appear in Dropout series such as *Game Changer*, *Very Important People*, and *Gastronauts*, and perform improv in Los Angeles[3](https://flicklist.tv/people/ally-beardsley) • [1](https://ucbcomedy.com/people/ally-beardsley/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Improv background | Three years in the cast of Boom Chicago, an improv company based in the Netherlands; affiliated with the Upright Citizens Brigade[1](https://ucbcomedy.com/people/ally-beardsley/) |
| Dimension 20 role | Player in the Intrepid Heroes seasons and in Side Quests including *Mice & Murder*, *Shriek Week*, *Never Stop Blowing Up*, and *Gladlands*[2](https://dimension20.wiki.gg/wiki/Ally_Beardsley) |
| First D&D experience | Had never played Dungeons & Dragons before and learned the game on screen as Kristen Applebees in *Fantasy High*, *Dimension 20*'s first season[4](https://time.com/7020897/dungeons-and-dragons-live-performances/) |
| Notable characters | Pete Conlan (*The Unsleeping City*), Liam Wilhelmina (*A Crown of Candy*), Margaret Encino (*A Starstruck Odyssey*), Kristen Applebees (*Fantasy High*)[5](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/bitstream/handle/2453/5445/ThompsonT2025m-1a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1) • [3](https://flicklist.tv/people/ally-beardsley) • [6](https://www.autostraddle.com/dimension-20-ally-beardsley-interview/) |
| Creator work | Created the Dropout show *Paranoia* and the podcast *Tales From The Closet*[2](https://dimension20.wiki.gg/wiki/Ally_Beardsley) |
## Improv and early career
Beardsley is a writer and improviser with a background in both American and European improv comedy[1](https://ucbcomedy.com/people/ally-beardsley/). Their [Upright Citizens Brigade](https://www.edgepedia.org/upright-citizens-brigade) profile describes three years in the cast of Boom Chicago, an Amsterdam-based improv company, followed by membership in the cast of [CollegeHumor](https://www.edgepedia.org/collegehumor), where, in the profile's words, they publicly worked out their gender in front of millions of people on YouTube[1](https://ucbcomedy.com/people/ally-beardsley/). They live and work in Los Angeles[5](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/bitstream/handle/2453/5445/ThompsonT2025m-1a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1).
They remain active in the UCB theater ecosystem in Los Angeles, where they perform with the improv team Yeti, described by the theater as one of LA's premier improv teams[1](https://ucbcomedy.com/people/ally-beardsley/). With fellow improviser Zac Oyama, they perform in the two-person *Dropout Presents* comedy special *From Ally to Zacky*, in which the pair and friends take audience suggestions and perform absurd monoscenes[7](https://watch.dropout.tv/from-ally-to-zacky).
## Dimension 20
*Dimension 20*, produced by Dropout (the subscription streaming service that rose from CollegeHumor), pairs game master [Brennan Lee Mulligan](https://www.edgepedia.org/brennan-lee-mulligan) with a table of comedians telling stories through Dungeons & Dragons[4](https://time.com/7020897/dungeons-and-dragons-live-performances/). When Mulligan pitched the show, he had already been running games for five of the six players who would become the Intrepid Heroes; Beardsley was the sixth, and had never played D&D before[4](https://time.com/7020897/dungeons-and-dragons-live-performances/).
Beardsley's characters span the show's range of tones. In the first season, *Fantasy High*, they played Kristen Applebees, a high-school cleric whose campaign arc the show's own community discussion treats as one of the series' central throughlines[4](https://time.com/7020897/dungeons-and-dragons-live-performances/). In *The Unsleeping City*, the show's third season, they played Pete Conlan, a spellcaster known in-story as Pete the Plug[8](https://watch.dropout.tv/dimension-20-the-unsleeping-city/videos/behind-the-scenes-ally). In the lethal candy-courtland season *A Crown of Candy* they played Liam Wilhelmina[3](https://flicklist.tv/people/ally-beardsley), and in the spacefaring *A Starstruck Odyssey* they played Margaret Encino, a high-femme corporate executive with an auburn bob and a pencil skirt whom the *Autostraddle* interviewer encountered at a live show[6](https://www.autostraddle.com/dimension-20-ally-beardsley-interview/).
Their approach to play has drawn commentary from both castmates and critics. In a *Starburst* interview promoting the steampunk season *Cloudward, Ho!*, Beardsley described deliberately calibrating their playstyle, saying they tend to get "one blimey every few seasons" and that for that season they played "a little bit more of an on-rails character," pointing to Margaret Encino as the most on-the-rails end of their spectrum[9](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/features/ally-beardsley-siobhan-thompson-dimenson20-cloudward-ho/). Beyond the Intrepid Heroes seasons, they appear in Side Quests including *Mice & Murder*, *Shriek Week*, *Never Stop Blowing Up*, and *Gladlands*[2](https://dimension20.wiki.gg/wiki/Ally_Beardsley).
## Other Dropout work
Beardsley's Dropout credits extend well past *Dimension 20*. *Game Changer* lists them from 2019 onward, and later credits include *[Make Some Noise](https://www.edgepedia.org/make-some-noise-tv-series)* (2022), *Dirty Laundry* (2022), *The Party* (2023, as The Coach), *Very Important People* (2023, as Self / Pig #2), *Gastronauts* (2024, as Self - Judge), *Game Changer Animated* (2024, voice), and the live *Dimension 20* performances *Gauntlet at the Garden* (2025, as Pete Conlan) and *Battle at the Bowl* (2025, as Kristen Applebees)[3](https://flicklist.tv/people/ally-beardsley) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4493520/). They have also created shows and podcasts for the platform, including the show *Paranoia* and the podcast *Tales From The Closet*[2](https://dimension20.wiki.gg/wiki/Ally_Beardsley). IMDb lists their primary credits as *Dropout* (2006), *DownBeat* (2019), and *Dimension 20* (2018)[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4493520/).
## Trans representation and gender presentation
Beardsley came out as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and a 2025 academic study of *Dimension 20* describes them as a nonbinary transmasculine actor[5](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/bitstream/handle/2453/5445/ThompsonT2025m-1a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1). Pete Conlan, their character in *The Unsleeping City*, is a trans man[5](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/bitstream/handle/2453/5445/ThompsonT2025m-1a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1). In a *Washington Post* essay marking the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, Beardsley wrote that with Pete it was important to them to tell a story other than the dramatic lead-up to a medical transition, and that fantasy allowed them to ask, "What would I do if I could do anything?"[5](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/bitstream/handle/2453/5445/ThompsonT2025m-1a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1).
The same study concludes that Beardsley used humor and comedy to portray a complex, flawed trans character who is a work in progress but remains heroic and competent[5](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/bitstream/handle/2453/5445/ThompsonT2025m-1a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1). In an *Autostraddle* interview, Beardsley placed the exploration of gender presentation, both their own and others', at the heart of their career interests[6](https://www.autostraddle.com/dimension-20-ally-beardsley-interview/).
## Recent developments
The years since 2023 have expanded Beardsley's live and voice work. *Dimension 20* played [Madison Square Garden](https://www.edgepedia.org/madison-square-garden) with *Gauntlet at the Garden* in 2025, where Beardsley appeared as Pete Conlan, and returned to live performance in *Battle at the Bowl* and *Viva Más Vegas* (2026, as Margaret Encino)[4](https://time.com/7020897/dungeons-and-dragons-live-performances/) • [3](https://flicklist.tv/people/ally-beardsley). A new *Dimension 20* campaign, *City Council of Darkness*, a partnership with White Wolf for a [Vampire: The Masquerade](https://www.edgepedia.org/vampire-the-masquerade) show featuring the core cast, was announced to run for 14 episodes starting April 8[11](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/board-games/actual-play-series-dimension-20-is-partnering-with-white-wolf-for-a-vampire-the-masquerade-show/). In an interview with the Los Angeles Blade, Beardsley and Dropout CEO Sam Reich discussed the platform's standing as a consistent source of queer media, with multiple programs hosted by openly queer artists[12](https://www.losangelesblade.com/2025/11/16/how-dropout-is-changing-las-entertainment-industry/). Beardsley announced the birth of their first child on August 6, 2025, and in an *Autostraddle* interview described parenthood as "the natural culmination of a happy and settled life"[6](https://www.autostraddle.com/dimension-20-ally-beardsley-interview/).
## References
1. [Ally Beardsley, Upright Citizens Brigade](https://ucbcomedy.com/people/ally-beardsley/)
2. [Ally Beardsley, Dimension 20 Wiki](https://dimension20.wiki.gg/wiki/Ally_Beardsley)
3. [Ally Beardsley, FlickList.tv](https://flicklist.tv/people/ally-beardsley)
4. [Live Performances of Dungeons & Dragons Are Filling Stadiums and Going Mainstream, TIME](https://time.com/7020897/dungeons-and-dragons-live-performances/)
5. [Thompson, T. (2025). Dimension 20's The Unsleeping City: Fantasy and play as means of claiming agency in modern dystopias. Lakehead University thesis](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/bitstream/handle/2453/5445/ThompsonT2025m-1a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
6. ['Dimension 20' Reminds Us To Care, Autostraddle](https://www.autostraddle.com/dimension-20-ally-beardsley-interview/)
7. [From Ally to Zacky, Dropout](https://watch.dropout.tv/from-ally-to-zacky)
8. [Behind the Scenes: Ally, Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City, Dropout](https://watch.dropout.tv/dimension-20-the-unsleeping-city/videos/behind-the-scenes-ally)
9. [Ally Beardsley & Siobhan Thompson, DIMENSION 20: Cloudward Ho!, Starburst Magazine](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/features/ally-beardsley-siobhan-thompson-dimenson20-cloudward-ho/)
10. [Ally Beardsley, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4493520/)
11. [Actual-play series Dimension 20 is partnering with White Wolf for a Vampire: The Masquerade show, PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/board-games/actual-play-series-dimension-20-is-partnering-with-white-wolf-for-a-vampire-the-masquerade-show/)
12. [How Dropout is changing LA's entertainment industry, Los Angeles Blade](https://www.losangelesblade.com/2025/11/16/how-dropout-is-changing-las-entertainment-industry/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Be to Bl*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license