In a world shaped by digital alienation, which feels increasingly unstable, Kate Berlant finds solace in stand-up.
Sure, she says, “the consequences of us leading an online life” are manifold and “will f*ck us up in ways we’ll never understand.” The career ladder that existed for comics when she was starting out has largely collapsed amid continuing show biz consolidation, while AI has begun ripping off jokes that stand-ups have devoted blood, sweat and tears to cultivating.
Still, however troubling our times and technology may be, there’s beauty to be found in art and the community that grows around it. There’s also great comedy to be found in the absurdity of modern life, as evidenced in Parmesan, Berlant’s second comedy special, fresh off its HBO debut.
An L.A. native with a singular gift for physical comedy and a love of deconstructing her art form as she performs it, Berlant calls Parmesan her most straightforward hour of written material to date. She developed the act over two years, taping it at Los Angeles’ intimate Plaza Nightclub after touring it in theaters, under the belief that the “truest experience of comedy” is found in smaller venues.
Not your average road dog, Berlant only recently began taking a notebook onstage and clipping her work for social media. The only child of an avant-garde theater mother and visual artist father, she started stand-up at 17 and brought an academic’s eye to her art form after inventing her own major — the “cultural anthropology of comedy” — at NYU.
Berlant rejects the label of performance artist, though she knew from early on that her path would be different, given the ways in which her work defied clear categorization. Gradually, she rose to what longtime friend and collaborator John Early called the status of “alt-comedy princess.” She’s maintained an alternative sensibility and original voice even while cultivating an increasingly mainstream set of credentials, including roles in major film and television projects, an Emmy nomination for a Peacock special with Early, and more.
In the conversation above for Deadline’s Comedy Means Business, Berlant chronicles her artistic journey, from the highs of her early days in New York City’s East Village and working with Quentin Tarantino to the lows of a shelved special and multiple failed attempts at TV development.
Along the way, she discusses early support from Sarah Silverman and Maria Bamford, comedy as collage, her “loner” days before finding a comedy “sibling” in Early, and more.
Check out the full conversation above.