22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Get weird (and wise) with ‘Kate Berlant Live'
You might go to a Kate Berlant show for the comic's singular brand of intellectual comedy, but her exaggerated face pulls and cross-eyed expressions are sure to tickle you, too. The comedian/actor's high-low approach to comedy makes the laughs come easy and the deep thoughts percolate well after her set.
A Los Angeles native with an artist and a stage performer as parents, Berlant has been experimenting with surrealism and absurdism since the 2010s. Fans know her as a longtime collaborator of comedian John Early: Both had their own sketch specials on Netflix's 'The Characters' (2016) and together, they released a comedy special titled 'Would It Kill You to Laugh?' (2023), in which they play characters with a penchant for pettiness or a tendency toward hilarious self-seriousness.
As an actress, Berlant favors roles in movies with a trippy bent, playing supporting characters in movies from Boots Riley's Oakland-set satire 'Sorry to Bother You' (2018) to the surreal dark comedy 'Dream Scenario' (2023). And as a podcaster of 'Berlant and Novak,' she and fellow stand-up Jaquelin Novak chat it up about their dogged pursuit of all things wellness.
Berlant's Hulu comedy special, 'Cinnamon in the Wind' and her one-woman show 'Kate' both straddle the tension between authenticity and performance. Don't miss her latest musings with 'Kate Berlant Live.'
