by Comedy doesn’t have a Human Resources department, so leave it to The Comic’s Comic to dole out honors and/or discipline accordingly. Our Employee of the Month for September 2022 is Kate Berlant. Congrats Kate!
NOTE: This is a feature I introduced on my Substack, Piffany, in 2021, and have transferred over to The Comic’s Comic, where it truly belongs. Past Employees of the Month have included: Alyssa Limperis (August 2022), Janelle James (July 2022) Joel Kim Booster (June 2022), The Kids In The Hall (May 2022), Jerrod Carmichael (April 2022), Amy Schumer (March 2022), Volodymyr Zelenskyy (February 2022), W. Kamau Bell (January 2022), Nicole Byer (December 2021), Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin (November 2021), James Austin Johnson (October 2021), Phoebe Robinson (September 2021), Ms. Pat (August 2021), and Kevin Hart (July 2021).
Berlant and Nick Kroll both had a busy beginning to the fall season, as each of them released new stand-up specials and both of them enjoyed co-starring roles in the hotly dissected movie, Don’t Worry Darling.
I’m giving the edge to Berlant, though.
Not only did she sell out her first one-woman run off-Broadway almost immediately — KATE is an amazing display of her solo stage talents (as directed by Bo Burnham), and has rightfully earned her a second run this winter — but her pre-pandemic stand-up special (also directed by Burnham) helped convince FX and Hulu to get back into the comedy special game.
Plus, she co-stars in the winning Prime Video series adaptation of A League of Their Own!
You can read my review of Kate Berlant: Cinnamon in the Wind over on Decider. Part of what I wrote (which also applies to her stage show): “Berlant wants to exist so in the moment, and yet also point out to us all the while how “it’s an inherently false moment,” thanks to the cameras. She mocks the artifice not just of her individual performance, but of all performance, show business and fame. That it’s shot by Burnham in black and white, with mirrors reflecting Berlant back at her, only adds to the deconstruction.”
You can and should buy tickets to see KATE when it returns Dec. 12 through Feb. 10, 2023, at the Connelly Theater in NYC’s East Village.
Congrats, Kate!
