Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

TELEVISION John Early and Kate Berlant discuss 'Would It Kill You to Laugh?'
2022-06-21

This article shared 1959 times since Tue Jun 21, 2022
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Peacock is releasing a new sketch comedy show called Would It Kill You to Laugh? Starring Kate Berlant and John Early, the show debuts Friday, June 24. This one-hour special features a comedy duo who have worked together for over a decade with obvious chemistry and impressive resumes.

Out and proud actor Early starred in the dark comedy sitcom Search Party from 2016 to 2022 and had a recent recurring role in Apple TV+'s The Afterparty. Berlant was in six episodes of Search Party and most recently held spots on NBC's The Good Place and Disney+'s Loki.

Their project together pokes fun at pop culture and places the two in a variety of situations such as the fictional television program He's Gay, She's Half Jewish. The duo talked exclusively to Windy City Times about the upcoming special recently.

Windy City Times: How long have you known each other?

John Early: Our 10-year anniversary was this past May 5, 2022.

WCT: Where did you meet?

Kate Berlant: We met on the set of a friend's short film, but we had seen each other before online.

JE: And onstage doing standup. It was during that short film that we sealed the deal. I was already a fan.

KB: And I thought he needed a lot of work, but with a little love we could get there.

WCT: Was the television show Will & Grace a big influence on creating one of the sketches for the show?

JE: We were just trying to come up with a fake sitcom for our personas to be known for. For the title we immediately came up with He's Gay, She's Half Jewish, but we were never consciously thinking of Will & Grace until we got on set and they did Kate's hair.

KB: Then I was suddenly Debra Messing! I think if you are doing a fake sitcom with a gay guy it can easily turn into Will & Grace.

JE: Every show we have ever tried to pitch together as friends, the producers assumed it will be just like Will & Grace.

WCT: You both were in drag at different points on the show. How was that experience?

JE: We loved it and have done drag a bunch. We especially like trying to make it as real as possible and to not feel set up. Kate as a man was erotically confusing to me.

I really came alive when I put on those nails!

KB: John was so gorgeous that he was prettier than me.

JE: Impossible.

WCT: Was there one sketch that didn't make the cut?

KB: Good question, but actually no, everything got in.

WCT: Was the company A24 easy to work with, creatively?

KB: Yes, we love them. We worked with them before with a failed pilot. They are very "artist friendly" as we say in the biz…

JE: and very hands off.

WCT: Kate, your mother is Cuban, how about a skit in Spanish?

JE: We do need to corner the Latin market.

KB: My Spanish unfortunately isn't what it used to be, but it will come back.

JE: We are hosting the Latin Grammys this year, which is timed perfectly with this special. [laughs]

WCT: What can you say about possible future skits for another show?

JE: We have an endless supply of sketches that we have had since the beginning of our friendship. What has been so fun about this is that we got to do skits that we have had since we were 24 years old.

KB: Well, we are only 25 now so it has been a year.

JE: We really want to do more of these kinds of shows. We want to bring back the beavers.

WCT: Yes, the skit where the beaver family were trying to be VIPs on a plane ride was very clever and fun.

JE: It is universal feeling to want to be important. We all want to be on CLEAR for airport security.

KB: I signed up for CLEAR and the PreCheck line was shorter.

JE: Well, I guess we will be PreChecking then, honey!

WCT: Were the beaver costumes hot to wear?

JE: They really were hot and it was brutal.

KB: I will be honest, it was tough.

WCT: What is one thing you would like to convey in a skit that you haven't tried yet?

JE: I would like to do more time-period stuff because of the bone structure.

KB: Yes, we could transform ourselves.

JE: Look at Kate in profile. She looks like the painting behind us.

KB: I am The Other Boleyn Girl!

WCT: Bridgerton is very popular right now, so you are on the right track. What projects do you have coming out next?

KB: I am on A League of Their Own series on Amazon Prime coming out this summer.

JE: I'm nursing a back injury.

KB: Yes, but you just completed five seasons of Search Party…

JE: True, can I have a break please for once?

KB: He has been working too hard.

WCT: It was nice to see gay representation on that TV show for people like me.

JE: That is so sweet. Thank you for saying that.

WCT: Happy Pride Month. What are your plans?

KB: Press junkets.

JE: Honestly, that is true. We want to promote the show. I don't know how planned it was, but it is perfect that the special is coming out in June for Pride.

KB: It was intentional.

JE: It is definitely for the little alt-gays who are not adult. After we promote the special, since I just had back surgery, I will basically be sleeping.

KB: I'm his nurse!

WCT: Maybe one day, this sketch show can be performed live on stage somewhere and you could go on tour after your back heals.

KB: We are planning on performing until we die.

JE: When the film and TV world officially doesn't want us anymore then we can pivot into making a live show that we will tour with until we die!

Would It Kill You to Laugh? Starring Kate Berlant and John Early debuts on PeacockTV.com on Friday, June 24.


This article shared 1959 times since Tue Jun 21, 2022
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

RuPaul finds 'Hidden Meanings' in new memoir 2024-03-18
- RuPaul Andre Charles made a rare Chicago appearance for a book tour on March 12 at The Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave. Presented by National Public Radio station WBEZ 91.5 FM, the talk coincided with ...


Gay News

Oprah, Niecy Nash-Betts honored at GLAAD Media Awards 2024-03-15
- Oprah Winfrey and Niecy Nash-Betts were honored at the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards that took place in Los Angeles at The Beverly Hilton on March 14. Winfrey received the Vanguard Award, introduced by iconic Chicago ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

Queer Eye's Jai Rodriguez is set to slay at The Big Gay Cabaret 2024-03-05
- Out and proud performer Jai Rodriguez is set to play at The Big Gay Cabaret this March for three days. Presented by RuPaul Drag Racer Ginger Minj, this monthly series highlights the wide world of cabaret ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

THEATER Dot-Marie Jones talks Goodman production, 'Glee,' 'Bros' 2024-02-12
- Running through Feb. 18 at the the Goodman Theatre, the production Highway Patrol works with a script conceived entirely from Emmy-winning actor Dana Delany's (TV's China Beach) digital archive of hundreds of tweets and direct messages ...


Gay News

GLAAD finds missed chances for LGBTQ+ inclusion in Super Bowl ads 2024-02-12
--From a press release - Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024 — GLAAD is reacting to a lack of LGBTQ storytelling in ads that aired duringSuper Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 and is reminding brands, corporations and advertising agencies why including the LGBTQ ...


Gay News

SAVOR 'The Bear,' new pizza lounge, Chicago Black Restaurant Week 2024-02-11
- "Bear" necessities: The third season of the Chicago-set series The Bear will debut in June, per Variety. FX chairman John Landgraf made the announcement during the network's presentation at the Television Critics Association's winter 2024 press ...


Gay News

Quantum Leap reboot springs into LGBTQ+ representation 2024-02-09
- Through the magic of television, Quantum Leap is once again jumping into the past to bounce back into the future—and in a recent episode, "The Family Trasure," non-binary artist and performer Wilder Yuri and writer Shakina ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Raven-Symone, women's sports, Wayne Brady, Jinkx Monsoon, British Vogue 2024-02-09
- In celebration of Black History Month, the LA LGBT Center announced that lesbian entertainer Raven-Symone will be presented with the Center's Bayard Rustin Award at its new event, Highly Favored, per a press release. She joins ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Tom Holland, Bowen Yang, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey 2024-02-02
- In the wake of Nigel Lythgoe exiting So You Think You Can Dance, queer personality JoJo Siwa is returning to the series, per Deadline. Siwa, who was a judge on season 17 of the Fox show, will replace Lythgoe, who left ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Sundance items, Green Day, 'Wednesday,' Queerties, 'The Wiz' 2024-01-26
- At the Sundance Film Festival, Jodie Foster told Variety that the $1.4-billion success of Barbie helps confirm that Hollywood no longer views women directors as too much of a risk. She said, "With a big success ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.