Kate Berlant And John Early Reveal True Inspirations Behind ‘Would It Kill You To Laugh?’ – Contenders TV: Docs + Unscripted

Lynette Rice
·2 min read
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Longtime pals Kate Berlant and John Early started honing their craft as comedians via YouTube, in the days it when it was considered “the wild, wild west” and you could post whatever you want. Those 12-minute sketches not only helped them to find a rhythm but ultimately paved the way for Would It Kill You to Laugh?, an hourlong sketch show for Peacock that showcases their specific brand of knee-slappers.

Take, for instance, the skits that involve paying restaurant checks with actual melted caramel.

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“We used to go to restaurants in the beginning of our friendship and we would say to the waiters, ‘Do you take hot caramel?’ ” recalled Early.

“It just made us laugh,” continued Berlant. “We like the way it sounded. It sounded funny in our mouths. And so when we were looking in the vault for things that make us laugh, that was it. An internal joke. We liked having this kind of strange element in an otherwise totally mundane transaction that’s so universal. We thought we could really help highlight these social dynamics around paying a check, which is always so loaded when you’re at a restaurant with a friend or co-worker.”

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The special, which dropped in June on the streamer, focuses on the comedians playing heightened versions of themselves. The main storyline threaded throughout has Berlant and Early playing former sitcom stars who come together for a special “reunion” moderated by Meredith Vieira, who plays herself.

“We wrote this before Covid, before the Friends reunion,” explained Early. “We’ve just always been obsessed with this. The true inspiration was this video of Suzanne Summers and Joyce DeWitt reuniting.”

“Which you have to watch,” added Berlant. “It was a very early video in our friendship that John showed me. It’s of these two women and the hostility and the anger and competition is like so in the room.”

“But they’re smiling through the whole thing and they’re both kind of clutching each other’s hands and they’re so happy,” said Early. “They’re so happy to see each other, but there’s so much brewing underneath it.”

Check out the panel video above.

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