You know when you’ve been an “emerging talent” for so long that you are able to get every single one of your funny, famous friends to attend the premiere of your first HBO stand-up special? Well, Kate Berlant does.
The comedian hosted a truly star-studded screening of “Parmesan” at Brain Dead Studios in Hollywood on Wednesday night, complete with appearances from Nathan Fielder, Ayo Edebiri, Hannah Einbinder, Meg Stalter, Chappell Roan and John Early, just to name a few.
“I’ve dreamt about saying ‘Thank you to everyone at HBO’ my whole life, so thank you. Finally a little respect in this town. I’m not bitter! No, I’m so happy, thank you. Truly a dream, every single step,” Berlant told her delighted crowd. “I don’t want to treat this like a popularity contest and be like, ‘Look who came to my birthday party’ — but look who came to my birthday party. There’s so many thought leaders here who I admire. If you’re not in the room, you’re not funny.”
“One of the best things about working at HBO is that we get to put together this amazing community of comedians, and I know a few of you are here tonight,” HBO Entertainment EVP Nina Rosenstein added in her introduction. “Everybody that we work with operates on their own very specific frequency, and I think Kate’s special is a perfect example of that … it’s like she’s the performer, the audience and the critic all at once.”
“She’s just superb and you can see it in everything she does. She’s someone who understands that the smallest detail can sometimes get the biggest laugh,” Rosenstein further praised. “For me, watching Kate is like watching poetry in motion — if poetry was good or funny.”
The hilarious evening continued with an after-party at Plaza Nightclub (where Berlant shot her special), with even more notable guests like D’Arcy Carden, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, Abbi Jacobson, Aidy Bryant, Sandy Honig, Anna Garcia, Kyle Mooney, Tig Notaro, Vanessa Bayer, Claudia O’Doherty, Cazzie David, Katie Gavin, Lucy Dacus, Tim Heidecker, Brian Huskey, Gabby Windey, Robby Hoffman, Nicholas Braun and Molly Shannon.
Kate Berlant’s “Parmesan” premieres Friday on HBO and HBO Max.
