Parmesan
HBO · 2026 · 62 min
Clowning, phone addiction, and manic neuroses delivered with deliberate theatrical control.
Released , on HBO.
Kate Berlant treats the microphone stand like an obstacle and her own stage presence like a practical joke. She crosses her eyes, locks her arms into rigid angles, and breaks character to argue with her subconscious about whether a thought was planned or accidental. An ego-loss mushroom trip yields no grand philosophical epiphany, only the humiliating realization that her mind is preoccupied with prestige television.
Filmed at the Plaza Nightclub in Los Angeles and directed by Doron Max Hagay, the 2026 HBO hour follows Berlant’s off-Broadway solo show Kate and years of sketch work alongside John Early. Where her 2022 release Cinnamon in the Wind leaned on loose improvisation in front of a mirror, this set is deliberate and tightly scripted.
She spends much of the hour stewing over compulsive phone addiction, the awkwardness of coming out as queer in her thirties, and the bizarre mechanics of social media comments—including the throwaway remark that supplies the title.
Notable bits & set list
-
Commenting 'Parmesan' on an Instagram pasta recipe
Surrendering all dignity and intellect to the algorithmic prompt 'Comment this word to get the link sent to your inbox,' only to see that acclaimed Succession actress Sarah Snook did the exact same thing.
-
The world ending and future rituals
Opening the show declaring 'world's ending' and contemplating how individual funerals will cease, babies born today will be dumped in piles, and she will end up shining shoes for robots.
-
Watching violent videos to unwind
Contrasting her immigrant Spanish grandmother calming herself in a garden with Berlant watching 'Crazy Clips' of gorillas fist-fighting zookeepers and shark attacks while feeling completely numb.
-
The closer (spoiler). Show it
The Anti-Closer
Refusing to deliver a traditional climax or grand closing punchline, instead remaining awkwardly on stage while the house lights come up and the audience departs.
How it plays
- Tone
- Absurdist, self-deprecating, existential, playful, and irreverent.
- On stage
- An expressive, physical, and absurdist clown who blends highbrow millennial philosophy with vaudevillian slapstick, crossed eyes, bizarre physical contortions, and meta-commentary.
- Pace
- Unrestrained, jittery momentum that alternates between rapid stream-of-consciousness tangents, deliberate elongated pauses, and sudden robot-like glitches.
- About
- phone addiction and doomscrolling, existential dread and the end of the world, discovering queerness and bisexuality in her late 30s, the conventions and artifice of stand-up comedy, freezing eggs and motherhood, family and Spanish heritage
What the critics said
Universally praised by critics as a brilliant, wacky, and astutely observational deconstruction of both modern digital alienation and the art form of stand-up comedy, spotlighting Berlant's masterful physical comedy and stage presence.
In the room: An intimate nightclub dynamic where Berlant actively played off crowd reactions; she reported a test joke about fathers being like family friends provoked an offended patron to flip her off and shatter a glass of wine in the lobby.
Backstory
Personal discovery of queerness in her late 30s, her relationship with Naomi McPherson, coping with severe phone addiction, and broad existential anxiety surrounding technology, AI, and the end of the world.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- The Plaza Nightclub, Los Angeles
- Runtime
- 62 min
- Where
- HBO
- Director
- Doron Max Hagay
- Trailer
- Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)
- Topics
- Featured in
- Walkouts, Paywalls, and Ticket Receipts
Similar specials
-
Tom Walker Very Very
Prime Video
-
Zach Zucker Stamptown
Netflix
-
Rhys Darby 25 Years
YouTube