Kate Berlant and Byron Bowers are finally getting the hour-long treatment at Hulu
Both Berlant and Bowers have live comedy specials coming to the streamer this Thursday via FX
Much like your little brother wearing a mustache to impress your friends at a sleepover, Hulu has decided to prove it can be just as much of a stand-up comedy machine as HBO Max or Netflix with two new specials from rising comedy talent. A League Of Their Own’s Kate Berlant and Irma Vep’s Byron Bowers are each bringing their stand-up to Hulu via FX this month.
Directed by Bo Burnham, Berlant’s show Kate Berlant: Cinnamon In The Wind was filmed back in 2019, before the duo worked together on Berlant’s acclaimed immersive live show KATE. The special is Berlant’s first filmed solo performance. Per a release, the special “distorts audience’s expectations to her comedy, while also exploring her clairvoyant connection to the crowd and her inability to stop performing.” Berlant is known for her sometimes exhaustive showmanship and off-beat characters, showcased in Would It Kill You To Laugh?, her recent Peacock sketch special with frequent collaborator John Early.
As for Bowers, Byron Bowers: Spiritual N***a marks his first televised comedy special, after an early writing gig on Tyler, the Creator’s Loiter Squad and stints on both The Eric Andre Show and The Chi. Although the show, like Berlant’s, is filmed live standup, it has a slightly absurdist and cinematic premise nonetheless. Bowers performs immediately after having “a life-altering revelation while tripping on psychedelic mushrooms.” His first move after the spiritual awakening, naturally? To stumble “straight from the desert” and perform a set that sounds like the very definition of “fresh material.”
Directed by Alma Har’el, the special grapples with Bowers’ “long journey to his first comedy special, the stigma of mental health, and how tripping on mushrooms made him understand his schizophrenic father and altered the way he feels about his Blackness.” Bowers delivered the set in his hometown of Atlanta, at the Decatur Boxing Club.
Kate Berlant: Cinnamon In The Wind and Byron Bowers: Spiritual N***a are both set to debut exclusively on Hulu on September 15.