Kate Berlant in HBO's "Parmesan," the prank that made a man win her back, and her next project with John Early

Kate Berlant's new HBO special Parmesan has one punch line, and it's not cheese. "My addiction? My phone," the comedian says at the start of the hour. Berlant, with his understated style and performance pride, has been longing for Cell Phones for a while in the special, which will be released on October 16.

There's a punchline to Kate Berlant's new HBO special, "Parmesan," and it's not cheese.

"My addiction? My phone," the comedian says at the beginning of the hour.

With a simple style and performance pride, Berlant has been looking forward to the flagship handset for a while, which will be available on October 16. He rules on important issues of our time, like whether we should cover a baby's face with an emoticon or comment "PARMESAN" to get a link to a pasta recipe. In one of the funniest episodes, he talks about watching videos of "unspeakable violence" to "calm down," such as "gorillas punching zookeepers, tourists being eaten by sharks." Related Stories New Naruto Anime Series and Shadow Rising Manga Blade Runner 2099 Trailer Revealed: Michelle Yeoh, Hunter Schafer Star in Amazon Limited Series

"It makes me nostalgic, when you could numb yourself at the local watering hole," Berlant tells Variety. "It feels so strange all of a sudden. You're going to be with your community and some people are abusing alcohol in horrible ways, but at least you're together and you get to interact with other people." Popular in Variety

He's at an Airbnb in San Diego, removing the "home sweet home" pillows from the bed and couch because "they have hepatitis."

"There's this loneliness, which is palpable," Berlant continues, "and I think it's going to drive people to community, because we're going to realize that's what we need.

You know what's funny? When I was going to shoot the special, I was like, "I'm not talking about the end of the world." Do I really want to stay in the fear we're all drowning in? I say I'm not pessimistic, but I think fear is an appropriate response to the times we live in, so I say I'm afraid.

In general, I am hopeful and optimistic and think there is a lot of beauty in the world. But I think we're living in an undeniably terrible existential moment, and so it seems disingenuous or weird not to address it eventually, because I think that's the water we're swimming in right now. It's a strange time, and it also brings me back to my good fortune of performing live. To me, the beauty of stand-up is that it's about dealing with real people, and we're seeing the death of the live arts in all walks of life right now. So I don't think it's particularly dark, but I think it acknowledges some of the themes that dominate contemporary life.

I agree it will never die. People always want people. I was on a social media cleanse for six weeks, so I went for the last [period of AI paranoia]. I logged back in because my special was announced and I wanted a dopamine boost. When I was on social media, I saw all the AI ​​stuff and it really blew me away. And then last night I deleted it again, because I can't do it.

We are fighting for our lives. As far as being a barrier to creativity - well, it's complicated. There's a part of me that's like, "I want to understand the culture." I like young people. I don't want to lose track of where they are and what they're looking at. I think this is really necessary. I haven't figured out how to have an ambient relationship, where you kind of understand, but it doesn't completely overtake your consciousness.

This is an obstacle for all of us, whether you consider yourself creative or not. It prevents you from communicating with yourself and others. I definitely procrastinate, my concentration is lost because of this, so I have to change myself and it takes a lot of discipline. I was in school for many years and I always loved school and I don't think I can be in school now.

oh my god I know why people have said that, but I've certainly been called a "weird comedian" or an "alternative comedian," "left of center." Sometimes this confuses me, because I've always considered myself quite broad. I roll my damn eyes. I'm known almost primarily as a physical comedian, and so, I hope my act is broad. I hope I can communicate with all different people.

In my opinion, it should be Oscar category! I embrace "character actor" with everything I've got. I was always going to be a character actor because my hair is curly and my eyes bug out. You are either a character or a female character actor

no I've never been drawn to being seen as edgy, or doing edgy stuff. I don't think I ever thought, "I've gone too far."

This is really interesting to me: in this hour there is something that made someone angry and I was shocked. I have a joke about dads being like a family friend. I was doing that joke, and I noticed two people get up and leave - center audience. I saw it, but I just thought, "Surely that's not what I do." And later I was told it was this man and his wife or partner. And when I said, "Dad is a family friend." And then in the lobby, he threw a glass of wine. I touched a nerve and was surprised by it.

He probably feels a lot of shame or guilt towards his parents.

My comedy has always referred obliquely to myself. I have never talked about myself autobiographically. The [Off-Broadway] show I did before that, "Kate," was a send-off from that. So this was the first time I was doing autobiographical stuff, or actually trying to sort out questions about myself that I really had. Was it harder? No, it was all I could do. I had done the "kit" and it wasted a few years of my life. And then I said, "I guess I'll try to write stand-up again." I thought, "So many things have changed in my life and in the world. I can't pick up where I left off and do it again. I can't present these personal caricatures without communicating freely and without presenting. Addressing what actually happened to me."

So it wasn't harder or easier. It was just the logical next step, as I had just spent two years doing something that wasn't specifically about me. Well, it's all about yourself, of course, always, but I mean, I created someone that I'm not. I have an abusive Irish mother in that show, and that's just not true. So now I was like, "Okay, I think I should talk about myself."

I chronically struggle to get off stage with stand-up. There's this pressure to do a big closer, everyone goes ballistic and you go. There's something inherently shameful about that, because you reduce yourself to this expectation of form. It makes sense to want to go out with a big laugh, or to wrap things up and then leave. It makes sense but there's always been something about it...I just can't do it.

I was doing a show in New York, and one of my oldest friends, Doron Haughey, who was directing the special, said, "You need a closer." I was thinking about it and I was like, "It would be funny if I never quit."

i know It's so funny because I forgot you just can never get away from yourself. These same questions and ideas and motifs will haunt you for the rest of your life. I hadn't even thought that I was in the lobby for my last show when everyone came in, and now I'm on stage as everyone leaves.

yes what is that The performance is so strange, it's such a strange encounter. You come on stage, everyone's like "Ai", and then you leave. It is very satisfying, I like it very much. It's funny how everyone knows their role, which I think is something really relaxing to see live. For me, the most interesting thing is to disrupt this expectation. I would be remiss if I didn't admit that I went to a master's program called Performance Studies, which explores questions about the relationship between audience and performer.

As an emerging talent, I feel like - listen, I'm a ham, and I always will be, and so I love any opportunity to be an idiot or put on a little show. If someone comes up to me and likes my comedy, that just makes me excited. I'm not Mariah Carey. My life has not been interrupted by enjoying my comedy. enriched with it. But having a persona, an awareness of who you are—all of these are chronically enhanced by social media. I feel there is no problem in the world, flesh and blood. This is good. It's not complicated at all for me, because I'm not Mariah Carey. Where it gets complicated is navigating that character and watching and performing online. This is the new thing. It's not very new, but it's very new. Here's what can confuse me or turn me off: how to keep that functionality going on the Internet.

People are remarkably respectful and understanding. People are smart. People know what to do. When you say you're a stand-up comedian, often one of the first questions you get is, "Oh, are you being mean?" And basically it does not exist. It's a new, twisted obsession with stand-up clips, but it's not real. It doesn't really happen. It's certainly happened in the history of comedy, and I've had it several times. I actually had it kind of calling my voice. There was a woman in the front row talking to me, and I had to be like, "Please don't talk to me!"

And collective work is such an art form. I want to be clear: Todd Berry, Moshe Kasher, they are comedians who do it beautifully. This is a different category. That really exists. But what you're talking about is a direct symptom of social media and those clips, and people who think that's what watching comedy is all about. But even if I perform in a club, most people won't do that to me.

Let's say we're ready to have a TV show, and I'll leave it at that. We've had a few—I don't want to use the word "failed"—television events that didn't happen. The pilots that didn't go, or we were actually in pilot pre-production when the covid came out, and then it went away. So we're back in the workshop and we're currently writing.

Absolutely, and John is a brilliant director and writer, and I'm so glad he's finally being seen as the filmmaker he really is. But we are currently exploring television as a medium that can work for us.

I'm not trying to be too cryptic. We're really at the beginning - we have an idea. So let's disrupt the market: we have an amazing idea! We love to make TV for people.

"Parmesan" premieres on HBO and HBO Max on October 16 at 10 p.m. PT. This interview has been edited and condensed.