Watch the Trailer for Leo Reich’s A24-Produced Comedy Special Literally Who Cares?!

By Clare Martin  |  November 30, 2023 | 12:51pm
Screenshot via YouTube
Comedy News Leo Reich
Watch the Trailer for Leo Reich’s A24-Produced Comedy Special Literally Who Cares?!

A24 doesn’t just produce widely acclaimed indie movies or extremely disturbing HGTV parodies anymore; now they’re delving into the even darker world of stand-up comedy.

Leo Reich’s first-ever solo comedy special, Literally Who Cares?!, is due for release on HBO on Saturday, December 16th at 10 p.m. ET/PT and will be streaming on Max. Reich’s project is a rare Edinburgh Fringe Festival success story—an increasingly difficult accomplishment as the saturated event causes the city’s prices to soar in August every year. Literally Who Cares?! also enjoyed an Off-Broadway run, and the version viewers at home will watch was taped at EartH in London this fall.

Today, HBO has shared the neon-colored, bombastic trailer for Literally Who Cares?!, written and performed by Reich, of course, and directed by Thomas Hardiman. The hour combines Reich’s storytelling and stand-up with songs composed by Toby Marlow, a fellow Edinburgh Fringe alum. Marlow co-created the musical Six, which retells history through the eyes of Henry VIII’s wives and a slew of banging pop songs. The trailer for Literally Who Cares?! only teases one of the songs in store, but that taste feels very on-brand for Marlow: upbeat, club-ready, and funny. 

The snippets of comedy we see during the trailer possess that searing Gen Z self-awareness that can teeter over into nihilism (see: the special’s title). In Reich’s own words: “I came here to raise awareness—I haven’t decided of what.” 

Parody seems to be his second language; the trailer opens up with Reich embodying a self-help guru in front of a screen full of dreamy purple clouds, poking fun at the tendency of some to overuse therapy speech to the point of avoiding any accountability.

Already I can imagine comparisons to Catherine Cohen’s cabaret comedy special The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous, which also continually flips the coin of self deprecation and grandiosity favored by many younger comics with Big Theater Kid Energy. Although, instead of some quirky piano-led ballads, the tracks in Reich’s special seem (at first glance) to be much more twerk-worthy.

Watch the trailer for Leo Reich’s debut comedy special Literally Who Cares?! below.

 
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