The 'Megan Stalter Character' Is Its Own Comedy Genre Now

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( profile [The ‘Megan Stalter Character’ Is Its Own Comedy Genre Now]( Where does the real person end and her personae begin? Photo: Magnus Unnar [Megan Stalter]( doesn’t mean to peek at my notes, honest. “I’m so sorry,” she says in her midwestern-nice way. “It’s just sometimes your eyes are always looking for your name. Isn’t that psychotic?” The 31-year-old comedian is fighting a laugh through her apology because my notepad actually reads, “Is Megan Stalter real?” This is indeed a ridiculous thing to see written about yourself, but Stalter knows ridiculousness. Her biggest Hollywood flex to date has come on HBO Max’s [Hacks](, where she has played the charmingly oblivious, incompetent assistant Kayla for two seasons. But, really, doing viral character work in the early lockdown days broke her first. An internal logic unites even Stalter’s most out-there creations in a common humanity, from an oversharing [sex “expert”](to [“Drew Barrymore on the beach.”]( Her characters’ mannerisms are always a flimsy cover-up for base-operating levels of nerves, hostility, or unpreparedness. They pull their faces into the exact opposite of a smize and call their off-screen co-workers “girlie” through gritted teeth. The people Stalter embodies teeter between sad and funny; it’s a crapshoot of either publicly falling apart or silently screaming. Her delicate balancing act is to keep them endearing regardless. [Read The Story »]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now](for unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • [Under the Banner of Heaven:]( All the Wisdom You Need • [The Boys:]( Peacetime • [For All Mankind:]( A Town Called Malice • [Top Chef:]( The Promise of Greatness [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like 1. [The Circus Was Televised The American Depp v. Heard case played to an audience primed for out-of-context spectacle, and it worked.]( By Jen Chaney 2. [Hot Joel Summer Joel Kim Booster’s deliciously bawdy debut film, Fire Island, maps Pride and Prejudice’s class tensions onto the vacation hideaway for gay men.]( 3. [P-Valley Season Two Spins Out Katori Hall’s Starz drama loses the consistency and cohesion that drove its first season.]( 4. [Every Laura Dern Role, Ranked Often volatile and warped onscreen, immensely likable off-screen.]( By Matthew Jacobs [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( 5. [O-T Fagbenle on Re-creating Obama’s Still Timely Sandy Hook Speech The First Lady actor shot his re-creation of the president’s tearful 2012 statement on the last day of production for the Showtime series.]( By Radhika Menon 6. [David Cronenberg Explains Himself He says his latest film, Crimes of the Future, works on multiple levels. “But I really do think we’re kind of destroying the earth.”]( By Rachel Handler [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 10-Across, Five Letters: Dr. ___ Sattler (role reprised by Laura Dern in ‘Jurassic World Dominion’) Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos Courtesy of Studios Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. [Watch Fire Island](, a gay retelling of Pride and Prejudice, now streaming on Hulu. Alison Willmore calls it “a reluctant romantic comedy that’s willing to acknowledge the genre’s shopworn pleasures while only begrudgingly indulging them itself. All of its best parts — and there are plenty — exist outside of that framing, which raises the question of why it’s there at all.” [Read more from Vulture]( Next week at Union Hall Vulture’s weekly comedy show, Pretty Major, will feature Jay Jurden, Zach Zimmerman, Nico Carney, Rachel Pegram, and more. [Buy tickets here.]( Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY Introducing Dinner Party, a lively new evening newsletter about everything that just happened. [Sign up]( to get it every weeknight. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved