Hulu has added Matteo Lane to its comedy lineup.
Lane is set to film his special on Oct. 24 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica. And though its release date is being kept under wraps, the hour will join a forthcoming lineup that’s already set to include Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, Ilana Glazer, Roy Wood Jr., Atsuko Okatsuka, Jessica Kirson and Chris Distefano.
“I am thrilled to be part of the Disney Hulu family. This is the closest I’ll get to becoming the 5th Golden Girl,” Lane joked in a statement announcing the news.
To date, Lane’s comedy has been delivered via his “Can’t Stop Talking Tour,” which kicked off this past summer, and his past specials, Hair Plugs & Heartache and The Advice Special. His material often tackles both his experiences as a gay man and his comical insights into everyday life. On screen, he can be seen in projects including Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest and the Amazon film Upgraded.
As his bio reads, Lane is also “fluent in five languages” and boasts a “singing range of six octaves.“ In fact, before launching his comedy career, he lived in Italy as an oil painter and a classically trained opera singer — in the years since, he’s been known for “his unique blend of stand-up comedy, musical prowess and artistic versatility,” according to a Hulu press release.
For the streamer, this is the latest push as it looks to muscle into the crowded standup market, which has resulted in competing standup brands and frequent bidding wars. Next month, Hulu, which has been willing to shell out as much as eight figures for the right comic, will begin rolling out its monthly curation of specials, which it’s billing its “Hularious” brand.
The internal mantra has been quality over quantity, which Hulu sees as a way to distinguish itself from Netflix, which remains the 800-pound gorilla of the standup space and releases specials weekly. As part of its effort to become a real destination for comedy, Hulu will also house a collection of licensed specials, both iconic hours and more recent releases.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
