After 17 years on the stand-up circuit, Matteo Lane is slinging jokes to his biggest audience to date ― with a boost from Hulu.
Lane released his first major comedy special, “The Al Dente Special,” on Hulu last week. Filmed before a live audience in Los Angeles, the special captures the Chicago-born comedian in delightfully irreverent form, dropping zingers about his Italian and Mexican family members and his encounters with Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey and Katy Perry. Along the way, he takes on the present-day pratfalls of navigating the world as a gay man with self-effacing wit.
The release of “The Al Dente Special” caps off a prolific spring for Lane, who concluded a two-year comedy tour with a show at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in April. That same month, he unveiled “Your Pasta Sucks,” a playful cookbook in which he serves up Italian recipes with snark and sass. In March, he made a well-received guest appearance on “Abbott Elementary.”
As to what he’d like audiences to take away from his latest work, Lane replied, “Escapism.”
“I’ve always felt like my stand-up is like I’m catching up with a friend at brunch, going over what’s happened the past year in my life,” Lane said in an interview with HuffPost. “That’s how I tell stories with my family and friends. Anything that feels genuine and organic to me is more important than making some giant statement.”
