Lisa Ann Walter Debuts Standup Comedy Special on Hulu Lisa Ann Walter, known for her role as Barbara Howard on the sitcom Abbott Elementary, has released her first standup comedy special, titled Lisa Ann Walter: It Was An Accident, now streaming on Hulu. The special was filmed last summer at the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia, a venue Walter describes as a place where performers are judged by their authenticity. She emphasized that the decision to film in Philly was intentional, noting that the audience there provides unfiltered feedback. “They don’t fake it there. If you’re not funny, they let you know. They let you know when they love you,” she said. Walter’s friends, family members, and Abbott Elementary co-stars gathered in New York City to celebrate the release of the special. She reflected on the journey that led to this milestone, calling it “a moment that’s almost four decades in the making.” Comedy, she said, is the reason she became a performer. “It was why God put me on the planet - to make people laugh,” she stated. The special includes a segment where Walter recounts her early days in standup, including a personal anecdote about driving through Times Square with her baby in the backseat. She now sees a billboard of her own in the same location, a moment she described as surreal. “I used to drive through when I was doing standup back in the day with my baby in the backseat, and now there’s a billboard in the middle of Times Square,” she said. “I’ve been doing this for 37 years, and this is my first special. It just goes to show you, you never know when it’s going to happen for you, and it’s never too late.” Walter credited her Abbott Elementary co-star and friend Sheryl Lee Ralph for envisioning the special’s grandeur. Ralph, she said, encouraged her to embrace the opportunity.#philadelphia #hulu #abbott_elementary #lisa_ann_walter #helium_comedy_club
Quinta Brunson on How Mary Tyler Moore Inspired Her Career Path Emmy-winning “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson grew up on a diet of Nick at Nite, so she remembers “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” fondly. “That show went platinum in my household,” she says. “‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ was supremely important to me. As a kid, I wasn’t necessarily looking for representation or anything other than ‘this is a really funny show.’ And that theme song is second nature to me!” Later on, as Brunson pursued her dreams, Moore’s path was a guidepost. So it’s all the more appropriate that Brunson is set to receive the Mary Tyler Moore Visionary Award at Variety’s FYC TV Fest on May 6. “Seeing her first on ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show,’ she gave me this understanding of how the business could work — that you could be a featured player on one show and then a lead on your own show,” says Brunson. “And then have your own business, have your own studio. I remember seeing Mary Tyler Moore on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show,’ and seeing these two incredible women in media and television just sitting there chatting it up, that was really defining for me. It made me never question whether or not I could do this.” Even now, Brunson continues to be a student of television. She’s currently rewatching “Girlfriends,” caught up on old episodes of “The Steve Harvey Show” and has given “Dharma & Greg” a try for the first time. “I remember it from when I was younger, but I never actually watched the series,” she says. “I know it was a big sitcom, and that show was everywhere at the time — but now, I personally barely ever hear it mentioned! It was a very good pilot.#quinta_brunson #mary_tyler_moore #variety_fyc_tv_fest #abbott_elementary #westfield_promenade_mall
