Cooking shows have undergone something of a renaissance in recent years, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. No longer are we limited to Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, or any of the other big name celebrity chefs; now we get to see a huge variety of every day folks at home in their kitchen, whipping up everything from fabulous desserts to… kind of questionable experiments. With that in mind, I’d like to take this moment to introduce you to Stand Up and Eat, the latest comedy cooking series to hit YouTube. Laughter plus food equals winning, right?
Stand Up and Eat is kind of like the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee of the kitchen: Each episode, host Daisy Wall chats with a different comedian about the kinds of things they eat over the sink when no one is watching. The first episode, “Jerkale Noir,” features Emily Tarver of the comedic band Summer and Eve and VH1’s Best Week Ever. Wall and Tarver start by sifting through the contents of Tarver’s fridge, unearthing such wonders as Five Hour Energy and peppered beef jerky, before moving on to the main event: Taking all those weird things from the fridge and turning them into some sort of dish. It may or may not be edible, but that’s not really the point, is it? If you’re curious about what exactly “Jerkale Noir” is, I suggest you watch:
Things I did not know until today include the fact that beef jerky has an expiration date. Seriously — I thought that stuff was meant to last through the apocalypse and then some. Apparently I was wrong.
Stand Up and Eat joins myriad web series that turn the whole cooking show thing on its head; my personal favorites are My Drunk Kitchen and And She Bakes (shoutout to my fellow New School for Drama graduates), but this one is a nice addition to the bunch. According to creator and producer Anna Holtzman, the team behind it is all women — a rarity in comedy, but hopefully a norm that’s starting to change for the better. More diversity in comedy can only lead to more things to laugh at, right?
Oooo! Stand Up and Eat crew? I’ve got a guest star suggestions for you: Kate Hendricks, AKA Kate the Wasp. I can only imagine what sort of magic would result from putting everyone’s favorite pearl-clutcher in the kitchen to fend for herself. Just think of the possibilities!
Image: Stand Up and Eat/YouTube
