Certain actors are seemingly so perfect in every role they play, I start thinking about a future where cloning exists, and what it’d be like to remake the classics with just one super-talented person playing all the roles. It’s a dumb idea, sure, but Kaitlin Olson is the just the kind of multi-talented performer who’d justify trying the clone thing at least once. She’s currently a triple threat on the 2025 TV schedule, and when she offers up comedy advice, anyone within earshot should be listening.
Case in point: the SAG-AFTRA Foundation shared an Instagram video featuring Olson’s mini-Masterclass session that, while obviously limited in time, still lays out a few of the best tenets to adhere to within a comedy career. As she put it:
When you’re doing improv, just listen. Listen, listen, listen. You don’t have to talk so much. Especially if you’re in a scene with a bunch of people who know what they’re doing. Listen, let them be funny, and when you have something to say, go ahead and go for it. And do not be afraid to fail, because not everything that comes out of your mouth is gonna be a home run, and that is okay. It’s not supposed to be.
The key talent of listening during any given scene, as opposed to reacting audibly, is one that comes with time and experience. In youth, everybody thinks they're capable of blurting out MST3K-level comedy on a dime, and that's so very rarely the case. Because early on, it's all about taking the most swings, even when so many of them fail to connect.
Even though it seems counterintuitive, the best piece of advice beyond "Listen" is "Try anything." Which isn't to say "Try everything all the time." Nobody wants that.
For someone who is so incredibly adept at physical, verbal, and mental humor, Kaitlin Olson would be a welcome addition to just about any TV comedy out there, no matter how broad or how satirical. Which is why it's still so wild that she landed arguably the biggest show of her career to date in 2024, and it's an hour-long crime-solving procedural. Albeit one that features other comedy stalwarts like Judy Reyes and Taran Killam.
I can imagine that every TV exec wants a star on Olson's level, and one with the same built-in fanbase, considering High Potential was among the most-watched debuts of 2024, and it only capitalized on that audience for its midseason return. And while procedurals aren't often bountiful by way of award nominations, Disney's TV boss seems bullish about the actress landing an Emmy nod.
Olson will be popping up across the currently airing fourth season of Max’s Emmy-hoarding comedy Hacks, as well as the impending 17th season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and let’s of course not forget the previously renewed second season of ABC’s procedural dramedy High Potential.
If there's anybody out there who watched the above video and still can't figure out how to be funny, maybe that engineering degree IS the way to go.
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