Lebanese social media personality, Lary BS, and a group of online content creators are setting ground for a new type of entertainment show through "Lary Screens," a satirical web series.
The weekly show features episodes centering around the latest film releases and celebrity news... but tackles them in a completely original manner.
Speaking to StepFeed, the creators of "Lary Screens" told us more about the web show and how they're working on shaking up Lebanon's comedy scene.
On the show's vision
In a statement to StepFeed, the creators of "Lary Screens" told us more about the vision behind the web show.
"'Lary Screens’ is a comedy web show that has a satirical take on movie reviews and includes spoofs and absurd fake news. It’s produced in collaboration with Beirutworks, a Beirut-Based production company. It stars Lary BS and is directed by Michael Atallah. Both take part in the writing process with feedback from Corinne Sanan, executive producer of Beirutworks," they said.
When asked what they hope to achieve through it, they added:
"The show tries to promote an inclusive aspect of comedy, meaning the aim is to make the audience laugh with the characters played by Lary and not at them. Therefore, no homophobic, sexist or racist jokes are tolerated, nor is cyber-bullying. That being said, political correctness is not our type of comedy either."
"Our intention is never to hurt anyone and we brainstorm a lot before coming up with our narratives and writing the perfect joke, with perfect flow, pace and most importantly, punchline," they added.
On the shift from television to online entertainment
In the day and age of internet and social media, thousands of Lebanese are moving away from Television and instead opting to stream content online.
When asked why they think that might be, the show's producers said:
"No one has the time nowadays to stick to a certain time or time frame whenever they need to watch something, nor wait for a certain day in order to watch show episodes or films. Anyone can watch anything, anytime online. Even TV has gotten the memo, in the Netflix era."
On plans for the future and their message to young Arab online content creators
When asked about their upcoming plans for the show, its creators said:
"More gags, more inclusiveness, and more political incorrectness. Our aim is to change the aspect of comedy in Lebanon, and hopefully, later on, in the Middle East, one joke at a time."
Their message to young Arab artists who want to find their own voices online is direct and inspiring:
"Stay true to your own selves and don’t let anyone convince you that in order to fit in, you need to conform."