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    Back to The Business

    The Business

    Julie Klausner: Difficult People

    In the Hulu series Difficult People , Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner play Julie Kessler and Billy Epstein, best friends and struggling, snarky New York comedians with a tendency to blurt out whatever they're thinking. Their outbursts frequently get them in trouble with everyone around them, but only strengthen their own bond.

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    By Kim Masters • Jun 3, 2016 • 1 min read

    In the Hulu series Difficult People, Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner play Julie Kessler and Billy Epstein, best friends and struggling, snarky New York comedians with a tendency to blurt out whatever they're thinking. Their outbursts frequently get them in trouble with everyone around them, but only strengthen their own bond.

    Klausner, who created the show, is not exactly playing herself, but she can certainly draw on her experience as a comedian in New York. She started out taking classes offered by the Upright Citizen's Brigade in the late 90's, just as key members the improv troupe moved from Chicago to Manhattan, including Amy Poehler, who serves as the show's executive producer.

    Klausner has done all kinds of comedic writing and performing -- books, television, podcasts and even recaps of Bravo reality shows for Vulture.

    She tells us how her experience as a recapper worked its way into her character on the show, and why television is the perfect medium to portray deep friendships, rather than traditional love stories. She also addresses her complicated relationship with social media and what she learned from a Twitter spat that gained a lot of attention several months ago.

    Season 2 of Difficult People premieres on Hulu on July 12.

    The full episode

    2 of 2
    Julie Klausner on Romantic Friendships and 'Difficult People'
    1. 1:24Hollywood News Banter
    2. 8:26Julie Klausner: Difficult PeopleYou’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/e23b2c8a5a7a4a05410f82a6104e445f/custom_thumbnail_large.png?h=250&fm=webp

      Kim Masters

      partner/writer at Puck News, host of KCRW's “The Business.”

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/e23b2c8a5a7a4a05410f82a6104e445f/custom_thumbnail_large.png?h=250&fm=webp

      Kaitlin Parker

      Producer, 'The Business' and 'Hollywood Breakdown'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Julie Klausner

      comedian, writer, actor, producer

      CultureEntertainmentArts

    The full episode

    2 of 2
    Julie Klausner on Romantic Friendships and 'Difficult People'
    1. 1:24Hollywood News Banter
    2. 8:26Julie Klausner: Difficult PeopleYou’re reading this
    Back to The Business