On my radar: Cat Cohen’s cultural highlights

Cat Cohen was born in 1991 and raised in Houston, Texas. She studied English at Princeton and got into standup in New York, fusing it with a love of musical theatre and cabaret. Her show The Twist...? She’s Gorgeous won her the best newcomer award at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe and became a Netflix special. She has published a book, released an album and starred in TV shows such as Only Murders in the Building and the forthcoming Joachim Trier film Sentimental Value. Her new standup show Broad Strokes is on in Edinburgh until 24 August.

Nina by Forrest Malloy at Theaterlab, New York

This is the best play I’ve seen all year. It’s about a group of women in their last year at acting school who share a dressing room. Something happens with a classmate that they’re all talking about. They’re also facing graduation and the challenge of following their passions. It really captured what it’s like to be a young woman in that phase of life – a lot of the female friendship dynamics felt very familiar to me. It’s just so well done and the performances were amazing.

The Valley (Bravo)

I’d never been into reality TV, but then a year ago someone was like: “You need to watch Vanderpump Rules.” It’s a show about the staff at a group of restaurants in Hollywood. Now there’s a spin-off called The Valley in which some of them have settled down and they’re trying to start families. It’s this bleak picture of American adulthood that is so captivating. They’re trying to be adults, but they’re still disasters. It’s the most amazing character study of the craziest people in the world, and so addictive.

Paradise Logic by Sophie Kemp

I saw Kemp reading from this book in New York and picked it up as fast as I could. It’s a totally surreal account of a woman who wants to be the world’s best girlfriend. It’s bizarre and grotesque, and some lines I had to reread and be like, “What the fuck?”, which is always exciting. It’s incredibly well written. I love a book that’s funny while being devastating. I don’t know if it changed my view on relationships but it definitely made me grateful for the one I have.

The Higher the Hair, The Closer to God by Bunny White

Bunny White is an amazing musician. I came across her song Arizona a few years ago and could not stop playing it. Now she’s released a full album and, gosh, it’s so lush and beautiful and genre-bending and catchy. The lyrics are so thoughtful and witty. There’s some jazzy stuff, some poppier stuff and some of it feels almost like musical theatre. The track Wasted Years is expansive, but I would say check out Arizona – that was the one I could not get out of my head.

Jeanine Brito

I found Brito’s work on Instagram and then I went to one of her shows in New York at the Nicodim Gallery. She’s a German-born artist currently living in Montreal, and her paintings are so captivating – spooky, beautiful, feminine and dreamlike. I want a massive one hanging in my house. I love how she has gorgeous women in lipstick with lots of blood everywhere: it’s grotesque and beautiful at the same time. I’m dying for her to paint me. I just love her point of view.

Who? Weekly

I just started listening to this but some of my friends have been fans for years. It’s like a gossip podcast, but about D to G list celebrities. They talk about niche influencers, or that person from reality TV who now has a skincare line, or so-and-so’s son who is married to that person’s kid. It’s super specific celebrity commentary. It really makes you see the state of the world and what being famous means in an age when everyone’s sort of famous.

Photographs by Dia Dipasupil/WireImage, Emilio Madrid, Bravo Channel, TV Wife Records, Jeanine Brito/Nicodim Gallery