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For Jean Smart, stand-up comedy’s been a longtime dream—ever since she first saw Phyllis Diller cracking jokes on television—but she was always afraid to try it herself. In HBO Max’s new comedy
Hacks, she gets to do the next best thing: Play one on TV—or maybe it’s
the best thing, considering there’s no live audience to bomb in front of. “It was a little intimidating,” Smart admits, “[but] it’s great because the audience we’re doing it in front of... were paid to have to laugh. And that’s the audience you want!”