Indie Spotlight: “The Incredible Life Of Darrell” Delivers Deadpan Laughs

We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now.  Read previous installments here. 

Many web series claim to offer awkward moments from the lives of their protagonists. This week’s featured indie series takes that formula one step further: The protagonist is himself a walking, talking awkward moment. Actor Darrell Lake is the creator and star of The Incredible Life of Darrell, which delivers the funny through its deadpan lead.

The Incredible Life of Darrell is set in Wakooki, a fictional Arizona town. Darrell and his friends all grew up together, and that plot point drives a lot of the comedy. In the debut, for example, Darrell has a “Date Night” with his longtime crush (played by Tru Collins of MTV’s Awkward), an event that mostly consists of a stilted conversation on the couch.

The decision to introduce characters who have known each other since childhood complements the fact that they are all varying types of grown-up kids. The second episode centers around a party invite from the one-time coolest kid in school.

It’s hard to peg what exactly makes The Incredible Life of Darrell so appealing, but it offers a charming take on cringe comedy, with just a hint of Wes Anderson thrown in. A new episode will arrive on April 7th.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• Sunday Morning Anxiety. A pair of women hash out their hungover frustrations in a series of sketches.
• Welcome to Anhedonia. Punk rock meets puppets.
• The Misselthwaite Archives. This web series gives the Lizzie Bennet treatment to The Secret Garden.
• Space Hock. An alien and his human companions cavort around space in this sci-fi comedy.

Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here. For best coverage, please include a full episode in your e-mail.