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How Armando Iannucci makes satire when the truth is stranger than fiction

Armando Iannucci attends HBO's Official 2015 Emmy After Party at The Plaza at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, California.
Armando Iannucci attends HBO's Official 2015 Emmy After Party at The Plaza at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, California.

The season finale of “Avenue 5,” the HBO series satirizing space tourism and America’s billionaire class, premiers tonight. The show stars Hugh Laurie, who plays a fake captain of a spaceship with thousands of affluent tourists going mad after they’ve learned they’re stranded in space.

It’s the latest project from Armando Iannucci, the brains behind hit shows like “Veep,” “The Thick of It,” and the film “In the Loop.”

Iannucci enjoys the challenge of making a political comedy when even the headlines these days are unbelievable.

“It both simultaneously excites and depresses me when politics copies what we’ve just done [on Veep],” he told 1A.

We spoke with Iannucci about his work with Laurie on “Avenue 5,” Julia-Louise Dreyfus on “Veep,” and his upcoming project satirizing the world of Hollywood and superhero films.

Copyright 2022 WAMU 88.5

Chris Remington