Van Der Beek proves comedic chops in ‘What Would Diplo Do?’
“What Would Diplo Do?” is the kind of show whose premise makes you go “Huh, what?”
The first scripted series from the documentary channel Viceland, it’s a sitcom/mockumentary/music video mashup, based on the life of a real person whose nom de stage is Diplo. In case you’re Rip Van Winkle, let me fill you in: Diplo is a 38-yearold producer whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz and who has made hits for a boatload of singers. Among them: Madonna, Katy Perry (whom he also dated), Shakira, Justin Bieber and Beyonce. He’s also a rapper and a DJ.
Starring on the show (10 p.m. Thursdays) as a fictional version of Diplo is James Van Der Beek, the actor whose tears made “Dawson’s Creek” overflow with emotion.
The TV Diplo is a manchild with a scruffy mustache who in the first episode gets into a Twitter war, spouts absurd and offensive bits of non-wisdom (“If Buddha said we should have no material possessions, then why was he so fat?”) and kindly spends time with a dying child from the “Little Wishers Foundation.” Only, in keeping with his adult ADHD, he mistakes a staffer’s nephew for the kid and they have a blast jumping on trampolines while the actual “Little Wishers” boy sits sadly in a wheelchair waiting for Diplo.
Van Der Beek — “Diplo’s” creator, showrunner and writer — has baked up a weirdly funny show. It turns out the former Dawson is a pretty brilliant comedic talent.
And if you wonder what the real Diplo makes of all this, he’s in on the joke. Diplo is an executive producer for “What Would Diplo Do?”