Karl Puschmann: Will you die laughing at Amy Schumer's new comedy Life & Beth?

Amy Schumer stars in her new dramedy series Life After Beth, streaming on Disney+.

Amy Schumer's new comedy series isn't so much about the pursuit of happiness as it is about a desperate mid-life lunge towards happiness. It's a feeling that will probably be familiar to those who have already lived into their 40s, and one that will ring especially true for those nudging up against that millstone - sorry, milestone - birthday.

As described it sounds like Schumer's once again leaning into the joyfully explicit, oversharing persona of her movies Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty, her comedy specials or the wildly exaggerated sketches of her breakthrough show Inside Amy Schumer.

Life & Beth is not that. Instead, Schumer's obviously been inspired by the more thoughtful, deeply personal and, dare I say it, mature dramedies like Atlanta and Master of None, two shows created by, and loosely based on the respective lives of fellow comics Donald Glover and Aziz Ansari.

Those shows were both creatively ambitious - and critically acclaimed - ruminations on life's big topics. Glover used his show to examine racial politics and the American dream while Ansari doubled down on examining the inner workings and breakings of relationships, while also commenting on race.

In case the pun of the series title didn't give it away, Schumer has chosen death and grief as the big life topics with which to anchor her show, seasoning it with a big dash of near-mid-life malaise for good measure.

Amy Schumer stars in her new dramedy series Life & Beth, streaming on Disney+.

In the show, which starts on Star on Disney+ today, Schumer stars as the titular Beth, a moderately successful sales rep for a midlevel wine distributing company in New York. She's on track for a promotion to middle management, has a "New York 8" boyfriend who is also the company's star sales rep and fairly self-involved, and together they share a very nice apartment in the city.

Despite all that she finds herself constantly having to tell people that she's happy. Of course, her protestations aren't fooling anyone. Least of all herself.

Put simply she's in a giant funk, moping through life, floating upwards in a job she's settled for and drifting in a relationship she's just not into. She's also drinking too much as she confesses to her doctor, played by former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne in a pleasingly oddball cameo.

Amy Schumer stars in her new dramedy series Life & Beth, streaming on Disney+.

In the show's first big, laugh-out-loud scene Beth and her overbearingly showy mum Jane, played by Broadway star Laura Benanti, go shopping at a high-end department store, where she's driven to exasperation in a scene that perfectly captures the mother/daughter, love/cringe relationship.

Beth ends up storming out, causing Jane to apologise to the poor shop assistant by saying, "she's on her period". "For the record, I'm not," Beth says, awkwardly after stomping back in. "She is," her mum says, after she leaves again, forcing yet another return. It's the sort of prolonged cringe comedy that Ricky Gervais dreams about.

Amy Schumer stars in her new dramedy series Life & Beth, streaming on Disney+.

Later, at the truly dismal work karaoke night, Beth gets a call from her sister. "Well, uh, Mum died. They couldn't reach you so I got a call. She's gone."

Shocked into silence she hangs up, right as she's called to sing. Unable to do anything but take the stage she belts out Ace of Base's 1993 hit I Saw the Sign channelling all her pain and shock into an emotionally unhinged warble before fleeing into the night. It'd perhaps be insensitive to say Schumer kills the scene, but she absolutely does, giving a brilliant performance that leaves you not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The show splinters into two timelines in the second episode when Beth returns to Long Island to plan the funeral. As well as Beth's unhappy present we also see her formative teenage years where a family trauma leaves a lasting impact on both her and her sister.

After a severely ill-timed grand gesture from her partner, Beth has a moment of clarity that's quickly followed by an uncharacteristic burst of action as she attempts to grasp her own future happiness. It's a moment that sets the series up to explore what kind of life Beth can find after the sudden death of her mother.

Amy Schumer stars in her new dramedy series Life & Beth, streaming on Disney+.

As the show creator and the director and writer of many of its episodes, Schumer's poured experiences from her own life into it. And while it's not as artful or consistent as its inspirations it's still an enjoyable watch. Schumer's terrific, mostly playing it straight amongst the cast of comedically exaggerated or wacky side characters, and successfully balancing its comedic and dramatic moments.

While Life & Beth is funny, there's no risk you'll die laughing. But it's obviously a deeply personal and heartfelt work that'll leave you happier for watching.