At SXSW, Jean Smart has advice for young comedians: 'Don't take the easy road'

Jean Smart knows a thing or two about comedy — she has five comedy Emmy awards.

We caught up with Smart at South by Southwest Saturday morning ahead of the premiere of the third season of the HBO Max show "Hacks." We couldn't help but ask what she thinks the comedy world today needed more of.

"I hope that young actors realize that it's very easy to make somebody laugh by shocking them. It's much more difficult, it takes a lot more talent, to make them laugh because something's truly funny. So I hope they remember that. Don't take the easy road," Smart said.

Smart stars as comedian Deborah Vance in "the show "Hacks" alongside Hannah Einbinder, who plays comedy writer Ava. The pair make for hilarious comedy partners in the show and in real life. SXSW showed the first two episodes of the new season and we're declaring it now: "Hacks" will go down as one of the best TV shows in the last decade.

The episodes were smart and deeply funny and the audience scream-laughed every couple of minutes. The new season follows Deborah Vance and Ava after the pair stopped working together at the end of the second season. We gobbled up the episodes and can't wait for the rest to come out in May.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Jean Smart proved she's a comedy icon during 'Hacks' premiere at SXSW