Six related items emerge on pedestals from a revolving ‘cake wall,’ ranging in theme from fast food items to beach toys. At first glance, all appear to be ordinary, otherwise nondescript objects. But which is really made of vanilla buttercream, artfully designed not so much to satisfy the taste buds, but rather to deceive onlookers?
That is the thousand-dollar question underlying all the action in the new Netflix series “Is It Cake?,” which in addition to producing newly-coined adjectives such as “Cakish” and “Cakeful,” with clever episode titles like “Fast-food Fake Out” and “Fake by the Ocean,” had initially topped the streaming platform’s most-viewed list after debuting March 18. The show’s producers, Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, were inspired by a popular meme from 2020, in which a red croc is satisfyingly sliced to reveal cake, followed by a stream of other mind-blowing videos including fake toilet paper and a houseplant, providing additional evidence that the world truly has gone haywire. While some critics dismiss the show as vapid, others have found endless enjoyment in the fact that “Is it Cake?” admits to its outlandishness, then revels in its lightheartedness. Personally, I’m in streaming heaven with any show that combines amazing cakes and characters—and the more ridiculous the better.
“What I do is the weirdest thing in the world,” said Jonny Manganello, the cast’s clown baker from West Hollywood, encapsulating the show’s spirit in the trailer. “Like, there are people saving lives and I am making cake look like other things.”
After choosing an item to replicate, three bakers from a gallery of contestants compete for an initial $5,000, in the hopes of fooling a trio of celebrity judges like Fortune Feimster, Michael Yo, Karamo Brown and Bobby Moynihan that their creation is anything but cake. If they pass that nerve-racking test, then another $5,000 remains up for grabs in “Cake or Cash?,” depending on whether the best contestant can correctly distinguish between two huge bags of money representing actual bills versus fondant. In the season finale, the top three bakers compete for a grand prize of $50,000.
Wildly quirky and humorously specific, what makes “Is it Cake?” such a delicious new take on the classic game-show style cooking competition genre? For starters, the show contains all the right ingredients for instant success. With its charismatic and sarcastic host Mikey Day, a colorful, wacky and diverse array of professional bakers, combined with the COVID-era rise in popularity and obsession with fake food, it should come as no surprise that some heavily invested viewers are heating up Twitter over debates about Manganello’s alleged cheating scandal, pointing fingers to his taco enhancing trick in the season’s opener.
Despite the repetition of each episode, an engaging interactive element immediately absorbs viewers into the difficult yet hilarious decisions of bakers and judges searching for fondant (pro tip: the gleam of the set’s lighting can often provide an insightful clue). As an added bonus, viewers even hear the judge’s decision process, which is oftentimes excluded from most shows.
However, “Is It Cake?” does suffer one main production flaw, that the characters choose which fellow bakers they want to compete against each round, suggesting that they pick those with the most inappropriate skill sets, when it could be easily randomized.
Even still, there’s something vividly magical and inviting about the contestants’ optimism, teamwork and giddiness that energizes their marathon of baking. All it takes is one look at Andrew Fuller, the baker from Iowa with a tangle of green curly hair, skeleton glasses and a business called “Sugar Freakshow,” to fall head over icing for the show. There’s even a high school pastry whiz, senior Justin Ellen from New Jersey, who specializes in creating hyper-realistic Chanel bags from cake and missed his prom and graduation for filming.
If you’re seeking something to binge-watch this spring, especially as a mindless respite from studying for upcoming AP and final exams, “Is it Cake?” will be your new go-to. Just beware: you may begin questioning that your family members—nay, your entire reality—is made from cake (yes, it can happen)…
