A new web series on Elizabeth Banks' WhoHaha platform features stay-at-home moms getting high

LOS ANGELES -- WhoHaha is getting high-larious.

The Elizabeth Banks comedy platform launched a new series Monday about working moms who accidentally reveal their love for smoking weed.

Cannabis Moms Club, from female full-service creative production company Quiet Duke, marks WhoHaha's first exclusive distribution deal. 

Show creators Kai Collins and Deena Adar -- who met in an improv class at The Groundlings in 2007 -- came up with the idea after seeing a post in a mommy group online.

The image was of a mom holding up a glass of wine with the caption 'It’s just been one of those days — are you with me mommas?" The post garnered tons of solidarity from other moms, who encouraged her to "get her drink on."

"I was like wow, I wonder what would happen if we had a joint in our hand and did the same thing," Adar, who is a mom to two boys, told Mashable. "Would the support from the moms be the same? We kind of wanted to explore these double standards using marijuana as the truth bearer."

"Our series was really designed to create an authentic dialogue between moms and friends about how they actually feel about their kids, spouses and careers," added Collins.

All five episodes were shot in just two days in one location, using actors and crew members that the comedic duo had worked with before. They were in post-production when they reached out to WhoHaha.

"Initially, we intended to release the series on 4/20 to tie in with marijuana aspect," Collins said. "But we did a lot of research with regards to mommy bloggers and people blogging about cannabis. We also looked at online channels that have promoted women in comedy, and that’s how we came across WhoHaha."

They couldn't find a phone number for someone to contact at WhoHaha, so they just filled out the generic "contact us" form. That's when they got the call.

The web series creators were excited to partner up with Banks, one of their comedy idols.

"It’s an exciting time to be a woman in comedy, which I don’t think anyone’s ever said before," Adar said. "What WhoHaha has done is give a platform to women who have been trying to get their videos out there. And Elizabeth’s got such an amazing sense of comedic sensibility, that you know when you go to the site you’re going to see good content."

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"We knew that there was something missing in the world that helped support females in this particular part of this industry," Luigi Picarazzi, CEO of Digital Media Management, WhoHaha co-founder and Banks' digital manager, told Mashable. "After our launch, there was just a flood of incoming emails. The Cannabis Moms Club ladies reached out, we quickly got on the phone with them, loved the concept and said let's go for it. It was a great fit, and great timing for our first show to launch."

DailyMotion.com will be hosting the Cannabis Moms Club series in its player, while WhoHaHa promotes it on the site and across various social platforms including Facebook.

Since launching on April 4, Picarazzi said WhoHaha has attracted millions of users per month.

The site’s overall mission is to empower, mentor and spotlight talented female comediennes while serving as a made-for-female comedy destination.

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In addition to Cannabis Moms Club, Picarazzi said WhoHaha is in discussions with about 5 or 6 other potential partners right now.

"We’ve had everyone from users to creators to celebrities reach out and just say ‘thank you thank you thank you' or 'how do I work with you guys?’ Picarazzi said. "We now have almost the whole year mapped out with people who want to work with us. It's overwhelming but exciting."

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated the series is about stay-at-home moms who smoke weed and that Quiet Duke is a comedy troupe.