It’s no secret that sometimes comedy is taken a bit too seriously. Comedy obsessives love not just the jokes, but the mechanics and emotions of the comedy world. There are a raft of comedy documentaries exploring comedy and comedians, but do they really have anything significant to add to the discussion? This series looks at comedy documentaries and whether they’re interesting, insightful, and possibly even…funny?
At first glance, it doesn’t seem like the comedy documentary category would be that full. But there are, I've discovered, quite a few. Making a good comedy documentary is tough, for a lot of reasons, but it all starts with finding a genuinely [...]
It’s no secret that sometimes comedy is taken a bit too seriously. Comedy obsessives love not just the jokes, but the mechanics and emotions of the comedy world. There are a raft of comedy documentaries exploring comedy and comedians, but do they really have anything significant to add to the discussion? This series looks at comedy documentaries and whether they’re interesting, insightful, and possibly even…funny?
“I only hired crazy people,” says the owner of Brooklyn's Crazy Country Club at the beginning of the new documentary Warm Beer Lousy Food (the title of the film comes from the club’s tagline.) With that anarchic mentality, the Crazy Country Club inadvertently became [...]
It’s no secret that sometimes comedy is taken a bit too seriously. Comedy obsessives love not just the jokes, but the mechanics and emotions of the comedy world. There are a raft of comedy documentaries exploring comedy and comedians, but do they really have anything significant to add to the discussion? This series looks at comedy documentaries and whether they’re interesting, insightful, and possibly even…funny?
A class that attempts to teach someone to become a stand-up just feels, well, wrong. The new documentary Finding the Funny follows one such class, a six-week course in Las Vegas. As the film’s director and narrator, John Bizarre, says at the beginning, “Comedy [...]
It’s no secret that sometimes comedy is taken a bit too seriously. Comedy obsessives love not just the jokes, but the mechanics and emotions of the comedy world. There are a raft of comedy documentaries exploring comedy and comedians, but do they really have anything significant to add to the discussion? This series looks at comedy documentaries and whether they’re interesting, insightful, and possibly even…funny?
In 2005, the History Channel dipped into the world of comedy documentaries with a two-hour special, History of the Joke, structured around the idea of looking for the world’s best joke. The special is produced and hosted by Lewis Black, who explains that all [...]
It’s no secret that sometimes comedy is taken a bit too seriously. Comedy obsessives love not just the jokes, but the mechanics and emotions of the comedy world. There are a raft of comedy documentaries exploring comedy and comedians, but do they really have anything significant to add to the discussion? This series looks at comedy documentaries and whether they’re interesting, insightful, and possibly even…funny?
With the recent passing of Phyllis Diller (and some associated controversies), it seems appropriate for a documentary to shine a light on the career and legacy of one of the most influential comedians in the world. Goodnight, We Love You, a 2004 film [...]
