Film

Comedian

Name: Comedian
Genre: Comedy, Documentary
Released: 2002
Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Orny Adams, Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton, Sherrod Small

Comedy

Seinfeld and rising comic Orny Adams document the unglamorous work of building a stand-up career: writing, bombing, refining, performing in half-empty clubs. It's a master class disguised as fly-on-the-wall footage, intimate without sentimentality. For anyone who thinks comedy arrives fully formed.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you relish seeing a working comic fuss over one joke like a carpenter over a joint, and find the mechanics of getting laughs more absorbing than the laughs.

Skip it if you want a tightly plotted documentary or a steady run of big laughs, since it drifts, lingers on backstage routines and road weariness, and rarely builds to a big finish.

What it asks of you: Under eighty-five minutes, it moves at the pace of real rehearsal, with long quiet stretches of car rides, hotel rooms and scribbled notes.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel2017

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Comedian

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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Funny Ha Ha2003

Micro-budget comedy about underemployed young people in Boston, made with documentary restraint. Awkward, honest, and funnier for being understated. A palette cleanser: comedy made from observation rather than setup.

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But Dated reference humour and some bits that have aged poorly. The mockumentary aspects are now well-trodden. Sentimental undertow can feel manipulative if you're not in the mood.