Comedian

2002
R
1h 22m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

7.3K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:29

2 Videos

20 Photos

Stand-Up Comedy Documentary

A look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry Seinfeld and a lesser-known newcomer, detailing the effort and frustration behind putting together a successful act and career while living a... Read allA look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry Seinfeld and a lesser-known newcomer, detailing the effort and frustration behind putting together a successful act and career while living a life on the road.A look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry Seinfeld and a lesser-known newcomer, detailing the effort and frustration behind putting together a successful act and career while living a life on the road.

Director
- Christian Charles
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

7.3K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Christian Charles
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations

Trivia
Interestingly, the funny in-joke teaser trailer for the film has nothing to do with its subject, doesn't feature any scenes or characters from the documentary nor does it ever mention what the movie is even about. It instead follows a trailer narrator called Jack (played by the legendary movie trailer narrator Hal Douglas who along with Don LaFontaine and Nick Tate narrated the trailers for almost every single big Hollywood blockbuster during the 1990's), who's in a recording booth trying to record the opening narration for the trailer for the Comedian, but since the film is not a typical Hollywood blockbuster, Jack is simply unable to find the right non-epic wording that would properly describe such a normal non-blockbuster movie.

Quotes
Robert Klein: My parents retired to South Florida. They're gone now, but I'll tell you the truth, I have a beef with South Florida. I'll tell you, I don't know what it is. I'm sick about it, bitter. I sent two healthy 65-year old parents to South Florida. 30 years later - dead! I mean what is it, the water, the air - it's a death camp!

Crazy credits
After the credits end, there's a short scene in which Colin Quinn tells Seinfeld a very old joke.

Connections
Edited from Late Show with David Letterman (1993)

Soundtracks
Caravan
Written by Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol
Published by Famous Music Corp. (ASCAP) and EMI Mills Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
Performed by Medeski Martin & Wood

User reviews66

Review

Featured review

7/10

Life after a hit series.

Director Christian Charles and a camera crew followed the legendary stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld around and documented his return to his roots following the end of his sitcom. Here, Seinfeld finds it a struggle to build a new act from scratch after retiring the material with which he'd made his name. He is compared and contrasted with a determined up-and-comer named Orny Adams, who was, shall we say, obsessed with his career and set on becoming The Next Big Thing.

"Comedian" is no great shakes, but it's still quite agreeable, and would certainly have more resonance for any person who's felt a compulsive need to entertain others. It's a loose, informal documentary that simply observes Seinfeld, Adams, and others as they work on their material. And therein lies the struggle of any comedian: carefully developing their material so it has the maximum impact. What's truly nice about "Comedian" is seeing Seinfeld discuss with a variety of peers - Garry Shandling, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Colin Quinn, Bill Cosby, Jay Leno, etc. - the nature of the business, and the art of making people laugh.

We do get to see brief snippets of Seinfeld and other comics as they do their acts, but first and foremost "Comedian" is a portrayal of their artistic processes. On that level, it is pretty interesting. It's never really about inducing belly laughs, but it does offer some insight into a particular brand of entertainment.

Seven out of 10.