| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Comedian (2002) |
| Director | Christian Charles |
| Writer | Documentary (no screenplay) |
| Lead Cast | Jerry Seinfeld |
| Supporting Cast | Orny Adams, Colin Quinn, Chris Rock, Garry Shandling, Jay Leno, Bill Cosby |
| Genre | Documentary, Comedy |
| Release Date | October 11, 2002 (USA) |
| Duration | 82 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Not publicly disclosed (modest documentary budget) |
| Box Office | Approx. $2.7 million worldwide |
| IMDb Rating | 6.9/10 |
For a film about humor, Comedian is rather depressing. It’s been said that comedy is hard to do, a theorem that’s sadly proven in director Christian Charles’ debut film, a wishy washy documentary on Jerry Seinfeld, whom he worked with in a seires of American Express commercials.
Comedian starts with Seinfeld, not content to retire after starring in one of the most popular sitcoms in television history, getting back to his stand up roots and honing his routine at various gigs around the country. Armed with digital cameras, Charles followed Seinfeld for more than a year, and the final result is less about the routine than about what happens before and after a comic takes the stage. Between too-brief clips of the comics (Seinfeld and colleagues Colin Quinn, Garry Shandling, and others) in action, Comedian takes a fly on the wall approach, allowing viewers to listen in as the funnymen discuss the smell of comedy clubs and the humor value of the phrase “think tank.”
Paralleling the story of Seinfeld’s return to the circuit is a subplot involving Orny Adams, an up and coming comedian. At first sporadically funny, his presence quickly becomes grating. His attitude problem is distilled nicely when he asks his producer, George Shapiro, “Do you think I’ll be a big star?” and Shapiro replies, “Yes, and you’ll still be unhappy.” One almost feels sorry for Adams as he brings a newspaper article about himself up on the stage and discusses it during a routine but those feelings quickly dissipate as he later launches into manic depressive histrionics about how “the audience sucks” and begins the first in a series of self-aggrandizing phone calls.
Comedian is far more compelling during its footage of Seinfeld. Known to millions as a rich and famous celebrity, here he’s just a guy working on his craft. Comedian follows Seinfeld through a number of embarrassing moments, including a performance during which he gets to the end of a joke and can’t recall the punch line, even after sifting through his notes. (“Is this your first gig?” asks a crisply accented British voice from the crowd.) And strangely, for a man who makes his living with humor, he rarely seems genuinely happy. Every show seems to induce pre-performance jitters, and once it’s over, he obsesses over what went wrong. “It’s my nature,” he concedes. “It’s never good enough.”
Is the life of a comic really so downbeat, or is Charles’ point simply that it’s hard work being funny? In any case, you might want to think twice before you tell your goofy friend, “You should be a comedian.”
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