''The Comedians of Comedy'' is a

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

tour featuring comedians

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–2023) as adult ...

, Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn and

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depression, anxiety, suicide and mental illness. Her first comedy alb ...

that was documented in a 2005 film and 2005

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

television series of the same name, both directed by Michael Blieden. After Zach Galifianakis left the tour, he was replaced by comedian Eugene Mirman.

History

The idea behind ''The Comedians of Comedy''—its name a play on '' The Original Kings of Comedy'' and similar tours—involves the comedians performing at smaller

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

venues instead of comedy clubs. Playing indie rock clubs was an idea taken from anti-comic

Neil Hamburger Neil Hamburger is a standup comedy, standup comedian and singer character created and portrayed by American entertainer Gregg Turkington. Distinguished for his misanthropic jokes and anti-comedy style, Turkington has released a number of albums ...

, who is considered a pioneer of this type of show, playing such clubs since 2000. Both the film and television series alternate between footage of the comedians on stage and other aspects of their lives on the road. The final ''Comedians of Comedy'' show with

, Brian Posehn, and

occurred on July 28, 2008, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Zach Galifianakis appeared via pre-recorded video/sketch and special guests included Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, and Aziz Ansari of Human Giant, along with Sarah Silverman. The show took place at Spreckels Theatre in San Diego during the same weekend as the 2008

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

Movies and series

The film ''The Comedians of Comedy'', shot during the fall of 2004, had its world premiere at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

film festival in March 2005. It is one of the first films to be financed by the DVD-rental service

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, also the film's distributor. The film inspired Comedy Central to commission a six-episode ''Comedians of Comedy'' television series, involving a six-city tour during the summer of 2005; the show premiered in November of that year. The episodes were shot in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

. After ending their run on Comedy Central, Oswalt, Posehn, Mirman and Morgan Murphy performed in a 2006 ''Comedians of Comedy'' tour. The Comedians of Comedy also appeared as one of the Friday opening acts at the 2007 Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, including San Francisco Bay Area comedians Brent Weinbach and Jasper Redd. On October 2, 2007, a DVD of a live performance from the Troubador was released, featuring the cast of the film alongside other notables like Eugene Mirman, Jon Benjamin, David Cross, and others.

References

External links

;2005 film * ;2005 television series
''The Comedians of Comedy''
at

* ;The Comedians of Comedy Live at The Troubadour * {{DEFAULTSORT:Comedians of Comedy, The 2005 films Documentary films about comedy and comedians American comedy films 2005 comedy films American documentary films Comedy Central original programming Comedy tours Films scored by Michael Penn Stand-up comedy specials and films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films