''Comedian'' is a 2002 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

focused primarily on comedian Jerry Seinfeld as he develops a new stand-up comedy act.

Synopsis

The film follows comedian Jerry Seinfeld as, having retired his old stand-up comedy act after wrapping production on his enormously successful

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

'' Seinfeld'' and recording the 1998 HBO comedy special ''

I'm Telling You for the Last Time ''I'm Telling You for the Last Time'' is a 1998 stand-up comedy special and the second starring Jerry Seinfeld. The special aired live on HBO on August 9, 1998, from the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. It was then released as an album o ...

'', he develops an entirely new act. Seinfeld's efforts are paralleled with the struggles of up-and-coming comedian Orny Adams to make it in show business, and during filming both stand-ups appeared on different episodes of '' Late Show with David Letterman''—Adams for the first time, and Seinfeld for the first time in a while. The many other recognizable comedians who appear in the film, some of whom talk with Seinfeld about their craft, and some of whom are only glimpsed briefly, include (in order of appearance):

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, Jim Norton,

Colin Quinn Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Quinn first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2 ...

, George Wallace,

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Ray Romano Raymond Albert Romano (born December 21, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Ray Barone on the CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', for which he received an Emmy Award, and as t ...

, Godfrey, Chris Rock, Garry Shandling,

Kevin Nealon Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1995, acted in several of the Happy Madison films, played Doug Wilson on the Showtime series '' Weeds'', and p ...

, Jay Leno, and

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

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The film's unusual trailer did not feature any footage from the film, instead featuring famous voice-over artist Hal Douglas in a recording booth repeating cliches from action movie trailers to the frustration of the filmmakers.

Release

The film was theatrically released in the

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on October 11, 2002, and grossed almost $2.8 million domestically.

Reception

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website

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, the film has an approval rating of 77% based on reviews from 91 critics, with an average score of 6.8 out of 10. The website's "critics' consensus" reads: "''Comedian'' is an insightful look at the hard work of creating comedy." Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars. Owen Gleiberman of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' gave it a "B" grade.

References

External links

* * 2002 films American documentary films American independent films Documentary films about comedy and comedians 2002 documentary films 2002 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{arts-documentary-film-stub