''Let America Laugh'' is a 2003

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

produced and directed by

Lance Bangs Lance Bangs (born September 4, 1972) is an American filmmaker and music video director. He directed the David Cross film '' Let America Laugh''. Bangs has also been heavily involved in the filming and production of MTV's ''Jackass'' televi ...

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...

's tour of small

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

clubs. While it does feature small portions of Cross's stand-up routines, it consists mostly of interactions between David and the people accompanying him on tour. Each segment on the DVD has a title taken from a Bible tract by Jack T. Chick (''Is There Another Christ?'', ''Gomez Is Coming'', ''This Was Your Life''). The DVD has several

easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

. While on the special features menu, after idling, the disc will play phone messages. The viewer can also press up from 'Pilar Tells a Story' or down from 'Main Menu' to make Cross's glasses black, and click on for a secret feature.

Legal case

In October 2005, Cross was sued by

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

club manager Thomas Weber, accusing Cross of taping him without permission for ''Let America Laugh'', in violation of Weber's privacy rights. In April 2006 the case against David Cross himself was dismissed, leaving Thomas Weber to face

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

, Sub-Pop,

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

Corporation, and the

Alternative Distribution Alliance Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is a music distribution company owned by Warner Music Group, which represents the rights to various independent record labels. ADA provides "independent artist and label partners with access to the resource ...

. In June, the four companies together offered Weber an 'offer of judgement' of $30,000. Weber then attempted to force each of the four companies to pay $30,000 and in the end received nothing. The case was dismissed on July 25, 2006.

References

2003 live albums Works by David Cross Documentary films about comedy and comedians Films directed by Lance Bangs 2000s English-language films English-language documentary films {{arts-documentary-film-stub