Good documentaries about comedians and comedy have to include more than just laughs. If comedians are your subjects, laughter is understood. But, as seen in “It Started As A Joke,” a quality doc about a comedian has to do more than just make you laugh. It probably should move you and open your eyes to something you didn’t consider before.
And in the trailer for “It Started As A Joke,” the laughs are aplenty. But it’s the heart that clearly went into the creation of the documentary, as well as the film’s subject, Eugene Mirman, that makes the film slightly more than just a bunch of funny people and a microphone. The film follows the story of Mirman and his comedy festival that…started as a joke…but went on to become an institution for a decade. But the film also delves into Mirman’s personal life and the hardships he faced but never opened up about before.
In addition to Mirman, naturally, the new documentary features interviews with comedians such as Michael Ian Black, Kristen Schaal, Wyatt Cenac, Ira Glass, John Hodgman, Kumail Nanjiani, Reggie Watts, and Michael Showalter. The film is directed by Julie Smith Clem and Ken Druckerman.
We saw the film back at 2019’s SXSW, and in our review, we said, “In its brief runtime, it’s often as entertaining as a solid set from any one of the featured comedians, but it also has a serious streak in the insight it offers into Mirman’s challenges off the stage…there’s so much humor and heart here that it’s easy to like the film and its subject.”
“It Started As A Joke” will arrive on VOD on April 3. You can pre-order on iTunes today.
Here’s the synopsis:
It Started as a Joke is a feature documentary that chronicles the decade-long run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival – including a final farewell show. The film celebrates Eugene’s unique brand of humor and his role in the alternative comedy movement, offers a bittersweet goodbye to an era, and reminds us of the healing properties of comedy – even in the most challenging of life’s circumstances. The film includes interviews with MICHAEL IAN BLACK, KRISTEN SCHAAL, WYATT CENAC, IRA GLASS, JOHN HODGMAN, KUMAIL NANJIANI, REGGIE WATTS and MICHAEL SHOWALTER, along with performances by JANEANE GAROFALO, JIM GAFFIGAN, JON GLASER, MIKE BIRBIGLIA, BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT and more.