What’s it like to be a comedian? What kind of things does he run into, how does he come up with jokes and what sides of the profession just plain suck? I Am Comic tries to answer these type of questions.
The movie does so by interviewing a lot of comedians and letting them tell their stories. Roseanne, Tim Allen, Louis C.K., Tom Arnold, Janeane Garofalo, Bobcat Goldthwait and Kathy Griffin are just a few of the comedians that you will see. They tell how they handle the hecklers, in what kind of crappy places they sometimes have to stay, how tough life on the road is, how they write their material and how you can get famous.
If you are looking for a movie about stand up comedy, I would recommend Why we laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy (2009), which shows the history of the profession, shows a lot of bits from live shows making it a more solid watch. With I Am Comic I really was missing some consistency and structure, which resulted in quick jumps from one subject to another, which just makes this documentary feel unfocused. It also tries to show the comeback of a comedian, which it shouldn’t spend so much time on as there is enough to show already. With so many interesting comedians I expected more, but was disappointed.