Comedian

Comedy is dissected as serious business in this fascinating, entertaining documentary about the painful hit-and-miss process (this is certainly not rocket science here, folks) of developing a lengthy standup routine. The film, initially titled Anatomy of a Joke, primarily focuses on Jerry Seinfeld as he crafts a spanking-new monologue after retiring from his monstrously successful sitcom. The work and daily grind of up-and-coming comic Orny Adams also takes center stage as these two microphone junkies talk about and struggle to open, sustain and pace their performances; and we are spoon-fed the process and backstage insight of what it takes to make people laugh. Robert Klein gets one of the biggest laughs with a joke about Florida and retirement, and the excellent soundtrack is an exhilarating mix of such recording artists as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, John Mayall, Steely Dan and Al Green.