Inside Jokes: Full Season

October 9, 2019 6:37 AM - Season 1, Episode 1

Amazon's "Inside Jokes" follows seven stand-up comedians from New York City and Los Angeles as they audition for, and are cast (or not cast) in the "New Faces" show at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal.

From Decider:

There’s no such thing as a guarantee in the volatile world of stand-up, but New Faces is about as close as it gets, having helped launch the careers of Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Hannibal Buress, Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, Hasan Minhaj, and Michelle Wolf among many others. “JFL is the mecca,” Howie Mandel says in the premiere of Inside Jokes. “It is the epicenter of everything comedy. It is the place to watch the superstars of tomorrow.”

What sets Inside Jokes apart from other comedy documentaries is that it’s firmly entrenched in the here and now. Instead of the finished product, you’re seeing the raw clay. Struggling performers with day jobs, roommates, and debt gamely eschew the security of a traditional nine-to-five job for a shot at their dream. It’s as admirable as it is riveting.

posted by xingcat (2 comments total)

As someone who has been involved in (non-paying, usually wind up spending/losing money on) various theater and performance-related activities in my life, I found this fascinating. Stand-up comedy isn't something I've ever really dipped my toe into, because the scene seems like it's really rough and only for those who have incredibly thick skins and find the concept of "bombing" something they can live through.

For the most part, I liked the comedians they picked to follow, though some of the routines seemed a little bit middle of the road (Robert Dean) or trying so hard to be edgy/out there (Simon Gibson, who just seems like Chris Farley trying to be intellectual), I liked the people behind them.

The most fascinating two comedians, to me, were Daphnique Springs, who was very self-assured, knew exactly what she was trying to accomplish, and her material seemed to work the most often when she was being shown onstage. Also Kellan Erskine, whose joke writing is top-notch, though I worried about his mental health a bit, since he seemed so anxious all the time.

Rosebud Baker was probably my favorite talking head of the comedians, and she also seemed to connect with all the other cast members the best. Alzo Slade and MK Paulsen were also compelling characters, though I felt like they were less seasoned in their comedy and probably would be more interesting to follow in terms of their material a couple of years down the road.
posted by xingcat at 6:46 AM on October 9, 2019

I really dug this! Does anyone know if there will be a second season?
posted by Clustercuss at 8:25 AM on October 9, 2019