Vince Vaughn's
Wild West Comedy Show
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Directed by: Ari Sandel
Starring: Ahmed Ahmed, Peter Billingsley, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, Jon Favreau, Justin Long, Sebastian Maniscalco, Keir O'Donnell, Vince Vaughn, Dwight Yoakam
I went into Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show with a fair amount of dread. Vaughn's appeal was constantly diminishing for me and the premise of four comics touring together reminded me of the Dane Cook's unbearable and unfunny Tourgasm, where a group of comedians just bitched and moaned in between being failures at stand-up comedy. But all that dread washed away as Comedy Show not only delivers a film that's consistently hilarious, but makes us care about the four comedians involved.
Comedy Show could have easily coasted on Vince Vaughn's name. He's the big movie star and when the film opens and he's doing a bit involving Justin Long and Jon Favreau, it seems like that's the direction the film is heading. But director Ari Sandel is actually just easing us into learning about the four comics who are the heart and soul of the picture: Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, and Sebastian Maniscalco. Each viewer will come away with their own favorite comedian (for me it was Caparulo), but every viewer will care about these four men by the end of the film. We learn not only about the obstacles in their lives, but more importantly, how they were able to take those obstacles and transform it into fresh and original humor.
For all aspiring stand-ups, Comedy Show is wonderfully encouraging film. None of these guys are the superstars of the circuit nor are they singular comedians like Zach Galifianakis or Demitri Martin. They're the working class comedian that reminds you that stand-up is hard and emotionally draining work, but the payoff is priceless. And aside from a misstep of having the comedians reality checked by helping victims of Hurricane Katrina and Sandel not taking more time to explore what makes each city unique beyond familiar landmarks, this is a bill of comedians that's well worth the price of admission.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
1.24.08