Documentaries about comedy – or comedians – are like catnip for me. I love a good peek behind the curtain to try to understand what makes a comic tick. As Marc Maron said recently at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival, after all, comics are philosophical, sensitive, thoughtful, sweet, neurotic, angry and fucked up. Who wouldn’t want to learn more about people like that?
We first learned about a crazy-exciting project in the comedy documentary vein back in December of 2010, when Deadline reported a partnership between Steve Carell and David Steinberg to produce a film about stand-up comics across generations. At that point, though, it was just in development, and I was crossing my fingers that someone would pick it up.
Needless to say, I’m totally tickled that Showtime nabbed the project, now an interview-based series entitled Laughing Stock. The show will feature chats between Steinberg and some insanely wonderful comics, like Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Carol Burnett, Don Rickles, and many more, according to Deadline. The only downside is that we’ll have to wait until January of 2012 to see it. Worth it.
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