NEWS
The Comedy Store Documentary Series
07 Nov 2020 By Eva Ara�jo (Web correspondent)
The Comedy Store is a building in Los Angeles. But calling it a just a building is undervaluing what those walls truly represent. It's filled with stories, laughter, cries and never ending memories. It represents the start of many career for many actors, hosts and comedians who became known worldwide.
Showtime created a 5 part documentary series which first episode aired on October 4th and last episode November 1st. In the first episode we see the story of how the Comedy Store came about in the 1970's and the comics who started it all, like David Letterman, Freddie Prinze, Richard Pryor, Jay Leno and more. In the second episode we learn about a dark period of the Store when many comedians decided to go on a strike, something that hurt the owner Mitzi Shore. The third episode features several comics, including Jim Carrey. At that time the Comedy Store was going through an amazing period with lots of parties. But when Mitzi fell sick, "the Store floundered without her leadership" and many comic decided to go to other clubs. The fourth episode shows you how modern times affect the way comedians used podcasts and social media to interact with their audience. They made The Comedy Store popular again. In the final episode we learn how Mitzi Shore's death, affect the club and the current state of the stand up comedy scene and how that has created new ways to work.
After watching this documentary, we felt like this is a love letter. A love letter to comedy, a love letter to the Comedy Store club and its owner and a love letter to comedians too. To be honest, we wish we could watch more episodes because we do feel there's a lot more to know and even more to learn. These episodes showed the sense of community that still exists in the club with older generations, mentoring younger. The among of laughter generated in that club is enough to light the whole planet for years. Without it, we wouldn't know about Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfield, Chris Rock, Steve Martin, Sam Kinison, Jim Carrey, David Letterman, Joe Rogan and so, so many more! It gave us a glimpse of that world as if we were allowed, for a moment, to peek into the window and see what's is going there. Hearing the comedians talked about the memories they have, the things they experienced, give us a new appreciation for how hard these people have worked.
If you decided to watch the 5 episodes, we guarantee you, you will know two things for sure: One: It takes a lot of love to make people laugh and two: If you are in Los Angeles, you need to visit that club!
You can still watch the series and we advise you strongly to do so. You won't regret it!
We at JCO will keep you updated as more news come.
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