October 11, 2002 | At one point in Comedian, a funny and fascinating documentary about a seriously demanding profession, Jerry Seinfeld appears on The David Letterman Show to tell a few jokes and, not incidentally, answer a burning question: Just what the heck has he been doing since the grand finale of his phenomenally popular sitcom? His serenely simple answer: “Nothing.”
The response gets a big laugh from the studio audience. In the context of Comedian, however, Seinfeld’s on-camera flippancy is even more hilarious, because almost every other scene in this shrewdly observed film indicates he is telling a whopping big fib.
Truth is, his fleeting appearance on the Letterman show simply is one more one-night stand on a seemingly endless itinerary. Seinfeld may have made him fabulously rich at a relatively young age, but Seinfeld himself isn’t ready to retire. As Comedian begins, however, we see that he is ready to lower his sights and work his way down to the middle. Unlike his sitcom co-stars, who tried to make lightning strike twice by starring in their own short-lived series, he opted to return to his stand-up roots when Seinfeld signed off.
Early in Comedian, we’re told Seinfeld retired his old stand-up act — which had served him well for several years — on a well-received HBO special. After that, he launched a lengthy tour of comedy clubs throughout North America, usually appearing as an unannounced, late-night “surprise guest” in small venues.
Armed with hand-held digital-video cameras, director Christian Charles and producer Gary Streiner followed Seinfeld for well over a year on the road, as the comic gradually created and shaped 60 minutes of new material. Not surprisingly, we see that Seinfeld doesn’t tour in the manner of a struggling newcomer. Rather, he flies from city to city on a private jet, and safely assumes that any audience will be favorably disposed toward him for at least the first 10 minutes. The challenge, as Seinfeld sees it, is to continue for another 50 minutes without fumbling or stumbling, or pausing too long, or being heckled. Or, worst of all, failing to make people laugh out loud.
Comedian abounds with helpful pointers for would-be comics — never open your act, Seinfeld repeatedly emphasizes, with a new, untested joke — and offers an intriguing counterpoint to Seinfeld’s cool professionalism by occasionally focusing on Orry Adams, an up-and-coming comic whose ferocious hunger to succeed makes him more than a little scary, on stage and off. While viewing his act, you get the feeling that some members of his audience laugh because they’re afraid of what Adams might do if they don’t.
In sharp contrast, Seinfeld comes across as self-assured but chronically fretful, happy in his work but vaguely anxious about his talent to amuse. Comedian is not exactly a probing, warts-and-all biography — we get only brief glimpses of Seinfeld’s wife and child, and next to nothing about his life that isn’t work-related — and we don’t get to see nearly enough of his act for this to qualify as a “concert film.” But there are quite a few unguarded moments, especially when Seinfeld talks to some of his peers – including Jay Leno, Chris Rock, Colin Quinn and Garry Shandling – about the insecurities and aspirations that are common to comedians. They agree: You can never be too funny. But, then again, maybe you can never be funny enough.
