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Directed by Ari Sandel (of recent
“West Bank Story” fame),
this cinematic venture is a behind-
the-scenes look into the
life and meaning of comedian purpose--unfiltered access to the hearts
and minds of today’s new wave of jesting
talent rising from the trenches of headliner
purgatory.
The idea of a traveling variety show
is as old as the Wild West, and this film
captures Vince Vaughn traversing desert
highways with his hand-picked quartet
to bring improv and comedy to, “cities
that don’t ordinarily attract this type
of entertainment,” the roots of America’s
heartland.
Running at 100 minutes, “Vince
Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show” is
only a snippet of over 600 hours of footage
that was shot.
After the screening, I sat down with Bret
Ernst (one of the comedians) for a few moments
of insight. “I was overwhelmed,”
he replied when asked about seeing the
film for the first time. “It’s really…weird
to see yourself on the big screen…It’s kinda
surreal.”
To the major theme behind the film,
Ernst said: “Overall, regionally, it’s all the
same…And that’s what comedy is: everybody’s
the same…In Asia, Japan, Africa,
we’re all the same thing. This is the stuff
that’s been written about from the beginning
of time. In different time periods,
different cultures…it confirms it on the
screen.”
Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy
Show, starring Vince Vaughn, Ahmed
Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst and
Sebastian Maniscalco opened nationwide
on February 8. My reaction to the
strong language, smoking and sexual humor
was similar to that of watching a porcupine
bitch-slap a baby in the face with
its tail: I was rolling in the aisle laughing.
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