Review: 'Die On Your Feet'

It's almost a given that any movie or television show about stand-up comedy isn't going to be very funny. Part of the problem is that the comic's performances have to be absolutely hilarious, but still unfamiliar to the viewing audience. Even more challenging, once the routines are committed to film much of a comic's future audience will be expecting new, equally clever material the next time. And that's tough to pull off when most comics can maybe crank out five minutes of polished A-level material every couple of months. Think about the problem this way. Even if you love Jerry Seinfeld's material and his TV show, those brief bits of him on stage that opened every episode of "Seinfeld" weren't all that funny. Given the other material he and the writers had to create, it couldn't be.

"Die On Your Feet" takes a different approach to the world of stand-up comedy and the result is easily the funniest show ever made about the world of comics. Instead of focusing on what happens onstage, everything centers around the comic's off-stage life and their desperate efforts to become famous.

The TV show is based on an earlier play that was performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival by Adam Hills, Alan Brough, Corinne Grant, Steven Gates and Greg Fleet. The five comedians return in this quasi-documentary series that has each of them playing slightly fictionalized comics who are both rivals and friends.

Many of the scenes are shot guerilla-style at the The Melbourne Comedy Festival, and the result is a show that has the proper authentic feel. I spent ten years plus as a stand-up comic in the U.S. and performed at a few festivals and so much of the series rings true. It's that mix of competition and arrogance and the excitement that comes from feeling as if you can say whatever you want, as long as it gets a laugh.

I've sat in a diner and had the same conversation about whether anything can be funny if only the joke is good enough. I recognized myself in scenes where comics casually slam rivals or mock an act because they play guitar or rely on props to please an audience. There's no tougher audience for comedy than other comics and that's what comes across best in the episode.

I'm an older man now and I don't miss the months of traveling from town to town or the inability to have the time to build a relationship with anyone. But there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss the fun I had with fellow comics. The late nights drinking or hanging out together throwing out lines, insulting each other and feeling as if we were all participants in some secret talented society of misfits. "Die On Your Feet" captures those feelings perfectly and even though I don't understand a few of the Australian-centric jokes, the first episode has plenty of hilarious moments.

"Die On Your Feet" is a show that deserves an American audience and hopefully IFC or perhaps Hulu will pick it up. Who knew that a show about comics could actually be funny?

"Die On Your Feet" airs Thursday nights on Australia's Channel One.