Being an artist is never easy, but being an artist when an art form is just taking shape is probably the hardest part. Stand-up comedy is an art form that found its roots in America, but it was never a pain-free or organic journey. The medium required something entirely new from its artist. It needed pain, a new point of view, and the ability to perform, all rolled into one singular mind. Watching artists attempt and fail at scaling this rising art form made for a fascinating journey in the seventies, and this journey is being chronicled in ShowTime’s latest series appropriately titled “I'm Dying Up Here."
In the spotlight
The fascinating new series is set in 1970’s Los Angeles, in a time when stand-up comedy was just finding its footing.
Legends such as Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Jay Leno and David Letterman were beginning to make their mark during this period, which is why several young minds of the generation decided to pursue this unique career opportunity as well.
The series will revolve around several young comedians looking to take the world of stand-up comedy by storm and hopefully even make it on the “Johnny Carson Show” some day. Comedy club owners, other comedians, fans, and agents will make life easier and harder on these comedians to varying degrees during the course of the series.
What to expect
The team assembled to bring this exciting project to life is top-notch. Comedy Legend Jim Carrey will serve as one of the executive producers of the show, alongside Christina Wayne and Michael Aguilar.
The pilot of the series is being directed by Jonathan Levine, the mind behind exciting projects like “50/50," “Warm Bodies," and “All The Boys Love Mandy Lane."
Even the cast of the show looks extremely interesting, and features names like Academy Award-winning actress Melissa Leo, Michael Angarano (“The Knick”), Erik Griffin (“Workaholics”), Clark Duke (“Hot Tub Time Machine”), RJ Cyler (“Me and Earl and The Dying Girl”), and Jake Lacy (“Obvious Child”), among others.
Stand-up comedy as an art form has been explored from various directions on television so far, but most of these explorations come from the mind of established comedians providing their singular point of view. “I'm Dying Up Here” will look to change this format by examining the industry during its formative years, and that should be extremely interesting to watch. The series is set to release on June 4, 2017, but you can watch the trailer below until then.
