Shtickmen

This movie is like a really funny Christopher Guest mockumentary. Like Best in Show but about comedians instead of dogs. It's got decent production values, but it was definately low budget. So what, Clerks was low budget and it was funny as hell too. I liked it from beginning to end. Saw it at Vision Fest Awards in New York where it won best screenplay.

Gordon Keith (Frank Sellers) is absolutely brilliant in this movie! He is a genius in this great comedy. I highly recommend picking this up at blockbuster sometime. I think he should be knighted for such a performance. I laughed, I cried, I cheered...Lady Gordon Keith makes me want to go out and become a better person with his jarring performance in "Shtickmen". Gordo's performance can simply be summed up in three words...poetry in motion. I went and saw the movie and as I exited the theater, I saw Mike Rhyner exiting as well. I stopped him and asked him what he thought of Gordon Keith and he said "I wept bitter tears when that movie was over. Not because it was sad, but because I'll never get to have that feeling of experiencing this great film for the first time ever again. Myself and the rest of the "Petty Theft" members will have to write a song about his brilliant performance." I was shocked! Rhynes just gave me the shocker with those words. "But Petty Theft only plays Tom Petty covers!" I told him. He smiled at me "His performance was so inspiring, I think Petty Theft can go outside the box for our next song"

If a group of high school students were to write and perform an 86-minute comedy for their fellow students, parents, the faculty and community, the outcome would be no better nor worse than this film. Their play would garner a few laughs, but most of the laughs would be forced, and for support. It would show the promise of certain writers and performers but the play itself would be mildly painful to sit through, and except for a few amusing bits, ultimately forgettable.

The IDEA of "Shtickmen" is amusing, some of what makes it to the screen is amusing, but mostly it is flat, as if filmed after its rushed first draft. Watching comedians poorly mock "hack comedy" felt a bit surreal. My friend was listening to it via the speaker in our living room and he wondered how I was able to sit through the whole thing. I explained that I found it fascinating in its badness.

Ah! It's the comedy equivalent of sitting through two commercial-free episodes of "American Idol". With its string of misses and mild hits, I recommend this to be watched with your friends while drinking.