David Cross: Let America Laugh

I laughed, I cried, I died a little inside...

"Let America Laugh" is a refreshing change from the traditional comedy/concert documentaries -- and could be more closely compared to something like Jerry Seinfeld's doc "Comedian" than any other strictly-standup-comedy-film. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of hilarious excerpts from David's comedy tour, but it also paints a good picture of the man himself, all the while entertaining and showing exactly what can happen behind the scenes of a national tour. The characters they meet range from the late-night drunk and the seemingly brain-dead crack-head to the most sincere and prophetic, some speaking very eloquently and surprisingly profoundly.

Not only did I laugh my ass off dozens of times throughout, but I also almost cried for David at a couple points in the film. There were emotional HIs and LOs, and I feel like this movie spoke to me in many ways. The music/soundtrack throughout the film is also quite amazing and adds a great deal to the feature... playing some tracks from Ultrababyfat (the band that opened for David on the tour and has its members also featured in some of the behind the scenes footage). Fans of Mr. Show should also enjoy this film, if not for David Cross and his comedy alone, then for the scripted/staged interstitials that find David being reprimanded for going on tour by his wife & child and the hard-arse boss at his office day job.

You can usually find the DVD (a sub-pop release) for around $13.00 -- and this is a very small price to pay, considering how much hilarity is involved. The DVD is also loaded with great Easter Eggs -- which I have documented and posted in many places, including on the message board for this film.

Please give this film a chance!! You won't be disappointed.

David Cross is funny, but this is garbage. The largest problem of being counter-culture apparently is the stupid audience you attract, which oddly is why you might want to avoid becoming a mass-market product. While Cross elaborates on his belligerent audience's idiocy, he sees no lapse on his part for charging people to watch this barely releasable, thoroughly unfocused and unpaced mess. This will squander any good will you have for him.

Instead of laughing it's an indictment of worthless American culture, where people attempt to escape their own inarticulate thoughts via liquor. With a special exploration of mindless male recreational aggression. The sketch linking it all is about as much fun as the assinine commentary track on Blood Simple. You could shake your own camera while filming drunks and have more fun. Not worth your rental. Sad, mean-spirited and condescending.

David Cross' day job is interrupted by an urgent call to his bosses office. Once there he is confronted by a shocking DVD that his boss discovered under the bed of his youngest son. It is not, as Cross assumes, gay pornography or even just straight pornography but rather a DVD of Cross doing his other job – standup comedy. With his boss concerned about the material Cross does and the company he keeps, he uses clips from the DVD to illustrate his point.

Like many others, I came to Cross from Arrested Development and was really happy with what I found with his stand-up material that I saw. So my desire to consume more of his material brought me to this film with the impression that it would be a stand-up show. So OK, initially my reservations with the film can be based on the fact that I expected something from it that it did not propose to be. After this I settled into the film as an "on the road" film of Cross on tour, with as much focus on the goings-on as on the action on the stage (if not more in fact) Meeting it on these terms the film is rarely more than "OK" because it appears to lack reason or structure beyond showing the many weird characters that Cross meets as he travels. Many of these are hecklers and others are just muppets who try and befriend him whether he wants them to or not. This is never interesting enough to carry as much of the film as is dedicated to it and I tired of it long before it finished.

The stand-up stuff is likewise focused on people giving him trouble or things not going totally his way. Again this is not without value but is certainly not worth the amount of variations on it that we see. The rest of it (outside of the fictional work-place framing) is a mix of people babbling at the camera, joking around with David and so on – none of it particularly interesting. All of this is hindered further by the rather grainy film and often poor sound recording which, while part of the material being what it is, doesn't make for an easy experience when you're struggling to hear what is being said.

For fans it is interesting enough to see Cross putting in work for his craft rather than living some remote form of stardom, but even they will find this film labouring that point without a lot else on offer. As others have said already, it is important that you don't judge David Cross by this film because his stand-up is much, much better than this film suggests. Let America Laugh would be an interest DVD extra if it was a lot shorter because, as a film in its own right, it doesn't do enough to justify the 90 minute running time.

This is a great look at what kind of crap comedians have to go through on their tour. The other review (hecklers united) obviously didn't understand the point of the documentary. It wasn't supposed to be a concert film - which it says on the box and at the subpop store - but a look at what goes on when you're not with Cross on stage.

I thought it was great. It wasn't shot by a professional, but it was a good look at Cross's life on the road. Parts were funny, others were insightful, and it was good entertainment.

If you're expecting 90 minutes of his stand-up, don't get this. It really doesn't have that much stand-up, and whatever of it is on this DVD is something with an interruption. That isn't representative of his crowd (I don't know what the reviewer above (hecklers united) was talking about, all the intellectuality blah blah blah.

This is just a great behind the scenes look. If you're a fan of David's stand up, you'll enjoy this.

9/10 - mainly because of the filming.

A realistic, unflattering, honest look at David's 2002? tour. Contrary to some other viewer comments, he didn't seem to be making fun of his fans to me, rather, he just let the video speak for itself. If people came across as stupid or obnoxious, it wasn't because of David. The dvd was billed as a behind the scenes look at his tour, and that's exactly what it delivered. I actually felt bad for David, watching him have to deal with the Little Rock audience and a few of the other fans, who just struck me as average everyday, clueless people - with or without David's commentary. I watched it with a budding standup comic friend who was shocked by the often sad reality of stand-up touring, even for a very funny guy like David Cross. If you're a David Cross fan, or curious about what stand-up performers go through on the road, definitely check this out.