Bitter Jester (2003)

Director:

Maija Di Giorgio

Writers:

Maija Di Giorgio (writer)
David Burton Levin (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Adventure | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Comedy, the tragedy.

Plot:

BITTER JESTER is the first documentary to give us a glimpse into the real process behind the comedy we watch in clubs...

Cast

Maija Di Giorgio	...	Herself
Kenneth Simmons	...	Himself (As Kenneth R. Simmons) (as Kenneth R. Sim)
Richard Belzer	...	Himself
George Carlin	...	Himself
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joy Behar	...	Herself
Peter Boyle	...	Himself
Chevy Chase	...	Himself
Norm Crosby	...	Himself
Jody Del Giorno	...	Himself
Phyllis Diller	...	Herself
Gilbert Gottfried	...	Himself
D.L. Hughley	...	Himself
Dom Irrera	...	Himself
Kevin James	...	Himself
Terry Jones	...	Himself
Richard Kind	...	Himself
Kathy Kinney	...	Herself
Robert Klein	...	Himself
Barry Manilow	...	Himself
Heather McConnell	...	Sexy Personal Assistant
Colin Mochrie	...	Himself
Paul Mooney	...	Himself
Richard Pryor	...	Himself
Colin Quinn	...	Himself
Tony Roberts	...	Himself
Ray Romano	...	Himself
Rita Rudner	...	Herself
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Himself
George Schlatter	...	Himself
Paul Shaffer	...	Himself
Ryan Stiles	...	Himself
Jerry Stiller	...	Himself
Nicole Sullivan	...	Herself
Judy Tenuta	...	Herself
Rich Vos	...	Himself

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Bitter Jester Productions

Movie Connections:

References Comedian (2002)

Illuminating, if Uneven Tragicomedy

Noteworthy for so many reasons, (not the least of which being a heartbreaking cameo from Richard Pryor,) Bitter Jester ostensibly delves into the highs and lows of struggling along the comedy circuit. Beautiful and outrageously talented Maija experiences a crisis of conscience

and seeks to find center again by making a documentary of (in roughly this

order) her youth, parents, rise on the comedy scene, implosion on said scene, psychotherapy, meeting her homicidal boyfriend, using his contacts to talk to other comedians about their experiences, feuding with Jerry Seinfeld, cross

country trips, her boyfriends potential gay lover, etc. Needless to say, it feels a bit scattered. But amidst the clutter, there is a beautiful film in here. If only the filmmakers had been able to polish and edit the material down and stick to the heart of the issue. The access they had to notable comedians (and comediennes) is staggering

and worth watching for that reason alone. And Maija's journey from shattered

ego to eventual rebirth is inspiring for any artist. It is mostly Ken Simmons that seems to derail this particular train, physically, emotionally, verbally. The man is a juggernaut, barreling through life like the minotaur. Admirable in its way, I mean, he is the reason we even get to see

Richard Pryor in all his decimated glory, but truly the film spends to much time dealing with him, his ego, and his exploits. Inspiring if a little flawed, Bitter Jester is a film you must see if you are an aspiring comedian, an artist, or just a caring, feeling human being.