The setup like many of the comedians' joke structures are simple and to the point. three "unfunny" comedians take on a road trip in a cramped car in a journey, both geographic and personal, to take a shot at the Laugh Factory and see if they should hang up the mic or keep at it to reach their full potential as the next funnyman star.
It's definitely an interesting setup. Writer/director Matt Frame has quite an onus upon him to weave what is essentially a string of vlogs/video diaries of these people into a cohesive narrative, pulling out themes and personal epiphanies where ever there may be. It's a task that is no doubt nigh impossible since given the format of the documentary it could be a bust or a gem handled with expertise and a large order of Lady Luck. For all we know, they could be completely boring off the stage and bring about drama about as tepid as an hour- cold coffee. On the other, they could be histrionics whose drama would be hyper-inflated to such absurdities that it would be at best an unintentional comedy if not an insight into unlikeable cast. Then there's the flipside- a poignant observation of people whom most only get a small glimpse of- so where did Matt take it? Did he kill, or was it a bomb?
The answer I feel lies somewhere in between. Matt manages to pull together a pretty coherent storyline with an insight into the comedians of whom most people only get to see one side of- the side that is usually jeered than cheered mercilessly under the judgmental eyes of the audience. It rounds them out and bring about a backstory that gives each dimensions. However, this did come at a cost of the narrative. While it was not ruined in the course of the documentary, some of the look into their histories that explain their behaviors and their characters are forcefully cut in, leaving it overall feeling somewhat disjointed and lacking focus. The tone also felt similarly disjointed. Was it a sombre dramatic look into their lives or was it a comedic punchline? The inclusion of a music video of one of the principal cast, while entertaining (in a cringing way) felt out of place.
Still, given the issues I had the pacing was still excellent and did not lose my interest at any point.