Hewes Pictures
In the world we live in these days, going out to a comedy show seems low on the list of priorities that would be nice to have back again. But online streams of previously filmed stand-up shows still get views and it’s a good reminder of what it’s like watching in a room with a bunch of people, as the stand-up tries to feed off the energy and vibes of the room to make people laugh. I don’t have a lot of experience going to shows, but I’ve been to quite a few over the years.
I’ve seen very talented stand-ups fail and struggling ones pull it out of the fire, I’ve seen some get angry at the audience for not laughing and some doing crowd work with some badly and not badly at all. When a stand-up set isn’t working, it’s one of the most awkward situations to witness, but when it is, sharing that laughter with a bunch of people around you is electric.
Funny Pains is a documentary centered around up-and-coming wannabe stand-up Wendi Starling, as the directorial debut of Jorgito Cruz. The movie was put up on Indiegogo in 2015 to get funding, but it didn’t really get close to its goal — so it took a while longer to get enough money to go forward. The movie is essentially following Wendi around for a few weeks, as she gives sets and talks to her comedian friends.
It is revealed quickly that Wendi has a difficult backstory, suffering from bipolar disorder and a victim of sexual trauma, but she deals with this by incorporating her pain into her comedy. Although there’s an element of ‘her story’ in the movie, it’s less a ‘how did she get here’ and more of a ‘what is her life like?’ The movie contextualizes her conversations with the director with frequent jumps into scenes of talking with friends about the state of comedy.
Hewes Pictures
When talking to probably her most famous friend (at least in the movie) Nikki Glaser, the conversation revolves around being a female comic and how things have changed or not changed enough. Elsewhere, she talks with Jim Norton about the mechanics of developing a routine, and what’s more evident is the easy camaraderie she has with these other comics. Although Wendi is always present, more often than not the conversations don’t even revolve around her, and she often sits back as a listener as much as we are.
Some of the other comedians include Bonnie McFarlane, Andrew Schulz, Yamaneika Saunders, Krystyna Hutchinson, Rich Vos, and Mehran Khaghani, and their topics really vary in terms of how complicated or sad their stories are told to us. Some of these people I’d heard of, others I hadn’t, but stand-up comedy is often more subjective than any other form of comedy, so I can’t necessarily say that any of them is someone I’d seek out, or even Wendi herself.
We do see plenty of segments of her at work, and Wendi has an ease with her delivery, even when dealing with difficult crowds. I’m not sure it’s quite something that I personally connect with, but the movie does a pretty good job showing Wendi’s capability and the respect she’s gained from a lot of her peers.
Overall, the movie is a pretty decent entry into the stand-up documentary list, of which there are more than you’d expect — most tend to be about already established mega-stars in the community. I’m not sure that the movie really succeeds in getting inside Wendi’s head to really understand her, but she’s consistently an engaging presence and for a first time director, the movie is interesting enough to look at that you won’t get bored.
I think personally I’d have liked a bit more insight into Wendi’s background, which the movie touches on, then more conversations about comedy — it feels almost like the director thought there was so much good footage of those conversations that he had to keep them in. But at least it did succeed in making me more interested in Wendi Starling, whom I hadn’t really heard of before now other than vague memories, so I think that way it pulled off a decent trick.
Share this post
