Bitter Jester
Encyclopedia
Bitter Jester is a documentary
starring Maija DiGiorgio
, Kenny Simmons, Jody Del Giorno and Heather McConnell. It's a portrait of the comedy world that includes interviews with a multitude of stars including Richard Pryor
, Richard Belzer
and many others.
Maija, searching to find answers to the meaning of life and art, the answers for art and artific, allows Kenny to impose his "vision" onto her film. Before long, the three (along with a crew of misfits) are criss-crossing the country, interviewing celebrities under a parade of false pretenses. In one famous incident, Kenny makes the cover of The New York Post after a confrontation with Jerry Seinfeld
.
said "making a movie without really knowing what it's going to be about is not generally advisable, but Maija Di Giorgio's 'Bitter Jester' makes that process quite entertaining." Harris hailed "Jester" as "often hilarious and always diverting" and noted "Di Giorgio may fret that 'Maybe comedy isn't the thing I should be pursuing.' Regardless, she definitely has a future as a filmmaker."
Steve Rhodes of the Online Film Critics Society praised "Bitter Jester is much funnier and more insightful than a similar documentary, Comedian
" while MetroActiv described it as "Intense, disturbing, and voyeuristic, the documentary about standup that's not afraid to jump right into the muck."
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
starring Maija DiGiorgio
Maija DiGiorgio
Maija DiGiorgio is an actress, comedienne, and film director from New York City. Along with stand-up, DiGiorgio is president of Hollywood Outlaws, Inc.- Comedy career :DiGiorgio began her comedy career in New York City where she was born and raised...
, Kenny Simmons, Jody Del Giorno and Heather McConnell. It's a portrait of the comedy world that includes interviews with a multitude of stars including Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
, Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
and many others.
Plot
Maija DiGiorgio is a naive New York comic whose therapist recommends a video diary as a means of examining her self. Maija's borderline psychotic ex-boxer boyfriend, Kenny Simmons and director of photography, Jody Del Giorno sees a means to instant stardom.Maija, searching to find answers to the meaning of life and art, the answers for art and artific, allows Kenny to impose his "vision" onto her film. Before long, the three (along with a crew of misfits) are criss-crossing the country, interviewing celebrities under a parade of false pretenses. In one famous incident, Kenny makes the cover of The New York Post after a confrontation with Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
.
Film Festivals
- CineQuest Film FestivalCinequest Film FestivalThe Cinequest Film Festival is an annual independent film festival held in San Jose, California. The festival highlights the work of new film makers....
- London Comedy Film Festival
- US Comedy Arts Festival AspenU.S. Comedy Arts FestivalThe Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, is a comedy festival held each year in Las Vegas, Nevada. From its 1985 inception to 2007, it was held annually at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colorado...
- Tribeca Film FestivalTribeca Film FestivalThe Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
Critical reception
Dennis Harris of VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said "making a movie without really knowing what it's going to be about is not generally advisable, but Maija Di Giorgio's 'Bitter Jester' makes that process quite entertaining." Harris hailed "Jester" as "often hilarious and always diverting" and noted "Di Giorgio may fret that 'Maybe comedy isn't the thing I should be pursuing.' Regardless, she definitely has a future as a filmmaker."
Steve Rhodes of the Online Film Critics Society praised "Bitter Jester is much funnier and more insightful than a similar documentary, Comedian
Comedian (film)
Comedian is a 2002 documentary focusing on Jerry Seinfeld that explores the other side of stand-up comedy; that is, the preparation, politics, nerves, creativity, and so on. The film also features an up-and-coming comic named Orny Adams as he struggles to make it in show business...
" while MetroActiv described it as "Intense, disturbing, and voyeuristic, the documentary about standup that's not afraid to jump right into the muck."