It Started As a Joke, a feature documentary that chronicles the decade-long run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, is to get its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas in March 2019.
Directed by Left/Right Productions Co-founder and Co-president Ken Druckerman, and Julie Smith Clem, the movie is executive produced by Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver for Left/Right, and Julie Smith Clem, Eugene Mirman, Jordana Mollick, Michael Showalter and Olivia Wingate. It is produced by Meri Haitkin and Left/Right’s Kevin Vargas and Geoff O’Brien.
The film celebrates Eugene Mirman’s unique brand of humor and his role in the alternative comedy movement, offering a bittersweet goodbye to an era, and reminding us of the healing properties of comedy – even in the most challenging of life’s circumstances.
The film includes interviews with MICHAEL IAN BLACK, KRISTEN SCHAAL, WYATT CENAC, IRA GLASS, JOHN HODGMAN, KUMAIL NANJIANI, REGGIE WATTS and MICHAEL SHOWALTER, along with performances by JANEANE GAROFALO, JIM GAFFIGAN, JON GLASER, MIKE BIRBIGLIA, BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT and more.