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Cover image credit: Thumbnail: YouTube · Late Night with Seth Meyers

Good One: A Show About Jokes

Mike Birbiglia

Peacock · 2024 · 45 min

A documentary following the agonizing process of writing stand-up comedy.

Watch on Peacock(opens in a new tab)

Getting a peek at the messy, unpolished work of joke writing is a rare treat, and that is precisely what makes this project worth an evening. It pulls back the curtain on the trial and error of building a stand-up set from scratch, presenting a behind-the-scenes look at how a cohesive comedy show actually comes together.\n\nFilmed in early 2023 and released on Peacock in March 2024, the docu-special is an adaptation of Jesse David Fox’s Vulture podcast. Director Eddie Schmidt follows Mike Birbiglia as he tours venues like the Columbus Theatre in Providence and the DC Improv in Washington, D.C. At this point in his career, Birbiglia was riding high on the success of his Broadway run for “The Old Man & The Pool” and faced the daunting task of starting over with nothing.\n\nThe film captures Birbiglia working through his process, showing stand-up sets alongside backstage footage of him organizing color-coded index cards and testing premises. It also features talking-head commentary from fellow comics Seth Meyers, Hasan Minhaj, and Atsuko Okatsuka, as well as family members like his brother Joe and wife Jen Stein, who offer context on where his stage stories originate.\n\nThe release was met with positive reviews, with writers pointing to the documentary as an insightful look at the grind of stand-up that is usually hidden from the public.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Staying with his wife at a Rhode Island AirBnB

    Early-stage material read from printer paper to discover what comedic obsession could form the core of his next hour.

  2. Providence as a first draft town

    Joking to the local audience that Providence is where rough drafts belong and why his family lives there.

  3. Childhood bullying experience

    Reflecting in conversation on how an early bullying incident connects to his broader personal narrative.

How it plays

Tone
Vulnerable, honest, analytical, and conversational.
On stage
An introspective, self-deprecating autobiographical storyteller seen in an unfinished, experimental phase.
Pace
Deliberate and unpolished workshopping momentum, frequently pausing to read newly drafted stories directly from printer paper.
About
joke-writing and the creative process, family relationships and parental approval, autobiographical vulnerability, finding themes after a show about death

What the critics said

Critical reception was widely positive toward the docu-special's craft-focused dissection of comedy development and Birbiglia's rigorous work ethic, though some reviewers felt biographical detours into his childhood diluted the core focus on joke mechanics.

In the room: Patient, attentive room dynamic watching early-stage, rough-cut standup sets with no established narrative arc.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: vulture.com, themoviedb.org, allmovie.com, variety.com, decider.com, rottentomatoes.com, bookandfilmglobe.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

A Peacock documentary special adapted from Jesse David Fox's Vulture podcast 'Good One: A Podcast About Jokes', exploring the mechanics, writers' room collaboration, and vulnerability involved in early-stage standup material creation.

Details

Released
Taped
2023, Columbus Theatre, Providence
Runtime
45 min
Where
Peacock
Director
Eddie Schmidt
Topics
Before
The Old Man & The Pool (2023)
After
The Good Life (2025)

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