Stewart Lee Introduces A Comedian

James Woods' short film A COMEDIAN uses the familiar milieu of stand-up to examine how supposedly independent artists can easily become mouthpieces for values and institutions they don't necessarily endorse, indifferent to the suffering of people they are perhaps obliged to represent. As all artists and news sources seem to be slipping into courtesan relationships with power A COMEDIAN is increasingly prescient. While its visual hues have the chrome sheen of high budget dystopian sci-fi, POV shots and impressionistic editing convey the self-loathing, paranoia and self-doubt anyone, and stand-up comedians specifically, can recognise. By the time we realise where we've ended up, it's too late to find our way back. Says more in ten minutes than many marquee movies manage in 120.