An up-and-coming stand-up comic moves to L.A. to pursue a film career after video clips of his act make him an online sensation.
At some point, the reality of backbiting in the comedic world has to rear its ugly head. This film, directed by Leslie Small, has given us a clear picture of the impact of age-disparity as well as the comfort in being on top of your game with little or no competition for too long. When the film opens, Deandre (Jay Pharoah) is grappling with trying to maintain a job that he doesn’t like while co-parenting his son Jaylen (Johnny Berryman) with his girlfriend Sky (KeKe Palmer) who doesn’t understand his continuous need to chase after a career in comedy when he has no financial resources to support his family. His sidekick Eddie (RonReaco Lee), who plays a duo role as his agent and confidant, seems to entice Deandre into additional trouble by encouraging him to leave town after he gets fired from his job. They both think that if Deandre wins a high stakes comedy contest in Los Angeles, he can launch his career with his winnings and resolve all of his issues.
Deandre, who has been working on being a comedian for years, seems to have gained an impressive social media following by doing impressions of other comedians and most notably Marques (Katt Williams), a longtime and well-known Los Angeles comedian. Marques, who is very aware of Deandre’s comedic ability, is not impressed by his strategy and eventually takes it personally as his inner circle believes he has competition and needs to up his game. The competition heats up when Deandre belittles part of Marques’ act that includes a demeaning sideshow of dressing up like a black crow and Marques vows to get back at him by embarrassing him in the middle of the three-day comedy competition. As Deandre begins to lose focus, he is further derailed by a female comedy writer, Taylor (Andy Allo), who entices him to come up with better material. In the midst of them spending time together doing lessons, Taylor catches feelings for Deandre and he turns the tables on her when Eddie reminds him of his girlfriend and family at home. Alone at home with her thoughts, Sky begins to miss Marques and when she pulls him up on social media, she realizes that Taylor has a little too much input on Deandre’s social media page and in a jealous rage she decides to make an unannounced trip to LA to find out what is really going on.
While Eddie and Deandre are struggling to find a way to stay afloat in LA, Marques starts to reflect on his conflict with Deandre and realizes that he isn’t living his full potential as a comedian. He decides to take a different approach with Deandre by teaching him the tricks of the trade and getting him to use his own life’s material in order to appeal to his audience. At the same time, he drops his whole twenty million-dollar crow bit because he realizes it serves him no purpose. While Marques is reassessing his approach, Deandre is being eliminated in the competition because he inherently broke the rules of engagement by accepting a monetary gift from Taylor which was part of a setup commandeered by Nico (Deon Cole) who was part of Marques’ inner circle. When Marques learns of the setup, he makes a valiant effort to go the club and set the record straight which results in a reinstatement and a win for Deandre.
Director Leslie Small, who has worked with several films and television shows including “Undercover Brother 2” and “Holiday Rush,” has done an excellent job building the two main characters into likable tough guys with human vulnerabilities. Katt Williams who hasn’t been seen in this type of dual-role makes a strong statement with his ability to be both street-savvy and sensitive. Kudos also to KeKe Palmer who keeps winning with her wide array of talent as an artist and strong woman, and to Jay Pharoah who appeals to us with his hilarious lack of insight into his own comedic duality. While the film is entertaining as comic relief, it definitely gives us a closer look at the internal chaos among those who hide their life’s frustrations within their punch lines.
Available on DVD, Digital and On-Demand June 16th
