I AM ROAD COMIC, the follow-up to Superlounge director Jordan Brady’s cult-favorite stand-up documentary I AM COMIC, is coming to Netflix beginning May 1. “For the humor aficionado, comedy nerd, or anyone curious to see what makes these comedians tick, this movie is both eye-opening and entertaining,” said critic Marc Hershon in his Huffington Post review of the film.
“My principal pursuit is directing advertising,” said Brady, who has over 1000 national commercials to his credit. “As a hired gun director, I'll make a commercial selling cigarettes to crack babies, but this series of comedy documentaries is my passion project.”
With I AM ROAD COMIC on Netflix, Brady has four films available simultaneously on the streaming giant, where you can enjoy the Brady-helmed "Waking Up In Reno" (Billy Bob Thornton, Charlize Theron), "The Third Wheel" (Ben Affleck, Melissa McCarthy) & "Maria Bamford's Special Special Special." The doc’s predecessor, I AM COMIC, ran on Netflix from 2010-2013.
In the new film, more than two dozen comics – including Pete Holmes, T.J. Miller, Marc Maron, Doug Benson, Kyle Kinane, Maria Bamford, Judah Friedlander, Jim Norton, W. Kamau Bell, Nikki Glaser and Alonzo Bodden – discuss the nuts and bolts of working the road in bars and clubs. The film questions the importance of enduring life on the road, especially in the internet era. Can material developed on the road serve a career or does the road itself consume your life? As Marc Maron puts it, “Do you become the road?”
2010’s I AM COMIC was a virtual who’s who of standup comedy, starring Sarah Silverman, Louis CK, Tim Allen, Jeff Foxworthy, Ritch Shydner and 76 other comics. Brady now continues a filmmaking journey through the current standup boom that has made him the definitive biographer of the medium's modern era. Unlike its predecessor, I AM ROAD COMIC is framed by Brady’s first-person travelogue: after two decades off the road and behind the camera, Brady accepts a gig when a booking agent mistakenly (or just ill-advisedly) offers him a weekend Co-Headlining (with longtime friend and national headliner Wayne Federman) at Jack Didley’s in Kennewick, WA. It’s a hell gig: just two weeks prior to the engagement, bouncers had tossed a patron out on his head, putting him in a coma. The standup interviews are intercut with footage chronicling the stop loss endeavor of the Brady-Federman bill, which – with its bumps, bruises, local color and overall fiscal senselessness – plays like a Christopher Guest movie that’s all too real.
Brady recently returned from Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq, filming the third installment of the trilogy, tentatively titled I AM BATTLE COMIC, which follows a squadron of stand-ups, including Brady himself, overseas to perform for troops serving in the US Armed Forces.
About Jordan Brady
Jordan Brady began as a stand-up comedian, touring nightclubs and colleges in 49 states across America. Mr. Brady’s true passion is commercials. He has directed over more than 1000 national TV spots to date. Through his commercial production company, Superlounge, he directs ad campaigns for brands and agencies all over the world, recently working with Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Keegan-Michael Key. He has directed five features films, including the 2010 cult hit feature documentary I AM COMIC (Netflix, Showtime) and its follow-up, I AM ROAD COMIC. He recently returned from Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq, filming I AM BATTLE COMIC, which followed Brady and a squadron of stand-ups overseas to perform for troops serving in the US Armed Forces. Brady also hosts the popular podcast RESPECT THE PROCESS, described by Special Teams film editor-turned-director Mark Nickelsburg as “The Rosetta Stone of filmmaking.” His guests over 100+ episodes have included McCann Worldwide Global ECD Bill Wright, Leo Burnett Detroit CCO Steve Chavez, Doner Detroit ECD Chuck Meehan, Adam McKay, Morgan Spurlock, Mike Bigelow, Bobcat Goldthwait and Marcus Nispel.
