Movie Review: ‘All Joking Aside’ better than expected

By Matt Pascarella

Runtime: 1 hour, 23 minutes

When I decided to review this movie, I thought it was going to focus more on comedy than it turned out to. About a third of the way through I realized this wasn’t just about jokes and becoming a stand-up comedian. It is about comedy, but there are layers. It’s also about pursuing your dreams, friendship along with a few deeper subjects like sexism. It’s very good; I wouldn’t say it’s laugh-out-loud-funny, but it is funny in places.

The movie is available on Amazon Prime Video and stars Raylene Harewood, Brian Markinson, Tanya Jade, Dave ‘Squatch’ Ward, Amanda Friesen, Katrina Reynolds, and Antony Joseph.

Charlene (Harewood), or Charlie as she likes to go by, is an aspiring stand-up comedian. Her very first time going on stage she is heckled by Bob (Markinson) who used to be a comedian but hasn’t performed in a while. Charlie doesn’t want to give up and goes to Bob for help. Bob isn’t the nicest of guys in the beginning and refuses to help her.

Charlie will not take ‘no’ for an answer. She continues to ask him until he finally agrees to help – for $250 a week. I thought the advice Bob gives Charlie was actually helpful. He encourages her to write and write, find the funny in the mundane and signs her up for several open mics as well as a comedy contest. There are a few problems that come up for both Bob and Charlie along the way.

As a fan of comedy, I found the advice given to Charlie to be similar to what I’ve heard other comedians give when you’re just starting out. If you want to be a comedian, you have to just do it. At one point, Charlie is talking with Bob about how she struggled on stage when another comedian talked about everything she had planned to talk about.

Bob tells her that writing is rewriting, and it may take 100 gigs to get the bit right, but that’s okay. Aside from the stand-up comedian parts of this movie, it also deals with more serious issues like health concerns and family problems. Bob is a real jerk at first who makes it pretty clear he only cares about himself, but after he and Charlie work together, that changes.

The two, though different, found common ground over a shared love of comedy. I felt like it was acted very well. There’s good character development.

This movie shows that if you work hard enough, you can accomplish your goals. It’s also okay to ask for help – even from an unlikely source of information; you never know what may develop. There’s a bit of sexism toward Charlie. A couple male comics tease her and accuse her of riding their coattails. Despite all this, Charlie moves forward and continues to pursue her dream.

I liked this movie. It’s heartfelt. Comedy is obviously a focal point, but there’s so the relationship between Bob and Charlie as well as some of the issues surrounding both of them like family problems, death, and their health.

Although comedy is a large part of the movie, I did not find this to be a really funny movie. It has funny lines and funny moments, but it would not categorize it as a ‘comedy.’ I would categorize it as a ‘feel-good’ movie, worth a watch.

Two microphones up. <