Jack Sundmacher works toward his dream of being a standup comedian while attempting to balance his business as a dog walker, a father, and a husband. At his age, he realizes that his dream is unlikely to become a reality.
This short documentary is as simple as it gets, and it is straight to the point. It follows Jack in a day-in-the-life type of way as he makes himself vulnerable to the audience. The short takes us along some dog walks by day and has us sit in the audience of the World Famous Comedy Store by night as Jack takes the stage.
“Jack’s story overall is a very relatable one to anyone in the industry trying to catch their big break.”
During Jack’s pursuit of his dream of doing standup, he came upon a dog walking business, which he purchased from a friend of his. Because of this business and being a father, Jack realizes what love is and what his priorities should be. He speaks a bit about how his childhood in Marina del Rey affected him as well as his mother’s disapproval of his dream.
For being a short documentary with what I’m assuming is a very low budget, the production was fairly decent. The camera work was clean, as was the quality of the short overall. I believe that keeping the documentary as a short was a great move because it cuts out all of the unnecessary filler that is sometimes seen in other documentaries.
This short is very honest and self-deprecating, which mirrors many comedians in their point-of-view of life. It is a very vulnerable documentary of s struggling comedian, even to the point where Jack practices his jokes in front of an audience of dogs because they won’t heckle him. Sad, I know, but Jack’s story overall is a very relatable one to anyone in the industry trying to catch their big break.
"…realizes what love is and what his priorities should be."
