Michael Hoffmann

When I first conceived The Comedian, I imagined a full-length documentary series about my return to stand-up comedy after sixteen years away from the stage. There would be episodes, stories, interviews, old photographs, archival footage, Essentially everything you’d expect from a documentary series.

But somewhere along the way, I began spending more time figuring out how to make The Comedian than figuring out how to become a comedian again. The show that was supposed to document the journey was slowly becoming the journey.

So The Comedian is getting smaller.

Instead of producing traditional, full-length episodes, I’m turning it into a series of short, interconnected reels. Each one will stand on its own, usually centered on a single question, story, observation, or moment in the process of returning to comedy.

You won’t need to watch Reel 1 to understand Reel 17. But if you watch enough of them, a larger story will begin to take shape: A comedian who disappeared for sixteen years trying to figure out whether he can come back.

The premise hasn’t changed. I’m still returning to stand-up after a sixteen-year absence. I’m still looking back at the twenty years I spent performing before I quit, while documenting what happens as I try to do it again.

The difference is that the story will now arrive in smaller pieces.

Instead of asking someone to sit through a thirty-minute episode about my return to comedy, I can spend two minutes answering a question like: “Why did you quit?” Another reel can ask, “Why come back now?” Others might cover my first open mic, an old photograph, something I used to believe about comedy, or something that has completely changed while I was gone.

More importantly, the shorter format changes how I spend my time.

I don’t need to build an elaborate television show about a guy trying to rebuild his comedy career. I need to rebuild the comedy career. The reels can follow that process instead of competing with it.

If I have a bad set, that’s a reel. If I discover something strange about modern comedy, that’s a reel. If I find an old VHS tape from 1997, that’s a reel.

The content comes from pursuing the goal instead of becoming another goal I have to pursue.

Maybe, someday, those individual pieces will grow into something longer. There may eventually be enough audience and enough story to justify full-length episodes.

But that doesn’t need to happen yet.

For now, The Comedian isn’t really a show I’m trying to produce. It’s a trail I’m leaving behind while I try to become a working comedian again.

The reels are the chapters.

The career is the story.