Punching the Clown

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 3rd, 2013

Co-written by comedian Henry Phillips and Gregori Viens (and ably directed by Viens), “Punching the Clown” tells the story of “Henry Phillips,” a drifting folk-singer parodist who gets off the road by surfing on his brother’s couch in Los Angeles.

We met Phillips back in July– we were hanging out at Barney’s Beanery and Phillips happened to be dining in the next booth over. (The following weekend, Phillips was on the bill with The Male Half at Comedy & Magic in Hermosa Beach!) His acting is subdued and his songs are perfect. And the story-telling is just the right amount of awkward, wry, outlandish and poignant. And it’s accurate portrayal of the absurdity of Hollywood is, at times, gut-wrenching.

We were reminded of the movie when The Female Half saw a tweet by Nikki Glaser (who plays “Olympia” in a party scene) that said:

Do you know about the film, “Punching the Clown?” It’s on Netflix. Watch it. The funniest movie you probably haven’t seen. I promise.

We watched it tonight on Netflix (we’re on a one-month free trial that ends in about 25 minutes), but it’s also viewable, in its entirety, on Hulu.com! Just click here and enjoy! It’s a must-watch for anyone in the standup business! “Stupid Joe,” played by Marc Cohen is hilarious… but not in a good way!

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