''Hysterical'' is an 2021 American
documentary film, directed and produced by
Andrea Blaugrund Nevins
Andrea Blaugrund Nevins is a writer, director, and producer living in Los Angeles.
Biography
Nevins was born in New York City, where she attended the Chapin School. Her father is Dr. Stanley Blaugrund, the former Director of Otolaryngology and ...
. It follows multiple comedians throughout their lives on stage and off.
Judy Gold,
Carmen Lynch
Carmen Lynch (born January 17, 1972) is a Spanish-American comedian, actress, and writer based in New York City.
Her mother is from Spain, and her father is an American. She has performed in English and Spanish in the United States and Spain.
...
,
Kathy Griffin
Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...
,
Nikki Glaser, Jessica Kirson,
Marina Franklin
Marina Franklin is an American stand-up comedian, actress and podcast host, based in New York City. She is best known for her work on, ''Single Black Female'' (comedy special) and '' Hysterical'' on FX on Hulu. She also hosts her own podcast ''Fr ...
,
Bonnie McFarlane,
Rachel Feinstein,
Lisa Lampanelli, Kelly Bachman,
Iliza Shlesinger
Iliza Vie Shlesinger (; born ) is an American comedian, actress, television host, executive producer, and screenwriter. She was the 2008 winner of NBC's ''Last Comic Standing'' and went on to host the syndicated dating show ''Excused'' and the ...
,
Fortune Feimster,
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd (born April 22, 1967) is an American actress, comedian, author, broadcaster, and television personality. She currently hosts the daily syndicated daytime talk show, ''Sherri''. From 2007 to 2014, Shepherd was a co-host of the day ...
and
Margaret Cho appear in the film.
It had its world premiere at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
on March 16, 2021. It was released on April 2, 2021, by
FX.
Synopsis
The film follows multiple women comedians on stage, backstage, and off stage, exploring their hard-fought journey to become voices of their generation.
Cast
*
Judy Gold
*
Carmen Lynch
Carmen Lynch (born January 17, 1972) is a Spanish-American comedian, actress, and writer based in New York City.
Her mother is from Spain, and her father is an American. She has performed in English and Spanish in the United States and Spain.
...
*
Kathy Griffin
Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...
*
Nikki Glaser
* Jessica Kirson
*
Marina Franklin
Marina Franklin is an American stand-up comedian, actress and podcast host, based in New York City. She is best known for her work on, ''Single Black Female'' (comedy special) and '' Hysterical'' on FX on Hulu. She also hosts her own podcast ''Fr ...
*
Bonnie McFarlane
*
Rachel Feinstein
*
Lisa Lampanelli
* Kelly Bachman
*
Iliza Shlesinger
Iliza Vie Shlesinger (; born ) is an American comedian, actress, television host, executive producer, and screenwriter. She was the 2008 winner of NBC's ''Last Comic Standing'' and went on to host the syndicated dating show ''Excused'' and the ...
*
Fortune Feimster
*
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd (born April 22, 1967) is an American actress, comedian, author, broadcaster, and television personality. She currently hosts the daily syndicated daytime talk show, ''Sherri''. From 2007 to 2014, Shepherd was a co-host of the day ...
*
Margaret Cho
*
Wendy Liebman
Wendy Liebman (born February 27, 1961 in Manhasset, New York) is an American stand-up comedian. Her standup style involves the use of gently paced, subtle wordplay.Katz, Leslie (December 22, 2015)"Three-timer Wendy Liebman savors her S.F. kosher ...
*
Moms Mabley (archival footage)
*
Phyllis Diller (archival footage)
*
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
(archival footage)
*
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...
(archival footage)
*
Totie Fields
Totie Fields (born Sophie Feldman; May 7, 1930 – August 2, 1978) was an American comedian.
Early life
Fields was born Sophie Feldman in Hartford, Connecticut. She started singing in Boston clubs while still in high school, taking the stage na ...
(archival footage)
*
Elayne Boosler (archival footage)
*
Amy Schumer (archival footage)
*
Chelsea Handler (archival footage)
*
Ali Wong
Alexandra Dawn Ali Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials ''Baby Cobra'' (2016), ''Hard Knock Wife'' (2018), and ''Don Wong'' (2022). She starred in the film ' ...
(archival footage)
Release
The film had its world premiere at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
on March 16, 2021. It was released in the United States on
FX on April 2, 2021. It will have its international premiere at
Hot Docs International Film Festival
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...
on April 29, 2021.
Reception
''Hysterical'' holds an 88% approval rating on
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 17 reviews, with a
weighted average of 8.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Hysterical'' may not probe systemic disadvantages as deeply as it could have, but it excels as a frank and sometimes joyous celebration of very funny women who have made their mark in an industry that often marginalizes their achievements." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film holds a rating of 75 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
References
External links
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* {{Metacritic television
2021 films
2021 documentary films
American documentary films
Documentary films about comedy and comedians
Stand-up comedy concert films
FX Networks original films
2020s English-language films
2020s American films