''The Opening Act'' is a 2020 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by Steve Byrne, in his directorial debut. It stars Jimmy O. Yang, Alex Moffat,

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He hosted BET's '' ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' in 1995. He is ...

Neal Brennan Neal Brennan (born October 19, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. He is best known for co-creating and co-writing the Comedy Central series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) with Dave Chappelle and for his ...

Bill Burr William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), '' You People Are ...

Whitney Cummings Whitney Cummings (born September 4, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, director, producer, investor and podcaster. A native of Washington, DC, Cummings pursued a comedy career in Los Angeles after graduating from the Univer ...

Jermaine Fowler Jermaine Fowler is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as King Akeem Joffer's long-lost son Lavelle Junson in the 2021 romantic comedy film ''Coming 2 America'' and Franco Wicks on the CBS sit ...

Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...

Russell Peters Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' list of the world's highe ...

, and

Debby Ryan Deborah Ann Ryan (born May 13, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She started acting professionally onstage at the age of seven, and was later discovered during Disney Channel's nationwide search for new talent. Ryan's work for Disney Ch ...

. It was released on October 16, 2020, by

RLJE Films RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

Premise

The film follows Will Chu whose true life passion is to become a stand-up comedian. When he is given the opportunity to emcee a comedy show, opening for his hero, Billy G. he must decide if he wants to continue the life he has set up or pursue his dream, the life of a comedian.

Cast

* Jimmy O. Yang as Will Chu *

as Billy G *

as Brooke *

as Quinn *

as Jen * Alex Moffat as Chris Palmer *

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 ...

as Val *

as Chip *

as Randy *

as Barry * Anjelah Johnson as Chrissy * Tom Segura as Cop * Roy Wood Jr. as Gary * Felipe Esparza as Cabbie Steve *

as Ricky *

Jackie Tohn Jaclyn Tohn is an American actress and musician. She is best known for playing Melanie "MelRose" Rosen on the Netflix series '' GLOW'', and for taking part in ''American Idol'' season 8, making it to Top 36 (the Semi-finals). She also took part ...

as Megan

Production

In June 2018, it was announced Jimmy O. Yang,

, Anjelah Johnson, Tom Segura and Roy Wood Jr. had joined the cast of the film, with Steve Byrne, directing from a screenplay he wrote.

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. Vaughn began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 comedy-drama film '' Swingers''. He has appeared in ...

and

Peter Billingsley Peter Billingsley (born April 16, 1971), also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor and filmmaker. His acting roles include Ralphie Parker in the 1983 movie ''A Christmas Story'' and its 2022 sequel ' ...

will serve as producers under their Wild West Picture Show Productions banner. In July 2018,

, Alex Moffat, and Felipe Esparza joined the cast of the film.

Filming

In June 2018, it was reported that

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

for the film had already begun in Los Angeles.

Release

In September 2020,

acquired distribution rights to the film and set it for a October 16, 2020, release.

Reception

On review aggregator

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 ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "With ''The Opening Act'', writer-director Steve Byrne offers perceptive insights on the struggles faced by budding stand-up comedians -- and creative dreamers in general."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Opening Act, The 2020 comedy films American comedy films 2020s English-language films Films about actors Films about comedians Films shot in Los Angeles 2020 films 2020 directorial debut films 2020s American films