The Material

Every comedian knows that there's a line between sharp and cruel, that sad becomes funny at the right angle, that any moment in life, however painful or triumphant, has the potential to be a punchline. At the Chicago Stand-up School, success is all about the material. But maybe Artie is too handsome to be taken seriously on stage, Olivia too scared to examine her past, and Phil afraid to cause harm.
Their teachers, meanwhile, are obsessed with failure : Kruger still trying to command his father's respect, Ashbee weary of his white admirers, Dorothy wondering how her talent is connected to her loneliness. Whether a visiting comedian - the famous, controversy-steeped Manny Reinhardt - will do more to help or harm their cause remains to be seen. Set over the course of a single day, and shifting exquisitely through several points of view, The Material examines life through the eyes of a band of outsiders brought together by their need to win love by making us laugh.