Part standup special, part documentary, Joy Ride is the kind of movie that gifts you 71 minutes of pure unadulterated bliss mixed together with some of the darkest trauma that you will ever belly laugh at. It is easily one of the best releases this year.
Starring frenemies Dana Gould (Stan Against Evil, Hanging With Doctor Z) and Bobcat Goldthwait (Shakes the Clown, One Crazy Summer) and set during their tour of Southern comedy clubs, Joy Ride combines the intimate one-on-one road trip banter between Gould and Goldthwait talking through their similar childhood traumas and decades-long friendship/hatred while showcasing bits from the various clubs they performed at together, resulting in a deeply dark and hilarious performance piece from two immensely talented human beings.
Shot during the wee early months of 2020 (we’re talking mere weeks before the world changed), Joy Ride is a great big love letter to the weirdly shared personalities of comics who are both at once highly competitive with one another while still desperately hoping that they can make each other laugh.
It is honestly one of the most revealing and un-egolike flicks I’ve seen in a long time.
It also celebrates just how much the two of them have grown over the decades, not only as performers & writers/directors/producers (with outtakes from early shows and talk show performances), but also as beautifully flawed human beings hellbent on mining the darkest parts of themselves to make people laugh.
If you want to really snort-guffaw out loud and release all that crazy pent-up 2020/2021 horror that lives inside your soul, watch Joy Ride, because I guarantee that you will burst open like a firework of glee and feel like your old self for a couple of minutes before sinking back down into doom.
And really, that’s kinda all you really want out of life now isn’t it?
* * * * *
Produced by Charlie Fonville
Written by Bobcat Goldthwait, Dana Gould
Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
Featuring Bobcat Goldwait, Dana Gould
