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You might love him. You might hate him. Or maybe you just tolerate him. But you can’t deny that Vince Vaughn has found himself among some of the biggest names in comedy. So after making a name for himself in Hollywood, he decided to help a few of his friends make a name for themselves at venues across the country.
In 30 days in 2005, Vaughn hit the road with four up-and-coming comedians to perform 30 shows across the country, traveling by bus from California, across the southern states, and up through the Midwest. Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show captures the tour as Vaughn and Company joke their way across the country. Along the way, Vaughn, always the smarmy emcee, interacts on-stage with comedians Bret Ernst, Sebastian Maniscalco, Ahmed Ahmed, and John Caparulo. He also welcomes special guests—like country singer Dwight Yoakam and a few other friends, like Justin Long and producer Peter Billingsley (you may remember him as Ralphie from A Christmas Story).
Though it’s a film about a stand-up comedy tour, Wild West Comedy Show is more than just a bunch of stand-up acts; it’s a documentary about the journey. As these five comics and their crew travel across the country, you get an interesting look behind the scenes. You’ll see the cities they visit and some of the people they meet along the way (especially during a Hurricane Katrina benefit show in Alabama). You’ll actually get to know the comics a bit—and you’ll gain an appreciation for what they face on stage every night.
I expected Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show to be about a bunch of loud, obnoxious guys trying to one-up each other—both on stage and behind the scenes—so I was surprised to find that the guys actually seemed pretty supportive of one another. Put that many girls on a bus for 30 days, and they probably won’t all make it out alive—but put a bunch of guys together, and it’s like Boy Scout Camp, only with more booze.
Along with all the behind-the-scenes stuff, of course, there are plenty of clips of the comics’ acts. Though it starts out somewhat slow, the comics seem to get funnier and funnier as the tour continues—and the comedy, while often obscenity-laced, isn’t really the crude humor that you might expect. The comics cover everything from their families to roller-skating to techno music—and they’re often hilarious.
The film’s only downside is that, after the first half of the tour, it starts to drag a bit. Fortunately, the comedy just keeps getting better—but the fact that the film captures something from every city on the tour makes it feel longer than it really is. They manage to cover all 30 shows in just 100 minutes—but it makes for a pretty exhausting comedy marathon. So when it’s all over, you’ll feel like you’ve been on a 30-day tour, too. You’ll be a little bit worn out, but you’ll have had plenty of laughs and made a few new friends along the way—and that makes it all worthwhile.
