Episode 324 - The King of Comedy
Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad grab their autograph books, practice their monologues, and desperately try to get booked on late-night television as they dive into Martin Scorsese’s painfully uncomfortable 1982 dark comedy, The King of Comedy. Joining the guys for the first time is Dylan, creator of the Cinova Movie and TV ranking app!
Troy, Brad, and Dylan dig into a film that might be even more uncomfortable today than it was when it was released. The King of Comedy takes celebrity obsession, fame, parasocial relationships, and the desperate desire to be noticed and turns them into a comedy where you're never quite sure if you should be laughing or slowly backing away from Rupert.
And that's what makes The King of Comedy so fascinating. This is a movie about fame made decades before social media gave everyone a camera, an audience, and the ability to chase attention 24 hours a day. Rupert Pupkin desperately wants people to know his name, and he doesn't particularly care how that happens.
So practice your monologue, ignore every restraining order placed in your path, and remember Rupert Pupkin's philosophy: better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime.
Troy, Brad, and Dylan are stepping into the spotlight with The King of Comedy.
Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs!
Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special
Cinova - The future of Movie and TV
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Guest: Dylan