NO DIVINE COMEDY,
‘DYING’ NAILS THE LAUGHS BUT BOMBS WITH THE DRAMA
Comedy is hard.
Making a drama about young comics is harder. From executive producer Jim Carrey and based on the book with the same title by William Knoedelseder comes this soapy stew centering on the friendships, romances and rivalries at a comedy club in 1973 Los Angeles.
These young people — several men and one woman — squabble for a key spot in the main room at Goldie's, a club that can make or break careers. Goldie (Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”) recognizes she's den mother to a thirsty mob of neurotics and uses that to her advantage. “These are tortured souls who leave it all out there every night. That volatility, that pain — that's the price of brilliance,” she tells one booking agent as she offers up a plate covered in coke. The brass ring is an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” which any one of these hungry comics would sell both their lungs and toss in their livers for a chance at. When one of their own not only wows the audience but wins an invite to sit on the couch with Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon, the others seem ready to burst from jealousy. But “Dying's” punchline to this moment (no spoilers from me) changes the mood and the moment and drives them all in different directions. Cassie (Boston native Ari Graynor, “Mystic River”) wants a spot in the main room, but Goldie doesn't think she's ready. She doesn't know what to make of Cassie — she's no Joan Rivers or Phyllis Diller. “There's no one female perspective,” Cassie protests. It takes playing like one of the boys — an underhanded threat — that gets Cassie a chance. Among the other wannabe Robert Kleins and Richard Pryors: Eddie (Michael Angarano, “The Knick”) and Ron (Clark Duke, “Hot Tub Time Machine”) are Boston comics and best pals who pick the worst time ever to make the big move to L.A. They discover that all they can afford to rent is a closet in somebody else's apartment. And it comes with a well-used kitty litter box.
Adam's (RJ Cyler) honest anecdotes about having to clean up after his abusive father lands him a gig — Goldie demands he paint her home.
Bill (Andrew Santino, “Mixology”) and Edgar (Al Madrigal, “About a Boy”) might be polar opposites, but in a crisis, they are their own worst enemies.
Ralph's (Erik Griffin, “Blunt Talk”) encounter with a racist heckler in the second episode ends in a satisfying way, but it's playing to the crowd, not the reality of the day.
The show features several convincing stand-up bits and captures a milieu that ranges from depressing to humiliating, all accepted as part of paying one's dues.
It's the drama that never seems authentic.
“Dying” drops a killer set but doesn't know how to close the room.