The Secret Life of Brian

Monty Python's Life of Brian was released in 1979 and was immediately condemned by religious and other conservative groups. However the film was the Python's most successful and remains a cult classic that can be found at the top of many best comedy film lists. In the documentary we learn about the idea for the film how it was made and we hear from the Python's and some of those that worked to get the The Life Of Brian banned.

Watch the full documentary now on Documentary Fans Release Date: 2007 Duration: 54 Minutes.

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Religulous: Bill Maher's Sideways Look At Religion

Bill Maher has always been known as a Political satirist and in his stand up comedy and late night TV Shows he has not held back his views on Religion. In the documentary Maher delivers a No Holes Barred look at the worlds religions laced with sarcasm and comedy. He travels across the world to visit the leaders and followers of religions from Christians to Mormons and Jews to Muslims. Maher was definitely not on a voyage of discovery in which his opinions might be swayed it is from the start a look at how ridiculous (Religulous is a mix of religious and ridiculous) he finds all religions.

Watch the full documentary now on Documentary Fans Release Date: 2008 Duration: 1 Hour 40 Minutes.

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Kim Jong-Il's Comedy Club

Under he guise of a Danish theatre troupe two comedians and a journalist travel to North Korea to uncover living standards under then dictator "The Dear Leader Kim Jong-il". They want to bring comedy to the DPRK and they also want to see how one of the comedians Jacob Nossell who is handicapped is accepted with rumors of North Korea's handicapped children being maltreated.

The trio are chaperoned everywhere they go as we have come to expect in North Korea documentaries and their efforts to stage a play is also censored and changed at every turn. While the two other protagonists Mads Brügger (The journalist and film maker) and Simon Jul Jørgensen seem unperturbed Jacob becomes frustrated with his mother like treatment from one of the Korean chaperons.

Watch the full documentary now on Documentary Fans Release Date: 2009 Duration: 59Mins.

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The Aristocrats: World's Funniest Dirty Joke

The Aristocrats is a comedy documentary about a famous dirty joke that has been a favorite among comedians for years. The film made by Penn Jillette (Penn and Teller) and Paul Provenza through 100 top comedians and celebrity's tell the history of the joke and tell their version of it. The joke indeed has endless versions while the premise will remain each person has their own style in which to tell it and often tries to out do other with a higher level of profanity.

In the 2005 documentary among others introducing us to The Aristocrats are Jon Stewart, George Carlin, Jason Alexander, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Connolly, Bill Maher, Eddie Izzard and Sarah Silverman.

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Biography: The Three Stooges

The Three Stooges were a hugely popular comedy trio (Six different people actually played the stooges) on Television and Film for over four decades. They entertained viewers with their own brand of slapstick comedy that's still popular and often repeated today. In the documentary we learn the history of the Three Stooges and the men who played them from the late twenties right through to the mid seventies.

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Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool

Karl Pilkington just happened to be assigned as producer for the Saturday radio show on London's XFM of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, soon he was the show. Hilariously funny without knowing why, this innocence and his often sideways look at the world led to him having his own Travel show on Sky TV (albeit called An Idiot Abroad).

In his own words Karl "Can't be doing with learning", Gervais calls him a "Round headed Manc twat" and he has worn the 'Stupid' tag all his life. In this documentary Karl wants to find out would he be happier if he was more intelligent ? He returns home to see why school didn't work out for him, he takes a Mensa IQ test and meets among others Germaine Greer and Will Self two People known for their intelligence to see if being smart is all that important anyway.

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Goin' Down to South Park

Goin' Down to South Park defiantly falls into the Mockumentary genre with the creators of the show playing fictionalized versions of themselves. Made in 1999 only two years after the South Park TV show debuted on Comedy Central it is a funny sarcastic film in the style you would expect from the creators of South Park. With that said the documentary does tell the history of the show and some facts if you can sort them from the fiction.

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The People Versus George Lucas

The People Versus George Lucas is a "hilarious, heartfelt documentary" that looks at the original legacy of Star Wars (and to a lesser extent Indiana Jones) and why he returned to these projects with for many people disastrous results. The original Star Wars trilogy had; for a movie an unmatched cultural effect on fans in the late 70's and early 80's. I guess you could compare it with the recent Harry Potter craze but much more extreme. It was a social phenomenon and in 1983 after the release of Return of the Jedi it was agreed Lucas had created a trilogy that had changed cinema and would take it's rightful place in popular culture.

So why then after 20 years did he return to Star Wars and after 9 years return to Indiana Jones ? Fans claim it was for greed or revamped notoriety but whatever the reasons they panned the movies. Because when a franchise is so successful and has such an effect on fans they in some ways claim a sort of ownership. The People Versus George Lucas is lighthearted but the people featured do seem to be genuinely upset he did not "Leave well enough alone".

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Superheros : Ordinary People Who Dress Up And Fight Crime

Can't tell you how many times during the start of this documentary I just said aloud "Seriously ?".I kept wondering if it was some sort of Spinal Tap movie.It even looked like something from Christopher Guest.But no it's real, these people really are (Well believe they are) Superheros.

So the film is simply called "Superheros" by Mike Barnett and it follows a number of ordinary people who dress up in superhero costumes and fight crime.Call it comic book fans that are confusing the lines of fiction and reality.Or the guys from the Big Bang Theory going a step too far and becoming caped crusaders or vigilantes.It's strange, covers strange people and very funny in parts. But also a little sad, You start to connect with the characters in the documentary and I couldn't help wondering how long it would be before one annoys the wrong person and pays the ultimate price.

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Talking Funny With Seinfeld, Gervais, CK And Rock

Four of the most recognizable faces in comedy sit down to talk about comedy, their experiences from humble beginning to finding what "Bits" worked.Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Gervais Louie C.K. and Chris Rock are all successful comedians in many guises.

Seinfeld was co-creator, writer and star of one of the most successful sitcoms of all time; namely Seinfeld. Gervias was the first Brits in decades to create a sitcom that was popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the form of The Office.Louie CK has a number of notches on his belt on the big and small screen with sitcom 'Louie' winning every award possible. Rock found his TV success in the sitcom Everybody hates Chris.On top of this all three perform stand up comedy to sold out arenas.So if anyone is gonna talk funny about being funny it's not funny these four got the call. For more Seinfeld make sure to check out Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, he has Gervais, Louie CK and Rock as guests and all episodes are streamed online.

Watch the film now on Documentary Fans Release Date: 2011 Duration: 49M.

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Stand Up Comedy Student

As part of student research Ben Lowe tackles the daunting task of stand up comedy. Ben looks to some of the top comedians like Ed Byrne, Lee Mack, Russell Howard and Jack Whitehall for stand up tips and advice. Can he succeed in one of the most ruthless forms of entertainment ? We see his first gig in his home town to playing the famous comedy store in London.

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