New Sundance doc dedicated to Robin Williams explores connection between comedy, misery

PARK CITY, Utah – Does the best comedy come from pain? And does that mean comedians are the most miserable people of all?

That’s what comic Kevin Pollack wanted to discover in his documentary, “Misery Loves Comedy,” which premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival. He dedicated the film “in loving memory and gratitude” to his friend and mentor, Robin Williams, whose suicide last year came just as Pollack was finishing the project.

Williams does not appear in the film, though Pollack said he was “quite desperate and interested” to participate. But the long hours Williams worked on his TV series “The Crazy Ones” prevented him from joining the cast.

Pollack interviewed more than 60 comics, actors and funny folks to find out if comedy requires misery, and found the answer to be both yes and no.

“I just think you’re funnier when you’re miserable,” said Jimmy Fallon.

“I think you have to at least know misery,” Matthew Perry said.

Comic Amy Schumer said that, of her friends, those who are the funniest are also the most miserable.

Said Lewis Black: “In order to become a comic, you have to love watching yourself die.”

Even two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks said he spent “54 and 1/2 years of living in self-loathing.”

The pain of life isn’t limited to comics and performers, Pollack said.

“Everyone has suffered through misery,” he said. “It is the human condition. And the performer or the writer or the filmmaker or the actor must figure out a way to articulate it in a way that makes it either relatable or universal.”

Tribeca Film announced Friday that it acquired “Misery Loves Comedy” for distribution and plans to release it theatrically in the spring.

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Sandy Cohen, www.twitter.com/APSandy .