The Comedian

In seinem Spielfilmdebüt stellt Regisseur Tom Shkolnik den Stand-up-Comedian Ed in den Mittelpunkt der Geschichte. Der 32-Jährige verdient sein Geld in einem Callcenter, seine Berufung allerdings glaubt er auf den kleinen Bühnen der Comedyclubs in London gefunden zu haben. Doch der erhoffte Erfolg bleibt aus und auch die Freundschaft zu Elisa – einer attraktiven Sängerin, mit der er zusammen lebt – droht langsam zu zerbrechen. Eines Abends am Weg nach Hause trifft Ed im Bus den jungen Künstler Nathan. Aus einem flüchtigen Gespräch entwickelt sich bald eine leidenschaftliche Affäre, die Ed vor eine große Entscheidung stellt.

Ed is a stand-up comedian in his early thirties, he is handsome, charming, witty and lost. Trying to make it on the London comedy circuit, he spends his nights performing in small rooms above pubs and his days making ends meet at a call centre. He lives with Elisa, a beautiful French singer, the two like brother and sister, inseparable, loving and asexual. Ed funny and playful, Elisa soulful and sensitive. One day, on a night bus home, Ed meets Nathan, a young black artist, blunt, honest and free. They immediately connect and begin a passionate affair. Suddenly the intimate bond between Ed and Elisa is threatened and Ed is faced with a choice between his attraction to a man and his love for a woman.

Director's Biography

TOM SHKOLNIK, born 1980 in Israel. In 2002 he came to Great Britain to train as a director at the Drama Centre London. While at the Drama Centre he made his first two shorts, HEADPHONES (2004) and A PICTURE OF ME (2005). In 2006 he made the short film IN THE DARK as part of the Coming Up scheme for Channel 4, followed by ONE HAPPY MOMENT (2010) made for the Digital Shorts scheme and BBC Films. Since 2009 he has been working on his feature debut THE COMEDIAN (2012), which was shown at London Film Festival 2012.