Before was an acclaimed television producer and hit filmmaker, Judd Apatow was working the stand-up circuit. Once success in other mediums took hold, he abandoned the mic, but now, after 25 years he’s giving it another shot in the appropriately titled “Judd Apatow: The Return.”
“…. I stopped doing stand-up a long time ago, because I created ‘The Ben Stiller Show‘ that we did for Fox back in the day. I got so busy writing for that show that I didn’t have time to write any jokes or work out material at clubs for about a year,” Apatow told Vanyaland about stepping back on stage. “When that ended, I thought that maybe it was the universe telling me I was supposed to write. Then I got busy making all of those movies, and when I was working with Amy Schumer on ‘Trainwreck,’ she was doing a ton of stand-up shows, so I got to talking to her about it, and started to miss it, and one day I thought ‘Ya know what? Let me go up on stage and make you laugh’ — just so she could see what it was like when I used to do it. So, I wrote some jokes and went over to the Comedy Cellar one night, it oddly went well, and after that show was over, I just wanted to do it every night.”
The result is a Netflix special not only documenting Apatow’s material, but also seeing him rub elbows with his comedian pals….who aren’t always supportive….
“Judd Apatow: The Return” arrives on December 12th.