Thirty-five years of making rooms full of strangers laugh is a long career to look back on. The Joke Thief, a 2018 Canadian drama, spends its runtime with the comedian doing exactly that.
What is The Joke Thief about?
Simon McCabe has spent decades on stage as a stand-up comedian, the kind of performer who has been the center of attention in every room he has ever walked into. The Joke Thief settles into that career at a point of reckoning, watching a man built entirely around getting a laugh confront who he is when the room is empty. Writer-director Frank D'Angelo also takes the lead role himself, playing McCabe as a performer whose public timing and private life have drifted a long way apart. The supporting cast — John Ashton, Daniel Baldwin, and Jason Blicker among them — surrounds him with the people who have watched that career from the wings, giving the film its sense of a life measured out one set at a time. Shot and set in Canada, it keeps its scale small and its focus tight on a single performer's account of himself, favoring quiet scenes of reflection over spectacle.
About the cast
Frank D'Angelo both directs and stars as Simon McCabe, the veteran stand-up comedian at the center of the film. He is joined by John Ashton, Daniel Baldwin, Jason Blicker, Francesco Antonio, Keisha Augustin, Linda Gale, and Alyson Court, who round out the ensemble around McCabe's story.
Context & significance
The Joke Thief is a Canadian production released in 2018, built around a single comedian's long career rather than an ensemble plot. Its drama unfolds mostly in conversation and reflection, the kind of low-key character study that trades big turns for a close look at one performer's history on stage.
Watching The Joke Thief on Ktime
The Joke Thief streams on K-Time with a free account login, made available to Persian-speaking audiences through K-Time's Farsi-language interface. It currently plays in its original English without a Persian dub or subtitle track.