{"id":32195,"date":"2021-09-08T12:50:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T19:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/?p=32195"},"modified":"2021-09-08T12:56:17","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T19:56:17","slug":"btl-radio-show-special-edition-09-08-2021-with-special-guest-nick-fituri-scown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/miscellaneous\/behind-the-lens-podcast\/btl-radio-show-special-edition-09-08-2021-with-special-guest-nick-fituri-scown\/","title":{"rendered":"BTL Radio Show – Special Edition – 09\/08\/2021 with special guest NICK FITURI SCOWN talking TOO SOON: COMEDY AFTER 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is a very special edition of BEHIND THE LENS as we not only welcome back director\/editor NICK FITURI SCOWN to the show, but we reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9\/11 as seen through the eyes of comedy and laughter with TOO SOON: COMEDY AFTER 9\/11, Nick’s debut documentary feature which he co-directed with comedy journalist Julie Seabaugh.\u00a0 Nick also served as the film’s editor.\u00a0 An in-depth interesting conversation.<\/p>\n

For those of us alive in September 2001, we remember the event and the aftermath; the shock, the horror, the confusion, the pain, the sorrow.\u00a0 In the blink of an eye, our world changed.\u00a0 Life seemingly came to a stop.\u00a0 And so did the laughter.\u00a0 We were frozen, wondering when life would resume as it was.\u00a0 As we now know, life never went back to what it was, but what did finally return was the communal experience of laughter.\u00a0 Comedy is cathartic.\u00a0 For so many of us, through laughter, and specifically comedy and comedians and late-night talk show hosts, we almost got “permission” that it was okay to laugh and smile again, to tell jokes and look for some reasoning behind the heinous acts of 9\/11.<\/p>\n

When David Letterman returned to late-night television with Dan Rather as his first guest, that was a sign that just maybe we’d be okay and that we could share a laugh and a smile and grieve and mourn all at the same time.\u00a0 But while Letterman was a face seen by all thanks to television, what about the stand-up club comics, the parody newspapers like The Onion,<\/em> or the beloved institution of Saturday Night Live?<\/em>\u00a0Would the same “okay” apply to them?<\/p>\n

TOO SOON: COMEDY AFTER 9\/11 examines and reflects on the idea of “what is too soon” through the eyes of the comics, hosts, writers, directors, club owners, and Broadway performers, who helped us find our footing and funny bone while searching for their own.\u00a0 It was not an easy process and fraught with uncertainty and in the case of many comics of Middle Eastern or Arab descent – dangerous.\u00a0 To this day, 20 years later, there are still some aspects of the event that are comedy taboo to many both on stage and in the audience, but what each of the 50+ contributors to this documentary have shown us is that, even in the darkest of days, laughter may really be the best medicine.<\/p>\n

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Take a listen as Nick talks about the inspiration for this documentary and the journey which started in 2016, the development and follow-through in speaking with comedians and performers, finding a throughline, sifting through archival materials of news reports, still photographs, and comedy performances, and then the editing process.\u00a0 One of the most challenging aspects of the documentary was finding the balance of recollection and reflection with potentially reopening wounds of trauma.\u00a0 Another involved extensive deliberation on “the historical record” when it came to including individuals like Louis C.K. and even archival materials of Rudy Guliani, who has long since fallen from grace and his days of being known as “America’s Mayor” after 9\/11.<\/p>\n

And Nick gets personal talking about the impact of 9\/11 on himself and his family and the importance of this documentary given his own Middle Eastern background.\u00a0 His father is from Libya and is Muslim.<\/p>\n

You don’t want to miss this interview with NICK FITURI SCOWN or the documentary TOO SOON: COMEDY AFTER 9\/11.<\/p>\n

TOO SOON: COMEDY AFTER 9\/11 <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Premieres September 8th, on VICE at 6pm PT\/9pm ET<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Special 9\/11 20th anniversary screening on <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Saturday, September 11 at 2:30pm PT <\/strong><\/h3>\n

at Dances With Films in Hollywood<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Twitter\/Instagram @toosoondoc\u00a0|\u00a0FB:\u00a0facebook.com\/TooSoonDoc<\/a>\u00a0| #toosoondoc<\/strong><\/p>\n