Who Wants to be a Comic

Ryan Horwood is a security guard. Geoff Hendry works for a 24-hour crisis support center. Saad Kiyani is a bank manager. Sandra Battaglini works for a marketing consultant. Jack Dani is a plumber. They all have one thing in common – they want to be stand up comics. So they've entered a contest to see who will be the funniest person with a day job. In comedy's answer to "Canadian Idol", wannabe comics who dream of giving up their day jobs for a life on the stage compete for a chance to perform in the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. The "Funniest Person with a Day Job" contest is an annual event put on by the Laugh Resort comedy club in Toronto. About thirty contestants enter the first round, where every week for six weeks, six of them perform for a panel of judges. The winners go on to compete in a second round. There is a lot at stake for these amateur comedians, because winning the contest could be the breakthrough that launches a career. Who Wants to be a Comic? follows several of the contestants through both rounds of the contest and also goes behind the scenes to reveal the real people behind the performances. We discover that what drives people to think they can be comics is as diverse as the contestants themselves and is often surprising.