Wonderful character development!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Indeed, this was a poor display of good comedians with the exception of Whoopi, Tom, Larry, and one or two others. I find this docu-mockery an exclusion of great comedians and shameful. I didn't care for it. The late great Richard Pryor was mentioned in a story about assault/womanizing in a flippant way. I still don't know why freddie prinze jr (why was he even in the damn thing?) told the story about Pryor -- it only felt like he wanted to uplift his father's memory and downgrade Pryor's as the comedian who got his ass kicked. It just wasn't funny! I agree with other disappointed commenters that the lack of diversity/minority is apparent and terrible. And, to add insult to injury, Amy Schumer who I think is the least funny person was included to tell a story about her narcissism. News flash Amy! We already knew that most actors/comedians are narcissistic -- otherwise they wouldn't have made it on their mediocre talents like you and that Jennifer law-whats her face. I love a good laugh but this docu-mockery of comedians was more misery with less comedy. You were warned.

I'm glad previous reviewers have seen fit to mention the comedians who were unjustly missing from this film.To that, I'll just add: Only about 10% of the subjects in the film are women.Did the producers even try to interview more female comedians?Surely (Shirley?) there is a female perspective on the main focus of this film that is almost entirely missing.Where are:Tig Notaro?Lilly Tomlin?Jane Curtin?Carol Burnett?Just to name a few ...

I'm sorry but where was Eddie Murphy in this. He did 2 of the greatest stand up videos of the 80s if not of all time that I show to my kids as a rite of passage when they hit puberty and like Pryor he broke racial and PC boundaries and not even mentioned in this show! Travesty! Seeing a different side of comedians was truly interesting and hearing about the narcissism aspect from Amy Schumer was one of the only resonating factors to show true insight and as per usual female comedians as with other minorities totally underrepresented (Joan Rivers dead but could have been mentioned) and just to confirm I am a WASP. And where was Louis CK. Maybe he asked for too much money. Not sure how all these comedians were procured but some of the greats not evident which was a disappointment but on a positive note they did show some Poms and Aussies.

Was pleasantly surprised with this. It's a simple one-on-one Q&A format, but cleverly cutting out the questions and the person asking them. You get to hear what comedians were like as kids, if people in their family were funny or if they were considered funny, how they first got into comedy, how their first gigs were, what their worst moments on stage were, and more; culminating in the eponymous question.I started to list who I could remember being interviewed then realised it's a ridiculous number so please see the "cast" list for details. Needless to say it's a huge and varied list, and I think that's what makes this so good - so many soundbites from so many great comedians. And I wonder if anyone but Kevin Pollak with his connections could've pulled that off?A couple of clips were taken from the Kevin Pollak Chatshow - e.g. Tom Hanks, Larry David - but that's just fine as they were talking about the same subject so it fits in perfectly well.I truly think anyone who considers themselves a fan of comedy should watch this - it really offers some unique and intriguing insights into the minds behind the voices behind the mic stands.