Official Trailer
Our Review
- Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Andra Day
- January 30th 2026
- 121
- Bradley Cooper
Will Arnett plays a recently separated man who stumbles into the stand-up comedy scene and discovers a new passion.
You wouldn’t expect British comedian John Bishop to serve as the inspiration for a Hollywood movie – but here we are!
Is This Thing On?, directed by Bradley Cooper, stars Will Arnett as Alex, who seems to be going through his life on autopilot. He and his longtime wife Tess (Laura Dern) agree to separate, and he moves into his own nondescript apartment.
During his painful time, Alex walks into the Comedy Cellar in New York City and puts his name down for an open mic night to avoid paying the entrance charge.
He tries stand-up comedy for the first time, and it has a huge impact on his life – he finds a renewed passion and energy, which in turn helps reignite his spark with Tess.
Believe it or not, that initial jumping-off point is based on Bishop, who was a temporarily-separated salesman 25 years ago when he first tried his hand at comedy for the same reason – to avoid paying the admission fee. However, his comedy journey began...
