Is This Thing On? is a 2025 comedy-drama directed by Bradley Cooper, written by Cooper, Will Arnett, and Mark Chappell, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern as Alex and Tess Novak, a couple whose marriage is on the rocks, leading Alex to discover stand-up as a way of processing it. They are joined by Bradley Cooper himself as Alex's best friend Balls, Andra Day as Balls' wife Christine, Christine Ebersole and Ciaran Hinds as Alex's parents, Jordan Jensen as Jill, one of the comics Alex befriends; and Blake Kane and Calvin Knegton as Alex and Tess's twin sons Felix and Jude.
Time Stamps:
- (04:45) Top Five
- (25:32) The King of Comedy
- (41:29) Is This Thing On?
- (1:15:15) Spoilers
- (1:47:04) Next Time: No Other Choice
Works Cited:
- A Star is Born (2018) - Movie Review: Alternate Ending (Tim Brayton, 2018)
- American Sniper (Clint Eastwood, 2014)
- Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022)
- Emancipation (Antoine Fuqua, 2022)
- Is This Thing On? (Bradley Cooper, 2025)
- The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982)
- 'The King Of Comedy' At 40: A Terrifying Look At The Early Origins Of "Stan Culture" (Jordan Hoffman, 2023)
- Lance Reddick | The Eric Andre Show | adult swim
- Maestro (Bradley Cooper, 2023)
- Materialists (Celine Song, 2025)
- Never Just a Movie | Top Five (2014) (Nathaniel Missildine, 2022)
- No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook, 2025)
- Orange Is the New Black (Jinji Kohan, 2013)
- Top Five (Chris Rock, 2014)
- Why YouTubers Get Weird
- Will Arnett Reveals the Incredible True Story that Inspired the Film 'Is This Thing On?'
- Will Smith reveals the real, predictably Will Smithian reason he didn't star in Django Unchained (Sean O'Neal, 2013) [Ben here: the headline I spoke of was actually the top-rated comment of this article, but the A.V. Club's several changes in commenting services over the years have resulted in its legendary reader comments being scattered to the four winds. I don't know who the commenter was, but the exact quote was, "He refused to get djiggy with it."]
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Ben Verschoor
Steven Santana
Opening music is "Root Beer Rag" by Billy Joel
Closing music is "G-Spot Tornado" by Frank Zappa
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