In the trailer for Bradley Cooper's Is This Thing On? Will Arnett tries his hand at stand-up

With the new stand-up dramedy, Is This Thing On?, director Bradley Cooper returns with another entry in his oeuvre about the tortured lives of performers. Turning his attention away from music, he looks at the venerated career of a stand-up comedian. Is This Thing On? stars podcaster Will Arnett as a newly divorced joker, who, like many lonely men before him, wanders onto the stage of New York City’s famed Comedy Cellar in hopes that the laughter of strangers will heal him. How far will he take it? Will it help him earn the respect of his peers? The love of his wife (Laura Dern) and kids? Or, will he do what so many comedians do today: become obsessed with saying slurs on stage, interview JD Vance, and take a gig slinging jokes in Saudi Arabia? It’s impossible to say at this point.

What we do know is that Is This Thing On? has a new trailer that continues Cooper’s interest in stagecraft. The director may have found the perfect avatar in Arnett, who has already delivered some of television’s great comedic performances but has struggled to find his place on the big screen outside of voice roles. Let’s hope he held on to the animation rights.