Exclusive Interview: Eddie Schmidt Talks Good One: A Show About Jokes, Collaborating with Mike Birbiglia, and the Parallels from Comedians and Filmmakers

Renowned as an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated producer, director, and showrunner, Eddie Schmidt has left an indelible mark with celebrated projects such as Chelsea Does, Valentine Road, Twist of Faith, Chain Camera, and American Masters. Continuously pushing boundaries, his latest collaboration sees him joining forces with comedian Mike Birbiglia for the captivating documentary Good One: A Show About Jokes, promising audiences an insightful exploration into the art of humor.

A Peacock Original adaptation of the popular Vulture comedy podcast, Good One: A Show About Jokes highlights the journey of a comedian developing new material. This docu-special follows Mike from Providence, R.I. to Washington, D.C. as he builds jokes based on personal truths, mixing comedy with revelations and anecdotes from family and his fellow comedians.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Eddie about Good One: A Show About Jokes, collaborating with Mike, and the parallels between comedians and filmmakers.

PC: Good One: A Show About Jokes is your newest docu-special. It’s based on a popular podcast. How did you first get introduced to Mike? What were some of the early conversations about bringing his story and process to this medium?
Eddie: Mike was an ideal subject for us because he’s a comedian who is very upfront about his process. His comedy is very personal. Those two things together made him the perfect person to explore this format. Mike had also been a guest on the Good One podcast. He had a relationship with Jesse [David Fox] and understood what we were trying to do, which was to adapt an interview format into a more immersive documentary experience. It was really about finding the avenue in and determining the best timing.

Mike happened to have gigs early last year in Providence, Rhode Island, about an hour from where he grew up, and in Washington, D.C., which was where he went to college and where he first started performing. Between the two, we thought we had a great story to tell here.

PC: “Immersive” is the perfect way to describe this docu-special. So much of what you both do as storytellers is bring truth to your craft. Mike talks about the inflection point in his own career when he realized the power of bringing honesty to his work and how it allowed him to make connections with those in a room. For you as a filmmaker, what was the moment in your own career when you realized the power of this art form, and how has that guided you throughout?
Eddie: I fell in love with the documentary format pretty early on. I was very fortunate. I loved Hoop Dreams, Roger and Me, and Crumb. Those films had a significant impact on me. Then I started working with Kirby Dick, and we made a film about high school students called Chain Camera because this was pre-social media and before recording on phones was common.

The idea of giving cameras to people to record their lives was a novel concept. So we did it in a high school in Los Angeles, John Marshall High School, to see what would happen over the course of the year and to weave the fabric of their lives and the diverse range of stories that were told. I was hooked. From that point on, I committed myself to telling real stories. It’s been so rewarding to delve into worlds to which I would otherwise have no access. I hope to bring that experience to the viewers.

PC: The power of art. Mike has such a unique process in which he writes the entire show down on index cards, and if he removes one and the show still works, that means it’s not meant to be there. This feels like such an interesting parallel to documentary filmmaking, where the project really starts to take form in the editing stage. Having had such an illustrious career in this industry, what are some techniques that you’ve developed for yourself throughout the years? How similar is that process to the ways in which you work?
Eddie: It is similar in the sense that what I try to do is prepare intensely so that when I’m in the moment, I’m present and focused. I’m not worried about logistics or time; I’m really listening and paying attention to what I’m capturing. I find that if I prep thoroughly and consider all the potential avenues and questions that might arise in that moment, then I’m freed up. That’s very similar to how comedians prepare.

In terms of the editing process, you capture moments that are interesting in themselves. They might make compelling three-minute scenes or even a minute-and-a-half scene, but they don’t fit within the whole. The fascinating aspect of making documentaries is that as you work on them, you start to see the path they’re taking. Again, you plan, but you also need to be ready to follow the emerging path.

Then, when you’re putting it all together, there might be something you initially fell in love with, but as you follow the story or the arc, you realize that particular scene doesn’t belong there.

PC: Great answer. Mike talks about the fact that when you’re creating a new special, there’s so much that’s unknown, which feels similar to documentary filmmaking. At what point in the process did you start to see those themes that you wanted to explore in this docu-special start to form? Was there one in particular that hit home for you?
Eddie: I responded to Mike’s work because he speaks so honestly about growing up and his emotions. It’s very relatable. There’s a story that Mike tells about being bullied that we captured that’s in our special.

That felt like a pivotal point because he’s making it funny, yet it’s very real. It’s cathartic, a release of old pain. This particular story delves into deeper themes rather than just being a short anecdote. It made me feel like we were going to a deeper place.

PC: There’s so much trust that you need when you’re creating a documentary, especially in the moment you’re describing. How did you build that with Mike?
Eddie: Building trust with Mike was a process. He’s accustomed to telling his own story, so he needed to understand that I approached the project with genuine interest and humanity. I wanted him to feel comfortable and to guide us in where the story should go. While there were aspects I was keen on exploring, it was crucial for him to feel at ease and to let us in to capture those moments.

PC: Towards the end of the special, you have these incredible comedians talking about what they learned from Mike. What has he taught you about your own craft? How were you able to get all these comedians on board?
Eddie: Mike has reminded me about the importance of meticulous preparation. As for the comedians, Mike is highly respected within the comedy community, so we wanted his peers to offer insights in a way that would differ from journalists or directors. Comedians understand the challenges of their craft intimately, and their perspective adds a unique appreciation for what Mike does.

Watch Good One: A Show About Jokes on Peacock today.