Criticizing this amateurish touring comedy show from Vince Vaughn is like kicking a scruffy little stray dog. You feel like shit for doing it, but standards must be maintained. It isn't necessary to be a purebred or a major studio movie to be good. You do need something out of the ordinary if you want to win acclaim or even be noticed.

Apparently this moderately amusing schlock was intended to be a tribute to the Wild West shows that roamed the good old USA before the invention of moving pictures. Thank God for moving pictures. If this is what passed for entertainment back then (in the late 1800's) maybe we should all quit going to church and pass the collection plate at our local googleplex for Jerry Bruckheimer.

Instead of using stand-up comics you have actually heard of, this movie gives us some guys so obscure their parents might think they are actually working at a real job. Like at the local Snappy Lube. But of course a real artiste would never stoop so low as to do something that might actually be useful to society. Far better to tell gay jokes that mock your dead brother like one of the comics in this movie does. If that sounds harsh just remember: comedy is tragedy plus time.

Vince Vaughn's idea for the movie seems to be that by traveling with a few up and coming comics on a bus - as they tour 30 cities from LA to Chicago - we will understand their creative process and bond with them. Or at least hesitate to throw rotten tomatoes at them. According to RottenTomatoes.com this movie grossed $464,170 in the theaters. This is roughly ten times the production cost however. Apparently someone recorded it on their uncle's video camera with lighting courtesy of a bunch of comedy groupies flicking their Bics.

Believe it or not there actually is such a thing as a comedy groupie. Women from the audience later sidle up to the dorkiest comedian in the group to have their boobs signed. After seeing this wildly unentertaining travelogue you will be yearning to watch a slide-show from your aunt's last vacation trip to Pasadena instead.

--Dan_in_Cincinnati