Today the trailer for the new Joker movie dropped. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as the titular DC Comics villain, an origin story of sorts as it shows a man slowly loosing his grip with humanity. The trailer trended on all social media today as it racked up millions of views in the process. But you know what hasn't gotten as much attention as we who run a comedy-themed website think should? The presence of a favorite stand-up comedian in the clip.
If you tune to the 1:03 minute mark, you'll see Phoenix in a comedy club, awkwardly laughing at a comedian on stage, and that comedian is none other than Gary Gulman. If you blink, you might miss it, but when you freeze the clip, you will definitely notice Gulman on stage in a 70s polyester suit telling jokes (the film takes place in 1981).
But you don't have to take our word for it, Gulman himself confirmed this detail today on social media. A few other notes from watching the trailer.
- It's directed by Todd Phillips, best known for directing classics like Old School and The Hangover trilogy.
- The plot summary states the title character is a struggling comedian. You can see him scribbling in his joke book at the 0:24 mark.
- There's strong connection to the TV show Atlanta as the flick features both Zazie Beetz and Brian Tyree Henry.
- At the 1:34 mark, you see the Joker outside of a Charlie Chaplin exhibit of some sort.
- At 1:55 you see Robert DiNiro appearing to host a late night TV show, this timeframe lines up and pays homage to DeNiro's character in The King Of Comedy where he portrays an aspiring comedian obsessed with taking the job of a late night TV host.