Prime Video now has the new Neil Berkeley documentary Group Therapy, which features a forum—not actual group therapy—led by self-admitted therapy lover Neil Patrick Harris. The topic of this group therapy film? The mental health of comedians, specifically the following six chosen to address the use of their personal issues in their work: Tig Notaro, Mike Birbiglia, Gary Gulman, Nicole Byer, London Hughes, and Atsuko Okatsuka.
Watch the trailer below for this film. You’ll see that there are individual and dyadic segments as well regarding the mental health of comedians.
The Mental Health of Comedians
Gulman, who’s suffered severe depression with suicidality and anxiety most of his life ultimately needed—deep into his successful career—inpatient treatment that included electroconvulsive therapy. He believes it saved his life.
Also compelling is Notaro’s story. In one brief period her mother died unexpectedly, she had a romantic breakup, she came close to death from C. diff, and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her subsequent openness about her cancer and other issues on stage not only significantly changed her views about her performing style but also increased her audience.
Birbiglia “recalls a director telling him, ‘It’s crucial that [your] show does not become therapy.’ Yet ignoring that advice has been a consistent win for him”(Dennis Harvey, Variety). His films Sleepwalk With Me and Don’t Think Twice, covered previously on Minding Therapy, attest to this, along with much of the rest of his body of work.
“Byer and Hughes share their experiences with racism, colorism and fatphobia. Byer’s diagnosis of ADHD led to the relief of finally understanding her struggles. Hughes’ discussion of her insecurities and the creation of a protective persona resonates deeply, especially when she talks about drawing inspiration from Whoopi Goldberg. Their stories highlight the additional layers of rejection and struggle faced by Black women in comedy, a theme that is subtly but powerfully woven throughout the film” (Valerie Complex, Deadline).
Okatsuka, whose mother has untreated schizophrenia (and whose male partner’s mom also has schizophrenia), has admittedly had some apprehension, unlike the rest of the group, about seeking her own mental health care. She states that she’s not even sure she deserves therapy when she compares her own issues to her mom’s condition. (Important note: this is a phenomenon known sometimes as mental health impostor syndrome. Okatsuka, of course, does deserve therapy. Doesn’t everyone?)
Selected Reviews of the Group Therapy Film
Dennis Harvey, Variety: “Anxiety, depression, addiction, suicidal ideations, cancer diagnoses — we’re not exactly in ‘take my wife, please’ territory with some of today’s more adventurous comedians, who mine their occasionally harrowing personal experience for material.”
Valerie Complex, Deadline: “There’s a challenge of fitting into roles imposed by others and carving out an identity when trying to build a comedy career. This theme of self-discovery and authenticity is central to the film and resonates strongly.”
Joel Medina, Collider: “…Group Therapy effortlessly does what only the best documentaries can: it makes viewers feel for the film’s focus. By establishing that empathy and implementing a combination of stellar editing and straightforward storytelling, it makes watchers understand how difficult it is to make people feel joy when you can’t do that for yourself.”
