THE PEOPLE'S JOKER: A Screening and Q & A presented by Commonwealth Comedy Club
This revolutionary DIY parody film and hilarious reimagining of the classic autobiographical coming-of-age story follows an unconfident, closeted trans girl as she moves to Gotham City to make it big as a comedian by joining the cast of UCB Live - a government-sanctioned late night sketch show in a world where comedy has been outlawed. As mainstre
am success eludes our heroine, leading her to unite with a ragtag team of rejects, misfits, and a certain love interest named Mister J, "Joker the Harlequin" is born again as a confident (and psychotic) joker on a collision course with the city's fascist caped crusader. Vats of feminizing chemicals, sexy cartoon interludes, scarecrow psychiatrists, CGI Lorne Michaels, and psychedelic gender dysphoria all play supporting roles. Helmed by writer/director/editor/star Vera Drew and using her own life experiences as a basis for the film, THE PEOPLE'S JOKER is a deeply personal journey that's as much documentary as it is parody.
THE PEOPLE’S JOKER features a superhero-sized cast of celebrated comedic talent in both voice and live action roles behind the vibrant kaleidoscope of characters that lampoon the iconic heroes and villains of the DC comics’ world, featuring cameos from comedy multi-hyphenate Tim Heidecker, award-winning actor Bob Odenkirk, Maria Bamford (Netflix’s Big Mouth, Adult Swim’s Teenage Euthanasia), and Scott Aukerman (Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis co-creator and host of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast), with Vera Drew, Lynn Downey (Amazon Prime Video’s Daisy Jones & The Six), Nathan Faustyn (SADDLED), and Kane Distler, in his film debut as Mister J.
https://www.thepeoplesjoker.com/
https://www.alteredinnocence.net/thepeoplesjoker
Vera Drew
A genuine multi-hyphenate, Vera is a Los Angeles-based director, writer, editor, and actor. Vera won the 2024 Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director for her debut feature film THE PEOPLE’S JOKER. The film has also received a nomination for the 2025 John Cassavetes Award by the Film Independent Spirit Awards and was awarded the The Narrative Committee Renegade Award at the 2024 Indies. THE PEOPLE’S JOKER was released theatrically in the U.S. and Canada by Altered Innocence and had its world premiere in the Midnight Madness section of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2019, Vera's talent was recognized by the Television Academy with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Picture Editing For Variety Programming for her work editing Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime comedy series WHO IS AMERICA. Having creatively incubated at Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim's production company Abso Lutely Productions, Vera has edited and contributed visual effects to dozens of iconic comedy television shows, including CHECK IT OUT! WITH DR. STEVE BRULE (Adult Swim), THE BIRTHDAY BOYS (IFC), KRFT PUNK’S POLITICAL PARTY (Adult Swim), I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE (Netflix), COMEDY BANG! BANG! (IFC), and ON CINEMA (Adult Swim). She is further known for her work on AN EMMY FOR MEGAN, her role as producer/director/co-writer of BEEF HOUSE, and for launching the Adult Swim streaming network, Channel 5 for which she wrote and directed four comedy series: I Love David, Tim and Eric Quiz, Scum, and Our Bodies. In 2025, Vera co-starred with Josh Fadem and Barbara Crampton in Mickey Reece’s EVERY HEAVY THING. She also recently served as editor on Alice Maio Mackay’s films CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS and THE SERPENT’S NEST. She is currently directing her next feature.
Doors at 7:00 PM, show at 8:00PM
Commonwealth Comedy Club is Cincinnati’s home for exquisitely curated live entertainment. Each week we bring you hilarious stand-up comedians, intimate concerts, unique theater productions, live podcast recordings, and so much more.
Commonwealth Comedy Club is housed in the recently renovated, historic former Tower Methodist Church, originally built in 1914. It is no longer a church! Rather, we have converted the purpose of this beautiful old building to bringing you exquisitely curated live entertainment. We have, however, gone to great lengths to preserve the original character of the building while updating for it’s new purpose. We retained all the original stained glass windows and custom-built, curved pews.
We have added a full concession stand with draft beer and wine, as well as a full bar. We partner with local Dayton, KY business Kate’s Catering for our prepared food options. We have added full lighting and sound systems, as well as a complete broadcast-quality video system for recording events and live podcasts. We are exclusively partnered with Third Rule Media to produce our recorded content.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3591963-0
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3591963-2
