Comedy 101: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Introduction by Comedy 101

This summer, Christopher Nolan released THE ODYSSEY, his follow-up to OPPENHEIMER. And the last time this 3,000-year-old Greek myth broke this hard into American monoculture? The Coen Brothers’ 2000 comedy O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and adapted — very loosely, and mostly after the fact — from Homer’s The Odyssey, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? follows Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney) and his two hapless companions (John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson) as they escape a Mississippi chain gang in pursuit of buried treasure.

What follows is part picaresque, part fairy tale, part Depression-era fever dream — where, unusually, the music came first. T-Bone Burnett’s landmark soundtrack introduced a generation to old-time American folk and gospel, moving eight million copies and winning Album of the Year.

Already seen Nolan’s take on the myth? Keep the journey going! Join us at the Roxie for this special Comedy 101 screening of O BROTHER, complete with a pre-show intro and limited-run posters for sale before and after the show.

Comedy 101 is curated and hosted by Sarah Mulligan Williams, a creative director by trade, a comedy and film enthusiast by life. Find her at wordofmouthcreative.co.