Although I should have brought this up on the Netflix segment for recent episode of the Cinecast, alas, I did not notice it until late last night: Bobcat Goldthwait‘s 1991 directorial debut, Shakes the Clown, popped up on the Canadian version of the streaming site this week. Goldthwait, as an onscreen performer peaked somewhere in the mid 1980s – most people probably know him as the weird, dirty (literally, not figuratively) Cop from the Police Academy sequels, but the cool kids probably fondly remember One Crazy Summer. he more or less disappeared after Shakes failed to take off beyond a weird cult curio. For about a decade he was MIA before returning as a director in the early 2000s for cable TV programs (Crank Yankers, Chapelle’s Show, The Man Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live) and eventually moving into smart, subversive indie features. With the quite fun, and rather timely, debut of the writer/director/comedian’s latest film, God Bless America (Kurt’s Review) and the fondness for his rather auteur-ish three-word-title laden C.V. (Windy City Heat, Sleeping Dogs Lie, World’s Greatest Dad, God Bless America.) Regular listeners of the Cinecast, know that Matt Gamble raves about World’s Greatest Dad often, and at length.

Want an overview? Lots video clippings are tucked under the seat.

On The Encyclopedia of Hell:

Impromptu bit of Stand-up during Midnight Madness print delay (not even of his film, but rather bit of Japanese crime weirdness called Smuggler):

Post-Screening Video Interview at TIFF11:

World’s Greatest Dad Trailer:

Sleeping Dogs Lie Trailer:

Windy City Heat Clip (which offers a flavour of this behind-the-scenes Jimmy Kimmel produced TV moc-doc):

Shakes The Clown Trailer: