“I’m always frustrated because I think a lot of people perceive comics as the ones everyone knows who live in New York and L.A., says Joe List, a stand-up comic whose name is not equated with Jerry Seinfeld or Kevin Hart, but nonetheless lives in New York and has a large and devoted following. “There are thousands of comedians that no one has ever heard of who are making some kind of a living at this.”

In February 2023, List, who has nursed a desire to make films since he was a teenager, decided to put his money where his mouth is — more than $25,000, he estimates — and shine a spotlight on Tom Dustin, a comic who largely unknown on a national level but revered in his hometown of Boston and Key West, Florida, where he currently lives and owns the Key West Comedy club.

The result is the t

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