(CNN) The most important hour of "The History of Comedy" -- an eight-part CNN documentary devoted to stand-up -- might be the most serious and sobering: the high toll comedy exacts on its practitioners, from depression to substance abuse. And in that upcoming segment of the program, subtitled "Spark of Madness," comics talk with considerable openness and honesty about the exaggerated highs and lows associated with their work. "A lot of comedians are people that are very introverted, very shy, very sensitive to humiliation," says Patton Oswalt, adding that it's common for them to be "a little narcissistic, a little damaged." The two, he suggests, are intertwined, much like the masks of comedy and tragedy. What "History of Comedy" does within that hour is to bring what are often viewed as isolated incidents into context.

Source: CNN February 08, 2017 17:24 UTC