IT STARTED AS A JOKE is a feature documentary that chronicles the decade-long run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival - including a final farewell show. The film celebrates Eugene's unique brand of humor and his role in the alternative comedy movement, offers a bittersweet goodbye to an era, and reminds us of the healing properties of comedy - even in the most challenging of life's circumstances. The film includes interviews with MICHAEL IAN BLACK, KRISTEN SCHAAL, WYATT CENAC, IRA GLASS, JOHN HODGMAN, KUMAIL NANJIANI, REGGIE WATTS and MICHAEL SHOWALTER, along with performances by JANEANE GAROFALO, JIM GAFFIGAN, JON GLASER, MIKE BIRBIGLIA, BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT and more.