The documentary follows the journey of Steve Mazan, a stand up comedian with the lifelong dream of performing a comedy routine on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Notable appearances in the documentary include Ray Romano, Kevin Nealon, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Regan, Arj Barker, Will Durst and Robert Schimmel.

Mazan acted as narrator for the film, speaking directly into camera from behind a large microphone on an empty comedy stage.

[5] Of the film's premise, The Chicago Daily Herald said, "There's nothing like a little incurable cancer to kick-start someone's attempt to fulfill a lifelong dream.

The letter states that many sick people with emotional stories write to the show and ask to appear in an episode, but as a policy they cannot honor such requests.

Undeterred, Steve decides to perform more comedy shows, write new material, and seek advice from professional comedians who have appeared on Letterman.

His cancer is growing slowly, but Mazan is informed that the tumors on his liver could quickly accelerate their growth at any time, which would likely lead to his death.

Of the device, The Plain Dealer said: You know you're in for a weird and wonderful ride when a little more than nine minutes into the story of Steve Mazan's quest to make it onto the "Late Show With David Letterman," the comic busts out his "Top 10 Benefits of Catching Cancer" (3.

[9] Dying to Do Letterman was self-funded by directors Biagio Messina and Joke Fincioen, who invested their life savings making the film.

[1] As depicted in the film, Mazan launched the original Dying to Do Letterman site, and began shooting videos of himself discussing his quest in early 2006.

Deciding he'd like to fully document his journey, Mazan connected with Joke Fincioen and Biagio Messina, a married, filmmaking and TV producing duo.

[12] Of the potential filmmaking/friendship conflict, Screen Comment said: "Fincioen and Messina generally refrain from lionizing Mazan's predicament, a considerable achievement given that both are close friends with him.

"[9] In an interview with MovieMaker Magazine Messina stated that Mazan's only creative input before filming was, "Even if I die, you have to finish the documentary and still make it funny.

Mazan, Messina, Fincioen, and volunteers visited film festivals dressed in hospital scrubs while passing out flyers for Dying to Do Letterman.

[20] Once Dying to Do Letterman was invited to participate in DocuWeeks by the International Documentary Association, the filmmakers launched a Kickstarter campaign to help cover their costs and thus qualify for Academy Award consideration.

[4] Dubbed Kickstarter for an Oscar the campaign set out to raise $37,000 to pay for promotion, travel, and screenings related to the expenses of participating in DocuWeeks.

But one of this year's hopefuls has found a new way to raise money: a crowd-funding campaign based on the simple plea, "Help us qualify for an Academy Award.

[5] On December 7, 2012, it was released on iTunes, and was named New and Noteworthy along with films including The Dark Knight Rises, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Brave.

[29] In 2011 Dying to Do Letterman played in a variety of film festivals and was reviewed in numerous outlets before it was acquired for distribution by Oscilloscope Laboratories.

It had its world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival, where it won both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary.

[3] The filmmakers posted videos showing multiple standing ovations after screenings, and interviewing audience members as they exited theaters.

[37] Cleveland's The Plain Dealer said of Dying to Do Letterman, "... a nimble, uplifting film that celebrates life, love and friendship.

"[7] Variety wrote "Like its regular-guy subject, the pic proves more endearing than hilarious" and said that scenes in the film provided a "worthy curtain-peeling dimension.

"[38] Film School Rejects wrote: "[Dying to do Letterman] does a solid job of weaving elements of Mazan's personal life together with his quest, and it becomes a humorous and occasionally heartbreaking reminder that the journey is more important than the destination.

This film is an uplifting story that will give you a great insight into the lives of the men and women who grab a mic, deal with rowdy drunks, and follow their hearts no matter what life throws at them.

[35]Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews called Dying to do Letterman, "a very moving documentary about achieving the American dream."

After the ending credits -- which have by far film's funniest bits of all -- had finished rolling, our audience, to a person, was standing up, cheering and applauding loudly.