Production began in New York on June 1, 1981, to avoid clashing with a forthcoming writers' strike,[7] and opened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1983.

After meeting Jerry Langford, a successful comedian and talk show host, Rupert believes his "big break" has finally come.

Hoping to impress, Rupert invites a date, Rita, to accompany him when he decides to show up uninvited at Langford's country home.

When the straight approach does not work, Rupert carries out a kidnapping plot with the help of Masha, a fellow stalker similarly obsessed with Langford.

Between the taping of the show and the broadcast, Masha has her "dream date" with Langford, who is duct-taped to a chair in her parents' Manhattan townhouse.

News reports of Rupert's phenomenal success at comedy and his prison sentence and release play over a montage of performances of his, then of storefronts stocking his "long awaited" autobiography, King For a Night.

Reports state that Rupert still considers Jerry Langford his mentor and friend and that he and his agent are currently weighing several "attractive offers", including comedy tours and a film adaptation of his memoirs.

The final scene shows Rupert taking the stage for an apparent TV special with a live audience and an announcer enthusiastically introducing, lavishly praising, and giving him extended applause.

The Clash—members Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon, their manager Kosmo Vinyl—and the musicians Ellen Foley and Don Letts appeared as Street Scum.

After Raging Bull was completed, Scorsese had thought about retiring from feature films to make documentaries instead because he felt "unsatisfied" and had not found his "inner peace" yet.

[13][14] Bob Fosse briefly considered directing the film and suggested Andy Kaufman as Rupert Pupkin, Sandra Bernhard as Masha and Sammy Davis Jr. as Jerry Langford.

Scorsese has noted that Edwin S. Porter's 1903 film Life of an American Fireman greatly influenced The King of Comedy's visual style.

As Scorsese remembered, he even agreed to meet and talk with one of his longtime stalkers:The guy was waiting for him with his wife, a shy suburban woman who was rather embarrassed by the situation.

[21] In an interview for the DVD, Scorsese stated that Lewis proposed the brief scene in which Langford, having acquiesced to an old lady's request for an autograph, refuses to speak on the phone to her relative, prompting her to scream at him, "You should only get cancer!"

[22] At the time he wrote his script, Paul D. Zimmerman was inspired by a David Susskind show on autograph hunters and an Esquire article on a fanatical Johnny Carson follower.

[23] Scorsese first became aware of Zimmerman's script after it was brought to him by Robert De Niro in 1974, but declined the project citing that he felt no personal connection with it.

Prompted by the alienation he felt from his growing celebrity status,[25] and De Niro's insistence that the film could be made "real fast", and that it would be a "New York movie"[26] Scorsese's interest in the project was rekindled.

[28] The entire Rat Pack was also considered—specifically Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin—before a decision was made to select Martin's old partner, Jerry Lewis.

[27][29] Arnon Milchan suggested shooting begin a month earlier than scheduled to avoid possible work stoppage from the DGA strike.

[30] Robbie Robertson produced the music for the film's soundtrack and contributed his first original work after leaving The Band entitled "Between Trains".

The site's critics consensus states, "Largely misunderstood upon its release, The King of Comedy today looks eerily prescient, and features a fine performance by Robert De Niro as a strangely sympathetic psychopath.

[42] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, writing, "The King of Comedy is one of the most arid, painful, wounded movies I've ever seen.

He stated that The King of Comedy "cuts too close to the bone for either large-scale mass audience approval or unanimous mainstream critical acclaim".

"At a time when the film world piles on simple-minded sentiment in thick gooey gobs, a picture like The King of Comedy appears a frontal assault.

"[48] Pauline Kael of The New Yorker was one of the critics who disliked the film, describing the character of Rupert Pupkin as "Jake LaMotta without fists".

[60] In his commentary on The Criterion Collection DVD of Black Narcissus, Scorsese stated that Michael Powell's films influenced The King of Comedy in its conception of fantasy.

[61] In her review, entertainment columnist Marilyn Beck approved Johnny Carson's refusal to participate in The King of Comedy, supposedly because he feared the film could inspire psychopaths like John Hinckley.

Beck considered The King of Comedy even more dangerous than Taxi Driver due to its lack of blood and gore, as well as the fact that viewers could easily identify with De Niro.