Stand-up comedians on social media

Upcoming comedians use social media now more than ever to get discovered— but with that comes criticisms and the threat of joke theft.

“My favorite thing in the world is making people laugh,” says upcoming stand-up comedian John Lynch. “I love the joy you can bring people through laughter.”

With the rise of social media usage in the past decade, upcoming stand-up comedians are now able to gain popularity quickly but are also are subject to increased chances of joke theft and unfavorable reactions. Throughout this article, three working comedians in the Los Angeles area discuss their experiences with online humor: the good, bad, and ugly.

Stand-up comedy is nothing new to American culture. It has long been a vehicle used to address taboo topics and provide social commentary—and of course, make people laugh.

Although the roots of stand-up can be traced back at least to nineteenth-century American Minstrel shows, it was not popularized in mainstream media until the creation of broadcast television in the mid-20th century. Television shows in the 1950s like “The Ed Sullivan Show” and, later “The Tonight Show” paved the way for more comedy shows in years to come.

The growing number of streaming comedy specials in addition to the countless old recorded performances available on Youtube and Vimeo, is making stand-up routines more accessible to the masses than ever before. Netflix alone has released nearly 200 original comedy specials since 2012 and there are signs the pace is increasing.

But perhaps the biggest game-changer in the comedy world for new comedians, is their relatively newfound ability to build an audience on social media. With there being nearly 230 million active social media users, in the United States, social media provides a platform that allows comedians to test out their one-liners and easily promote their upcoming shows to potential audiences almost anywhere.

THE GOOD OF SOCIAL MEDIA

In addition to being a comedian, Lynch is an administrator of the notorious USC meme page—a private Facebook group with nearly 40,000 members who share humorous posts that comment about the university. Lynch says that while he doesn’t use social media often, posts he has made led to an increase in the number of people who show up to his gigs.

“I think it's helped in the sense that I’ve been able to book shows. I’ll have like a good amount of people come out to see me if I posted about it on social media or post about in the [USC Meme Page].”

Though Lynch uses Facebook and Instagram on occasion to promote his upcoming stand-up performances or to post jokes, he still believes he could not limit his comedy to social media.

An example of how Shelton now promotes her upcoming performances on Instagram. Via @Judesheltonhere.

“I'm way too ugly to be a successful Instagrammer,” he says. “I look like if God was making me, he was playing Mr. Potato Head.”

Even older comedians are increasingly using social media to promote their upcoming shows as well. Stand-up professor at USC and professional comedian Judith Shelton says that the ability to share fliers on line has cut down on the cost and labor of promoting shows.

“Back in the day when we had a show, we had to make flyers and we had the hand flyers out to people,” she says. “So now it's so much easier because I can just do an Instagram story.”

While some older comedians dabble in promoting their live shows online, very few post clips of themselves online.

In addition to teaching at the university, Shelton teaches private classes for numerous working comedic writers. She recounts one time when a writer complained about not being able to find her on Instagram. The woman explained that in the writer’s room, they often ask, ‘Who could play this character?’ If somebody throws your name out, they look it up and see if they can try and pop you up on the projector. Since then, Shelton has created an account to promote her upcoming projects.

Although Shelton admitted that many of the comedians from older generations are not keen on making their comedic reel available on social media, she plans to upload more footage so writers know more about her experience. After being cast in a new animated series for Fox, she plans to share her work from that as well.

“When that comes out I can post that stuff… If somebody's in a writer’s room and they're like, ‘Hey, you know what, Jude Shelton is doing some work, let's look her up!”

THE BAD: JOKE THEFT

“It's literally one of the most despicable things I think you can do. It just shows, no honor, no respect,” says Lynch about joke theft.

Plagiarism isn’t limited to academia— comedians often steal jokes that they find on the internet without crediting the original creator. Social media heightens the likelihood of joke theft because more people are exposed to the material.

Recently, two Instagram accounts dedicated to comedic content— @F⁠—Jerry and @TheFatJewish —have been criticized by comedians for stealing jokes. Comics including Amy Schumer and John Mulaney supported the boycotting of Jerry Media. USC student Cade Huseby wrote and directed a short film inspired by the scandal.

“The company F⁠—Jerry was protested by like a lot of famous stand-up comedians,” said Huseby, recounting when he had first heard of the accusations. “It's very much a cumulation of like real-life events into my movie.”

His film, “Humor Me,” focuses on a new comedian performing stand-up at a café when a famous comedian and overhears his jokes. But the famous comedian then steals one of the jokes, posts it to Twitter and receives the glory. Huseby cast Lynch as the protagonist after they met in Shelton’s stand-up comedy class at USC.

Huseby also created this story because social media heightens joke theft awareness. Now that people are using social media for professional purposes, they are increasingly protective of their content. Huseby says the increased awareness is because numerous of comedians use "social media to their benefit, as a career tool”.

While comedians seem to have their online jokes stolen more often, Shelton believes that timestamps generated from posting online provide evidence of who created the post first. Proving that one comedian made one joke before another is made easier because the exact time of posting is available on nearly every social media platform.

“Once you get it online, it has been timestamped. There's proof that it's yours. So in some ways, it could be helpful.”

However, she qualifies, that doesn’t change the lack of recognition a smaller comedian will receive if their joke is stolen. As depicted in Huseby's film, the famous comedian usually reaps the benefits without the original creator receiving any credit.

“All of the internet works on who gets the most eyeballs. And if I don't get the most eyeballs, people aren’t going to know it came from me first.”

THE UGLY: MASS AUDIENCE REACTIONS

As stand-up comics continue to grow their social media platforms and land bigger roles, more people notice them; as a result, the comics increase their chances of receiving negative comments

Sometimes comedians receive unfavorable criticisms online because of something they said or post online is offensive. Objection against edgy comedians is nothing new to the stand-up world, but the internet concentrates the feedback. Comedians such as Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart have recently come under fire for things they have said in the name of comedy. Some of their followers have gone as far as canceling them— meaning they reject them and discontinue support.

Lynch, who has occasionally offended people with jokes, is usually quick to defend comedians. But he thinks those who use awful comments as a form of shock humor is a cheap tactic.

“I don't want to listen to people just blatantly spewing hate… one situation I'm not going to defend the comedian is the recent thing with Shane Gillis on ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

Gillis was set to become a recurring cast member on the sketch comedy show until an old video of him making racist statements began circulating on Twitter. SNL to fire him before he ever appeared on the show. As fast as it allows some comics to reap opportunities, social media can also destroy careers.

Shelton in the Priceline commerical

Sometimes comics receive hate for their performances even if they weren’t being offensive. Comic Leslie Jones received heaps of hate tweets after the release of Ghostbusters. One tormenter went as far as fabricating an incredibly self-deprecating tweet pretending to be Jones. She temporarily deactivated her Twitter that evening.

Shelton says she too has received unpleasant comments after landing a role in a Priceline television commercial. In the commercial, she played a nun and some people made fun of the way she looked.

“I looked online and somebody wrote under the commercial, ‘Who's the dude playing the nun?’” she says. “We live in a culture where it's almost like a game to see how awful the comment can be.”

The influx of social media usage intensifies the world of stand-up because rather than trying speaking to an audience in a local theatre, comics are now performing for the world. Judith makes sure her students understand that being this line work takes... well, work.

“You guys never get a break. You're constantly trying to create stuff and be current and that to me sounds like a lot of pressure. But as a teacher I also want to acknowledge, that's what people are doing and try to be as helpful as I can help you do that.”

In loving memory of John Lynch, who passed shortly after the publishing of this article. He will always be remembered for the joy he brought others through his comedy.