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Stand-Up Comics Turn Jokes Into Comic Strips
Strip & Post // Illustration by Kate Walker
Stand-up comics are starting to post comic-strip-style still images of their jokes instead of videos… and are seeing a significant boost in engagement.
Why It Hits: In recent years, short-form videos have seemingly been the only way to go viral and build a following on social media. But online attention spans have gotten so short that comedians are discovering the instantaneous delivery system of a photo can get the job done even faster. It’s the OG Instagram all over again.
Between The Panels: Forget the minute-long video when you can get to the punchline with just one image.
Most of the posts are broken up into three or four separate images, with text in each panel — like a comic strip or meme. Sometimes, they’re presented as a carousel.
That lets people read the joke quickly wherever they are, without needing to be somewhere they can pay attention to a video.
It’s also a move away from crowd work, which was all about capturing audience interaction to show how fun the set is or how well a joke lands. Now, it’s all about the joke itself.
It also gives comedians a format to try out material that’s still being worked through or may not land the same way live.
Punchline: The comic-strip format is having a big effect on some comedians who couldn’t seem to game the algorithm with videos. Comedian Eric Walsh said he gained 55,000 new followers in just a few months after posting the still content. Meanwhile, David Zucker, a digital marketing strategist and NYC-based comedy producer, told NYT, “When one person starts making a change, whether it’s to their actual performance or the way they market themselves, and everyone else sees that person is suddenly leapfrogging them, they try to isolate what’s different about them and emulate that.”
In other words, expect to be reading a lot more comedy online in the coming months.
Next Post: With extra emphasis on the quality of jokes, prepare for professional joke writers — the people behind the comedians — to get a new shot at glory.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.