Bronwen K Bradshaw, Arts & Entertainment Editor 

After a long day of work or school, I like to decompress at home. Lately, I’ve succumbed to the habit of scrolling through Instagram reels before going to bed. Although I don’t like that I do this—I could be spending my precious time with an offline activity—it has resulted in me learning about new stand-up comedians that I had never seen or heard of before.  

While doom scrolling, I came upon stand-up comedian Gianmarco Soresi, a 37-year-old New York Comedian. He mostly jokes about musical theatre, growing up with divorced parents, and doing crowd work. The clip I saw showcased one of Soresi’s jokes, leading me to go through his feed to watch all the clips from different comedy sets. Soresi is not the only comedian uploading content to social media. Today, comedians utilize social media outreach to boost their comedy content more than ever, offering easy and accessible material for internet audiences, like me, to scroll through.  

According to Business Insider, “The hashtag ‘comedy’ on TikTok has 20 billion views—more than the hashtags for food, fashion, and music.” Usually, the TikTok or Instagram reel will consist of one joke, or crowd work that goes horribly wrong (or horribly right). Short-form comedic content has reshaped what stand-up comedy as a genre should look like, and how it’s received by audiences. In traditional stand-up, audience members would come to a show, either to watch one or multiple comedians perform their sets. Stand-up was focused on workshopping the material, honing it, and getting feedback from the audience through laughter.  

On social media, short clips are posted of a comedian’s best joke, or interesting event in the set. The difference, however, is that when a comedian posts a clip from their stand-up, it is immediately subjected to online hecklers in the comment section. Comedians are immediately given feedback on their jokes. Sometimes, people comment while still watching the clip, like how a heckler interrupts a live stand-up show. That is not to say that all comments are inherently bad, or even good. However, the audience online is only seeing a small portion of the show—the best of it.  

Comedians who gain popularity from the internet have risen in numbers and have grown actual success by using social media platforms. Veronika Slowikowska, 30-year-old actress and comedian, grew popularity from her silly, out-of-the-box sketch comedy videos on TikTok. Using her media platform, Slowikowska gained cross-platform media attention, even being cast in films and television shows, such as Comedian Shane Gillis’ Tires, and as a cast member in the newest season of Saturday Night Live.  

Comedian Taylor Tomlinson has discussed social media’s influence on today’s comedy and how comedians are subjected to publicizing their stand up online. Tomlinson told Variety,  “it’s necessary unless you’re super famous. And even then, you need an Instagram.” Tomlinson added, “the internet has made it so much easier to find your specific audience. Nobody is truly for everyone and now you don’t have to be.” 

Social media can also be a deterrent to those who identify as “true” comedians. Some comedians see others who mainly use social media for showcasing their jokes as diminishing the craft itself. If comedians upload only the best parts of their comedy sets or make comedy videos in the comfort of their own home, it does not allow the comedian to understand what works and what does not work. It takes away the initiative to work hard on the set and find different ways to make jokes appeal to a wide audience in its full form.  

Despite the upsides and downsides of using social media to sponsor your comedic talents, social media is still a great way to gain attention for whatever art medium you are presenting. You can work with the traditional aspects of starting a comedy career while also publicizing on the internet to reach a bigger variety of audiences.  

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