Joel West, Comic

 

Just For Laughs from Underneath part 3 - Lessons Learned

So what did I learn?

At the industry sessions, I learned that it's hard to write for late night TV. I learned that The Onion is secretive (and hilarious. Actually I knew beforehand that they are hilarious). I discovered Jim Jeffries. I met up with some old aquaintances and learned that we were still aquaintances.

What was really brought home for me, what crystalized, is the difference between comedians, good old stand ups, and the industry people. When I go to my local comedy club and I perform it's easy for me to forget that comedy is ubiquitous. It's on TV, on the radio and on the Internet. I can always find someone trying to make me laugh. Radio DJs hire joke writers.  Funny or Die and College Humor as well as other sites were well represented at Just For Laughs. And their needs are not the same as my needs. Or the needs of the stand up comic.

When we talk comedy we are talking several completely different eco-systems.

A stand up comic requires a light, a stage and a PA system. That's all. It's pretty cheap. A sketch comedy troupe writes its own material and generally requires a stage, a lighting person and a director. Funny or Die doesn't care whether or not I killed last night at Big Bob's Laugh Stop in Hooterville, Wisconsin. What they post is video clips. And their clips are generally skits. To create a skit, I need actors, a video camera and a director. A writer. A 5 minute sketch can take all day to produce.TV has other needs. It's a completely different eco-system from stand up and video sketches. Movies have huge budgets and take months to complete. And the Movies and TV are terrified by the Internet.

So ultimately what did I learn?

I learned that while consumption of comedy and comedic media are greater than ever, nobody knows how to make money from it. And people are scared and because of that Industry people are not making deals any more. I learned that I love performing and that many of my peers, my fellow stand ups, respect what I do.

I learned that in my secret heart of hearts that one day I will be performing at Just For Laughs whether they know it yet or not.

Tomorrow... Authorized comedy.

Filed under: Comedy TV Writing
2 comments
Jul 21, 2010
Mike Gamache said...
Amen, Joel, I feel much the same way you do. Stand up seems to be seen as a sub spieces in the so called 'Comedy' world. When the boss of JFL says in a newspaper interview, " We cancelled the Montreal Show at JFL because there is no Montreal comedy scene.", it's pretty obvious that he's got major blinders on! Most comics I know do it because they love doing it, they need to do it, sorta like breathing. I believe that if you're doing standup to get rich, or parlay it into some other thing, you need to re-evaluate things. I don't want ot come across as a standup snob, but I feel that it is the purest form of comedy.
Aug 10, 2010
Joe Donohue said...
Mike, I'm going to sound like a stand-up snob too but some of the most consistently funny shows I've seen in the past year have been in the smallest venues. Perhaps because the audience and performer are literally side by side,they're feeding off each other and the back and forth response builds beautifully. Maybe the gentleman from JFL should check out the Montreal Comedy scene properly before passing judgment

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