Today I’m interviewing Ray DeVito.

Ray has been on Lifetime Network, where his performance at Gotham Comedy Club aired on “How Clean is Your House?” That performance led to appearances on the E! Network and Entertainment Tonight. His ‘Laundromat Sketch’ was featured in the New York Times and his ‘The Tudor’s Henry the VIII: The Real Story’ was the featured video on Comedy Central’s sister site Atom.com. He currently has his own web series on AOL’s men’s website Asylum.com. Ray also frequents the Bob and Tom Show, he’s been the featured comedian of the week on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, he’s also a regular guest on the very popular award winning podcast Keith and the Girl, and clips off his first full-length comedy CD entitled “1647 Waterbury” can be heard on SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio.

1. How are you using the internet / social media to promote your career?

I use it a lot, it’s weird because I wasn’t sitting around saying “oh I’m gonna use this internet” it was more that the internet found me and it really has helped me reach an audience that I otherwise would never have tapped into. The ‘Keith and the Girl’ Podcast has been great, they have such a great fan base, that’s tens of thousands know all the details of your life. I was doing shows in Scotland and a fan from the podcast was asking me about baseball cards I bought on Ebay over a year ago, and that really hit me. Here I am on the other side of the planet and some kid was noting a small detail in my life, it was surreal. Wow people pay attention to what I do. They have listeners all over the world. Also, I have a web series on Asylum.com.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

The internet is like a crutch that helps you walk ten times faster and I’m like, “Well walking is my business so sure.” A lot of the media that I’m featured on are internet based and those fans seem to find me via Facebook or they’ll email me or buy tracks of my CD on iTunes. (Ray Devito: 1647 Waterbury) I have a web series which is cool, the internet is a big deal, so I’d be a fool to not let the people who follow me know when my shows were and stuff. You can even follow me on twitter.

3. What do you think about posting videos of your show online?

It’s good and bad. I’m at the level now where I don’t wanna put too much up because I understand a lot of networks want to be the first to expose you to the world.  If you put a comedy video (non-standup) online and it does well, Atom.com or FunnyOrDie they don’t want it from you, cause it’s already out there. However you have to throw some stuff out there for people to know who you are. If it wasn’t for my Laundromat Sketch video, Comedy Central’s Atom.com would never have known about me and then I never would have done the Henry the VIII for them.

4. How do you think digital tools will change comedy?

It’s gonna make it easier to make videos look really professional. With Photoshop, iMovie and Garage Band, anyone can make a video look amazing now. Also I co-produce a show in NYC Sacapuntas Show on the first Monday of every month at Bowery Poetry Club, it sells out every show, and we sell most of our tickets on line through eventbrite.com

5. How much information do you tend to share on the social networks?

I let people know what shows I do but I try to keep it humorous. I gotta start treating fans like fans, I think I’m too laid back. When people think I’m funny after I show, I’ll be like, “Yeah lets hang out.” I’m the only dude I know who’ll hang out with his fan base. And that’s not always the best. I was in Sioux City, Iowa and I did some jokes about smoking weed and afterwards, this guy goes, “You wanna go get high?” and I’m like “Sure.” It turned out he just got out of jail that day. So it’s me, him , his buddy and his buddy’s girlfriend and while we’re back there smoking weed at the Best Western, the guy’s buddy starts giving my ex-con fan a hard time about how he’s a fuckup and isn’t paying his child support, and my fan is trying to impress me, so he pulls out a knife, in my hotel room! I diffused the situation, and then the dude’s girlfriend goes, “He’s right you are a fuck up.” Now there’s a casino boat across the street, so I’m like, let’s go there. And they all go out to do that, and as they start walking, I stop and sprint back to my hotel room and bolt the door.

6. What’s your weirdest online experience involving your comedy career?

Back in the heyday of MySpace, I put up the Laundromat Sketch and it was the MySpace video of the week. There was a lady in Albuquerque who was into it, and I was playing out there. But she wasn’t into my show, she just wanted to show me how interesting she was. She had piercings down her back spine, and this is a G rated video I did, what makes you think I’d be into that? She was weird, cause she had no interest in going to a show, she just wanted to show me how weird and different she was, I was turned off. By the way, please don’t put this on my MySpace page, I mean I haven’t checked it since 2004 but she might still be monitoring it.

Today I’m interviewing Ben Morrison. Ben has been on “Last Comic Standing,“ the lead on the final season of MTV‘s hit “Punk‘d,“ and is a regular contributor on Al Gore‘s CurrentTV. Morrison regularly tours the country delivering his electrifying act that includes live multimedia and photography. Ben has a new album Theatre Degree as well as a one man show, Pain in the Butt: A Comedy About Chron’s

1. How are you using the internet / social media to promote your career?

That’s possibly the biggest part of my career. I have a huge following on Twitter, like 12,000 people. I have a Facebook fan page, group page and normal page. I’m also interested in content aggregators like Ping.fm that’s a one stop shop to all of the social networks. I’ve been able to tie in 13 social networks into one pipeline which makes it easy to stay on top of all of them. I have a mailing list which I’ve had for years. If I meet someone at a party, they go into my mailing list. It allows me to stay in touch with them. A lot has happened this year so it’s great having those networks at my disposable.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

Obviously higher attendance at shows is always nice. I think the payoff is fans genuinely find you funny. I think I read in your other interviews that before the internet, if you had 20 videos, it wouldn’t go beyond the people in your neighborhood and now it can make you an instant star.

In fact, I began a whole company based on this fact. I’ve started a web design company, EZ Web. I’ve been designing websites and online presences for other comedians for a long time. I did LorneMichaels.com and like 40 other comedians. Easyweb helps facilitate communication between artists and designers. It’s a way to put nerds who understand what technology artists need together with the artists and to help them use the right tools. We’ve seen wonderful things happen once we get someone who can translate technology with someone who is inept with technology but really needs it.

I work with New Wave now, who are a wonderful management company. I didn’t have anyone before that, but because I had control over my website I could always make it seem like I did. I did 2 TV shows and most opportunities I was given were because I had control over my website. Image is everything and the internet allows your image to be whatever you are wise enough to make it.

3. How were you doing the photo part of your act before TV screens and projectors became common in clubs?

I actually built my own little portable nerd kit. I have my own projector and maxed out my credit card and bought a portable screen. I’d always get a lot of looks when I’d walk in with the screen and extension cords. But it was important to be able to workshop that material. And the multimedia stuff is one of my favorite things to do. My new show, Pain in the Butt, is all multimedia. There’s a whole science in doing these shows. I have to talk to the AV person at the venue and find out specifics: Is it a DVI connector, component or VGA? I’ve had to learn how to run the booth. At this point, by just using my Mac and a few adapters I can make a whole multimedia experience with just a laptop bag. And I use my iPhone as the remote control.

I’m also using a real time camcorder and synthesizer to hook up with the audience. I compose the song in front of the audience with a wireless mic and iPhone. I wanna push the boundaries of what can be done. Cause I have a magical tool that can do anything and you can have a very fun evening.

4.What kind of comedy videos do you think the internet is best for?

Only cause I watch them all day, I really appreciate when someone is able to knock something out of the park in under 45 seconds. I think the internet fosters quick fix better than anything. I like when someone can give me a whole experience in under a minute. I think the internet fosters no rules. Which when you get the right people you get great things. Autotune News takes newscasts and make whole songs out of mashups with heavily edited cameos by themselves. The whole thing is written into a song and really cool and talented.

5. What do you think about posting videos of your show online?

I think I probably agree with the other comedians on this. Jokes are continually work shopped until they’re not. On my website,  I just have promotional videos from my album which I know are the fastest and tightest expression I have. I think however something like twitter and Facebook have allowed the work shopping and writing process to become a lot more organic which I like. I used to my twitter feed constantly to send jokes out. It allows me to get immediate feedback on the quality of the joke in written form, which is good cause it doesn’t have the quality of my nervous performance messing up the joke. I go through my twitter feed before going on stage and I’ll load up on the ones that make me laugh. They’re the jokes I find the funniest from the past two years in chronological order. Or I’ll email jokes to myself with the subject line “ajoke” written as one word, so whenever I search gmail, I get a chronological list of all the jokes I’ve emailed to myself. So I think the internet has been amazing for the development of the process of comedy if you use it the right way. Just posting videos of your jokes won’t do much good especially if you look at it a week later and are like “oh I look like an asshole.” So for video not so much but for writing that turns into standup, 100%. And I guess the internet is the best showcase of the end product of that whole process.

6. How do you think digital tools will change comedy?

The internet is the best thing that ever happened to comedy, I truly believe that. The underlying premise of comedy is “no rules” and that’s the underlying premise of the internet. That’s why they go together so well, hand in hand. I think we’re on the cusp of another major revolution because in the last two years because streaming video is becoming ubiquitous. Now Hulu and NetFlix are operating massive quantities of libraries. As more people move from the TV to the internet, they don’t have cable, they have the internet. I think we’ll see a continued explosion of creativity cause there’s nothing you can’t do online. The oldest rule in comedy is : funny is funny. On the one hand you have people doing crap but at least they’re trying, and on the other hand the best rises to the top. I go to Reddit.com and am addicted to that cause it aggregates the funniest stuff. The internet allows genuinely good stuff to be seen by a worldwide audience that would’ve never happened before. Singing news mash ups are just as funny as what I’ve seen on The Daily Show; the internet is a great equalizer.

7. Did you hear from anyone at Google after your Google Threatens to Kill Users sketch?

No. which is funny because I’m such a huge fan of Google. For easyweb, we use Google’s technology. But I still do agree with what my character was talking about in the video. I think it’s indicative of the internet that there’s no rules. I bashed Google openly on YouTube which is owned by Google and they were fine with that. I respect that. I like how Google doesn’t restrict what their users can do. They’re the exact opposite of Apple. It’s clear the two companies are diverging because of that. Although I am waiting for Google to delete my gmail account any day now.

8. How much information do you tend to share on the social networks?

I’m not too big on sharing just for the sake of sharing like “walking to work” or “eating a donut” although I do like reading other’s status updates, just knowing where they are, it makes me feel more connected. I tend to put out jokes that I think of. I do a lot of tweeting. I think the rule of thumb, if it’s something I want people to know me for or what I find spontaneously funny that I want people to laugh at, I’ll send out.

9. What’s your weirdest online experience involving your comedy career?

While I’m now the #1 Ben Morrison on Google search now, for a long I was getting my ass kicked by the azalea, the flower: there’s a Ben Morrison Azalea which has a huge following. I was unable to get into the Google page ranks. You don’t know young comedy depression until a flower is funnier than you are. If you do a Google images search on my name, it’s photos of me and a bunch of flowers peppered. And those flowers are getting prettier by the year.

Today I’m interviewing Zach Selwyn. Zach will be appearing in a recurring role on the new season of “Greek“ on ABC Family, and is currently the TV host of Atom TV on Comedy Central. He is best known as the host of Discovery Science Channel‘s hit shows “Catch it Keep it“ and “Punkin Chunkin.“ Zach has a new album coming out “Pluck Your Twanger.”

1. How are you using the internet and social media to promote your career?

I’m on Twitter, Facebook and occasionally go on MySpace to see if anything is going on there. I have a YouTube channel and a Funny or Die channel, all that stuff. I just try to get as much stuff out there as possible without people getting mad at me for sending them too much!

Anyone who isn’t using the internet to promote their career is either really famous and doesn’t need to – or is missing out on the opportunity. I got online with my music around ’02 when I was aware that CDs were beginning to go away. I started selling my stuff on iTunes somewhat early. Back then it was harder to get listed and even more expensive. But now it’s like, why wouldn’t you put it on iTunes? Rhapsody? Everywhere? I’ve made physical CDs in the past and they’re just all stuck, sitting in my basement. Nobody wants to buy them anymore! I do miss album art and track sequencing and stuff like that but I understand that most people in the world don’t want a jewel case and a bunch of CDs alphabetized on a bookshelf. I’d love to start selling my albums on USB drives when I’m on tour. That could be the future. I find in California and New York nobody buys CDs at the show. You gotta offer it for three bucks or trade them for a beer or something.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

On a few videos, certainly. With a viral video, you never know what’ll hit. I put out a lot of videos that I think I really funny and they get 500 hits, then I put out another one and it gets 300,000. Once you get something going and get the YouTube followers or start selling mp3s, it’s a great thing when it works.

3. You have ZachSelwyn.com and ZachariahMusic.com, why’d you decide to do that?

ZachSelwyn.com is much more of my current comedic website. ZachariahMusic.com was based on my band for many years. One problem I had is my brother was a great web designer and he was up keeping it but I wasn’t paying him, and it’s really hard to get a busy guy to do something for free. So I had to start a new site. It’s simpler but it gets the job done.

For me, the best promotional device is making entertaining videos rather than writing a little thought for the day. It’s hard to get people to read your stuff, there’s so many people with blogs and websites. I know lots of artists and I’m guilty of not going to their pages.

4. How do you think the internet is different for musical comedy versus straight stand up?

I have a musical comedy video deal at Atom.com and those videos get a bunch of hits. Same thing with YouTube. And then I post my stand up stuff and people are like “oh great, another standup comic. Why would I watch this?”

I think music is an effective way to get viewers because the videos work well visually on computers. Some stand-up stuff does not translate over. BUT – I think a lot of people are putting out music videos that aren’t very good. There’s lots of rap parodies that are great out there – and some that aren’t so great. Hopefully most of my stuff is great! Some of my stuff I re-watch and cringe at it and think, “I can’t believe I put that up,” but I like to throw it all out there.

Stand up comedy is good online for a 2-3 minute clip. You have a better appreciation for stand up in person, no matter who the performer is. I think the music videos are more visual and can be better received on a home computer.

5. What do you think about posting videos of your full performances online?

I’d love to do that, I just don’t who would watch it! They say the internet attention span is 3-4 minutes? Right?  We’re all there at one point. You get excited about something and then 2 minutes in, you’re not paying attention anymore. I’ve sat around and watched 30 minutes of stuff but it’s been on an airplane when I’m not distracted. I don’t know if the internet is ready for that length of performance, television is still the place for that.

6. How do you think digital tools will change comedy?

Anyone can put out an album now. You can record a set and go to TuneCore and sell your album online bit by bit or song by song. I think there’s gonna be a mass saturation of the market if there isn’t already. I really think the best comics end up rising to the top. You know, the comics who’ve been doing it for 20 years. Although, I have funny friends who put out records that don’t do well and I have guys who should put out a record but haven’t. Making a record is definitely time consuming and you don’t necessarily have a label working for you anymore. You gotta take time to record and sell and promote, promote, promote! In the 80s, when there were 15 stand up albums released a year, it was probably easier to make stars of people. There’s plenty of comics from the 80s who never put out records who were geniuses and I was unfortunately never able to hear their material. For instance, I couldn’t go see Robert Schimel in Tucson, Arizona. But I got to hear Andrew Dice Clay and Dennis Leary. Hopefully an aspiring comic out there is listening to newer performers online or to their podcasts.

7. How much information do you tend to share on the social networks?

I kinda keep my personal life out of it. I posted a couple of pictures of my kids at one point, that was enough. I’m not really interested if someone checked into some Greek diner on Ventura Boulevard today. I try to make it what I want people to follow: clips, videos and funny things. I probably post on twitter a few times a day and on Facebook once every few days but just to say, “I’m playing at the Improv on Wednesday” or “Check out my new album” or “Pluck Yer Twanger was just released”. I hope one day to be able to pay someone to do this for me cause it is Time consuming! I tweet from my iPhone sometimes while I’m driving,and I’m thinkng  “This is unsafe and time consuming but hopefully worth it…”

8. What’s your weirdest online experience involving your comedy career?

I used to be on show on G4 called “Attack of the Show.” It was an interesting experience because I wasn’t prepared for the amount of geek fans I would get. So I got a lot of fat guys and teenagers sending me their artwork and pictures. I never got any naked pictures though, thank god, or maybe too bad. It was a lot of, “Hey man, any chance you can mention my name on the show?” The first couple of times you do it, it’s cool, but if you don’t mention it, you get hate mails like, “You’re an a-hole and you suck.” And it’s easy to pay attention to the web when you’re on TV because there’s lots of haters. I learned I can’t listen or read anything on the web because it would upset me for days. You talk to people like Dane Cook and he’s like “I have half the people online who love me and half who hate me.” You can really get brought down if you spend your time listening to the haters. They definitely know how to take you down. They know how to kick you in the balls, mentally. My advice? Avoid reading it!

Today I’m interviewing Dan Levy. Dan‘s had a half-hour special “Comedy Central Presents: Dan Levy“ and a MTV produced a TV pilot based on Dan‘s 10-part weekly web series, “My Long Distance Relationship“ which first ran on Sony‘s Crackle.com. Dan also produced and starred in the popular collegehumor.com series “The I Have To Go In a Minute Show with Super Host Dan Levy.“ He has been seen in The Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, Aspen Comedy Festival, Comedy Central‘s “Premium Blend“, “The Late, Late, Show,“ and is a regular round table guest on Chelsea Lately. Dan will be recording an album for Comedy Central Records during shows on October 1^st & 2^nd in Denver at Comedy Works Downtown (get tickets) and has just joined the cast of HBO’s upcoming comedy series “Enlightened.”

1. How are you using the internet / social media to promote your career?

I use Twitter and Facebook to ramble and update things I think are funny as well as tell people where my shows are. But as far as new media goes… I’ve done a lot within the webisode world. I did a series for College Humor and a show for Sony “Crackle” which I then sold. I’m  also doing my second series of shorts  comedy central’s for atom TV.  I’m using digital media to incubate some of my ideas and then have them become TV shows or movies.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

My following is growing from twitter and online videos. When I did “The I Have To Go In One Minute Show,” we did a show every day for eight weeks. That was great, because it built a mini-following and now I headlined the College Humor Live tour.  And the Crackle web series became a TV pilot, which didn’t get picked up, but I am writing another TV pilot for MTV now that came off the digital web series.

3. What do you think about posting videos of your live stand up online?

I don’t like to post recent videos, I’ll post my Comedy Central Presents or when I’m me on TV.  But I don’t think it’s a good idea to post jokes from live shows  because if everyone sees it online, it spoils it when they get to see you live and they’re like “write some new jokes!!!!”

4. Do you think the internet is better suited for sketch comedy than for stand up videos?

I think sketch comedy and shorts are perfect for the internet. I think short stand up clips also work well but sketches are better for this media. Sketches can go viral but it’s rare for a stand up clip to go viral. I did a show at UCB for College Humor where I have this ongoing feud with Dan Levy (a host on MTV-Canada) and that went viral which was great, but I think the internet is more fitted for shorts, parodies, interviews, and of course porn.

5. How do you think digital tools will change comedy?

I don’t think it will change comedy, I think it’s been able to help progress careers. It’s also one of those things where the cream always rises to the top. As digital becomes more popular, what ends up happening is people make videos. The perfect example is Bo Burnham, he’s hilarious and he posted funny videos when he was  in high school and now he’s playing theatres, whereas before the internet, that couldn’t have happened because the exposure wasn’t there.  A lot of people make videos, but if they’re not good, nobody cares. Just ask my mom Linda.

6. How much information do you tend to share on the social networks?

I post whatever, I don’t hold back. I twitter jokes and stuff about my life. But I have never showed my dick online. . . Yet.

7. What’s your weirdest online experience involving your comedy career?

I’ve gotten some weird emails. The weirdest thing one was a hate mail (email) that was supposed to  be sent to Dan Levy the MTV Canada host.  Because apparently he called Kristin Stewart a bitch  (from Twighlight)  so I got an email from some person with the subject line of “fuck you asshole, we love vampires”. That was very confusing…but very hilarious.

Today I’m interviewing Wayne Manigo (aka ‘WayneMan’). In over a year in the comedy arena – he’s gone from being the start up comic at the ‘open mic sessions’ – to opening for national headliners (including Clay Miles, Kevin Lee, Yannis Pappis, and others). When not performing at corporate events or writing new material…he is just ‘5150’ (the national radio code for just being crazy). Step into his mind and he’ll take you for a ride!

How are you using the internet / social media to promote your career?

I am a technical person by default. I’ve been in the IT industry for over 20 years. When I was laid off in 2009, I took that time off to study and promote comedy. I’ve always been told that I was funny, so I wanted to understand how to use that gift, and also build it into a career. Using the tools available via the internet, it was clear that how people choose to be entertained had changed. I needed to understand my target audience, and how they’re using the internet for social entertainment. The social media (as a whole) is a process that a comic must be willing to navigate. It’s not just about “Who’s looking on my website?” You have to ask yourself “Who found my website?” and most importantly – “Are they coming back?” The next thing you need to inquire is “What are the other ways my audience is communicating online? How do I get more involved with them?”

Have you noticed the payoff yet?

Absolutely! In a nutshell – Twitter is the bomb! I’ve started to obtain a great and dedicated following from word of mouth. I utilize my website, FaceBook, LinkedIn, and for those still using email – fanbridge.com. If you’re going to market yourself as a comic, you have to ensure everyone who wants to follow your work (as a fan) has a certain amount of access to you. My career in comedy would not have advanced this rapidly if there was no internet. My biggest payoff this far is the DC Digital Week Conference (June 10th-20th). This conference has allowed me to introduce some of the best local comics on the scene to the rest of the world.

What do you think about posting videos of your show online?

In the beginning, I hated the idea. My fear was that someone would steal my jokes, and when I performed the same material live – I would be referred to as a hack comic. Now my thinking is the reverse. I can post a few of my jokes out there, and start to build a following. I’ve had fans who attended my show(s) based on my demo clip on youtube. The comedy market is crowded, but if you’re using the human factor…(meeting fans before and after show, etc) – success can be discovered.

How do you think digital tools will change comedy?

It’s a good and bad thing. Just like porn, now any fool with a camera thinks he can produce a quality product. Seriously – I treat it like I did when MTV was introduced to the world. My inside voice says “You have this new power…how will you use it?” If you’re going to consider using the digital market for comedy – you’d better have a strategy. If used incorrectly…it could take years to correct a bad marketing plan. Having a website is no longer the only plan to generate interest. Learn how to use the ‘Social Media’ to advance your career!

How much information do you tend to share on the social networks?

My online life is almost an open book. In the years before the rise of FaceBook, I was active in a lot of online communities. . I’ve been in computer networking for over 20 years, so if someone did a digital query on me, my results would include computer related items… before the article on strip clubs (or what other results produced may be produced by the search engine of your choice).

What’s your weirdest online experience involving your comedy career?

That would be in the ‘twitter world’. If you’re trying to get attention (for whatever reason) via twitter – you’ll get people that want to follow you… and you have no idea why! Not everyone who follows you on twitter is someone you want in your fan base. I use www.truetwit.com to validate users. I will follow my fans if you’re real and take the time to reply back to me. But to those spammers who join me with names like “DateXXXXblah, blah, blah,” or “hottest parties, blah,) – Byte Me! You’re off my digital list! If you’re a fan I’ll bring you some comedy to remember.