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.

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.

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

I tried to use my website as much as possible. I use a service called Constant Contact to send monthly newsletters out to my 1500 subscribers. Also, every week I send out an email to my subscribers who live in whatever city I’m performing in that week. My subscribers are categorized by city, and I email them saying “I’ll be in your town.” I still do Facebook but I’m trying to push people to my website since I paid money for that and not for Facebook.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

I get referrals, people forward my email to their friends. Their friends come to the show with them. It helps expand your fan base. Facebook, everyone is doing it. So I wanna do something unique in terms of promoting. This is my website, this is me.

3. You’ve been writing one to five topical insight columns per month, how did that idea come about? Do you find a weekly posting format best?

The idea came about when a good friend of mine, who runs my website, suggested it. My buddy Justin said, “Hey you should write more.” He knows I want to get a writing job in New York and I wasn’t exactly prolific with that kind of material. So he suggested I start writing a weekly topical joke. And the more I got involved with writing, National Lampoon, SNL, Fallon, the more I was able to compile a list every week of stuff I was submitting to those guys. It’s beneficial just to get the practice. The more you do it, the easier it comes. It’s still not easy but you know how to do it better.

4. You have your stand up CD on CD Baby.com, how are you finding digital CDs compared to selling CDs after shows?

They’re definitely better sellers after shows. It’s an impulse buy and I’m in charge of the sales pitch at my show. So after people watch me for 40 min, I spend a couple of minutes telling them about the CD and then I close the show. So as I’m walking out, it’s in their head, its fresh. Online, it’s a different animal. A lot of time, people will take my website card with the promise of “we’ll get it later” and they hardly ever do. Cause they forget about it or the impulse goes away. It’s actually cheaper online than live, but it’s better live. Plus they have a few drinks in them.

5. You’ve been doing standup for over a decade, how has it changed because of technology?

There’s been huge differences. The main one is getting in touch with your fans. It’s easier to promote shows but it’s also a saturated market. Everyone is promoting shows now. The difficult thing now is to find a niche.

It’s also an easier way to keep up with comedians, not just personally, but watching clips online and building the camaraderie. And policing each other, if I see somebody on the road doing my buddy’s joke, it’s easier not only to contact my buddy, but to police ourselves. Because the joke stealing comic is gonna be outted online and blackballed a lot easier than ten years ago, and that’s now more of a deterrent.

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

I have different opinions about that. I want people to get a taste of what I’m about, not just bookers but potential ticket buyers. But at the same time, I don’t wanna share too much. I want them to come to the show. I don’t want an online entity of people staying home and watching it. But it’s a great way to spread the word. What I’m worried about is people filming at shows and posting themselves. I’m gonna predict right now, Keith Alberstadt 2010, there’s gonna be a Supreme Court case for freedom of speech involving videos on the internet. Someone films something at a show, posts it online, and it’s gonna be a big issue, I think.

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

I think you’re gonna see more of an emphasis on digital shorts, people making their own sitcoms online. Gaining an internet presence through YouTube channels. Humorists writing blogs online and building a fan base that way, which is already happening now. Stand up might take a little bit of a hit, because more comics start filming their own shit, putting it online. When it comes to being a stand up, there’s only one category in that whole umbrella, regardless of who they are.

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

I’ve got two Facebook pages, one for comedy and one for my personal. Every now and then they overlap, like if I’m raising money for something, like the Nashville Flood Benefit, I’ll post it to both. I don’t share anything that’s too personal. I think that’s dangerous. Then you get stalkers and psychokillers. Unless she’s really cute, then I’ll tell her whatever she wants.

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

Somebody did a joke on Last Comic Standing that was similar to mine, and then, I didn’t know what to do about it. Thenall of a sudden the NBC message board was blowing up. People who knew me, had seen my show, where calling this guy out. And the guy’s friends were saying it was coincidental. They’d been posting comments on that board for a week before I heard about it. I told people to chill out and I contacted the guy and we talked it out. It was weird to see so many people in my corner who I didn’t even know, I was like, “Wow I guess I have a bigger impact than I thought.”

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

The biggest thing that I’ve used it for is for my videos. When one thing can go viral, it can really do wonders for getting your name out there. I started doing web videos before YouTube really blew up. So I feel like that’s one reason I’m working for FunnyOrDie now and have my videos featured on Digg and College Humor, etc. I started doing video before things blew up. So I started honing on it early, before it became a necessary thing for comedians to do.

When I started out, I was putting it up and sending links out, now it’s amazing how many people you can hit with one video. It’s not just you sending it to your people, if people like it, those people send it to their friends, and their friends, and so on.

Video has been the biggest because most comics are actors and when acting is slow you gotta have other things to market yourself and stay creative. You gotta continue to put your name out there and web content is the best way to do that. I’ve had some videos have a lot of success and I’ve had videos that I thought where better and they didn’t do as well. What goes viral is up to universe.

I see comics posting quick little videos for the sake of having videos, some people say ‘if the content is good the quality doesn’t matter” but I disagree. I’ve seen funny stuff on webcam, but if you’re trying to do a sketch, you’ve put some time into writing it and the lighting is bad and video is grainy, it definitely reflects on the comedian.

Having videos helps for shows. I’ve built a good online following cause of the videos and people go to the shows because of the videos. I was at a show and these girls recognized me from the ditzy girl video. They tell their friends, see my standup and subscribe to my YouTube. Ultimately that’s my goal: I want my own show. These networks look online and say, “Well clearly millions of people are following him so that would translate to TV.” You keep doing it and keep building a following. So once stand up and everything else hits you can fuse them together and take over the world.

The internet lets you connect with an audience the way you couldn’t do 15 years ago.

2. “Fat Camp” is your debut album but you had a previous album, “In Your Boobs”, is debut misleading?

“In Your Boobs” was an album of songs I wrote in college. That album is the “I graduated and I need something to do to keep myself busy” project. It took 6 months to create. It was really cool to do and I’ve been doing musical theatre and music my whole life, and I always wanted to do that. I don’t want that on my tombstone though, “Creator of In Your Boobs”. I wanted good music with funny lyrics, some of those songs I wouldn’t have written now though.

And then Fat Camp is stand up. It was my first stand up CD I recorded in San Diego. I started doing stand up in 2001 and did it 20-30 times until 2006. I never made a commitment to doing it until 2007. I don’t think comics should count how long they’ve been doing it until they’ve been doing it consistently 4-5 nights a week, going on the road, really making a commitment to it, etc. I only feel like I’ve been doing it 3.5 years. So “Fat Camp” is basically the first CD, about forty minutes of jokes. It was something I felt I was ready to do. I felt I had enough material I was proud of. A lot of it has changed since recording that but I had people ask me about CDs after shows so I put it out.

3. You have a lot of stand up and sketch videos online, do you think one of these comedy forms lends itself better to internet video than the other?

When I did the Kermit video, I had no idea it’d get 6 million hits and get on all these shows and sites. I had no idea it would happen. A viral sketch or spoof can really blow up and go everywhere, especially if it’s topical. At the same time, Angela Johnson, I just saw her Comedy Central special, and she has her video of her standup of the nail lady character and that really bumped her up. Next thing you know, she’s headlining clubs. I think that happened with her before everyone was doing it. Now you type in “stand up comedy” and get 6,000 videos. I know I see a bunch uploaded on Facebook daily. I think it depends on the timing and what people are looking for, there’s so much out there now, it’s tougher to do. There’s still value in having video of your stand up online, cause people wanna see that. If they can’t make the club, or people who see a sketch of mine, might be curious to see stand up and wanna come out. It definitely doesn’t hurt you to have a little clip of your stand up there to give them a taste if you want them to come out. People like that might pass a clip along to their friends and ask, “do you wanna see this guy with me?” There’s no reason not to take advantage of it and have that stuff accessible to people.

4. Kermit The Frog’s reaction to 2 Girls 1 Cup has gotten over 5 million views, did you think it’d be that popular? How much has the popularity of that clip helped your career? Have there been any negative effects from that?

It was one of those things that was topical, and I saw a bunch of clips of people reacting to the video and I watched the actual one, and I thought it would be really big before it became well known. It was 2007 and we were just now having girls film pooping, you’d think that would be something that would’ve happened already. I guess the country hasn’t evolved that much. I thought, “everyone’s doing reactions of people, how can I make it different?” And I thought, “Nobody’s expecting Kermit” and then I thought, “How can I make it more surprising?”

What really helped out was the YouTube subscribers. It definitely bumped me up a level as far as recognition in the comedy world. Comics knew about it. Joe Rogan messaged me that he liked it. It was cool in that it bumped me up a level in people taking me seriously, which is weird to say cause it was the most beloved character of all time jerkin it to girls shitting on each other. It was funny that people were saying “mad props dude”. It just goes to show you how tough it is to come out with something topical and really have it be different and hitting the issue on a point of view that people haven’t really struck yet. Right now, there’s still comments on it daily and I still get YouTube subscribers from it.

I was concerned about the Henson company contacting me cause I don’t own the rights to it. But if you’re not selling it’s less likely to be an issue. I spliced an Oprah interview to make it look like I was being interviewed with her and they asked me to take it down. But this one there hasn’t been any backlash. If something were to happen, it would’ve happened already. If they ask me to take it down I will, but I’m glad it hasn’t happened yet. It’s like the moon landing, it was a big deal at the time and people won’t forget. I guess I should make a video of Kermit jerkin to Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.

5. iTunes vs regular CDs, what are your thoughts?

I think you’re stupid not go digital. People still use CDs but it’s like when everyone moved from CDs to MP3s and iPods, we turned the corner. I think it’s easier for comics to carry around and sell digital. People spend so much time at their computer anyway. We’re in that digital age, especially with the younger generation. My demographic isn’t 50 and 60 year olds. They download one track and send it to a friend and it’s already named. It’s about being accessible. My CD is gonna be only digital. Maybe my next one I’ll do actual CDs. Maybe even down the line I’ll get hard copies of this one, but right now the digital way is easier and cheaper too.

6. What do you think about posting videos of your stand up performances online?

I think I have one 8 minute video and I’m debating taking it down. I put other stuff up of 3-5 minutes to kinda have and for people to check out. Also, I had to put it up to send the link to a few people. I don’t think having a 20 min set online is ever good. You wanna give people a taste and show them how funny you are in a few minutes. If you show the whole thing, why would they still want to come see you? You’re not leaving anything there.

Stuff on the web doesn’t translate as well in person. There’s something about being there and in the moment, being a part of what’s happening at that time and the energy of the room, it doesn’t translate. You can still see if someone’s funny though. Plus 20 minutes is a long time. The internet attention span is 2-3 minute videos. That’s why I keep mine short. I wish I could chop down 4 minute clips to less. You wanna make it easy to pass around. When they put specials up there, it’s different, when it’s Robin Williams and people know who he is. But not when you’re undiscovered. You don’t wanna put all your shit out there. When people are trying to get to know you, ten or twenty minutes they’ll be in and out and get distracted and won’t give you their full attention. And they’re not giving you a fair assessment for that. They mighta missed half the endings of jokes.

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

It’s already pretty clear what it’s doing. It gives anyone an opportunity to create and market themselves. I know comics and people who don’t have websites and only one video or something. But it’s giving more people opportunities. I think more people have jumped on in trying to make content and get discovered but at the same token, it’s pretty clear what’s good and what’s not. YouTube isn’t the mecca of comedy of producing the biggest stars but you can use it to your advantage to get some instant fame and capitalize on that into bigger things and that’s what some people have done. That’s why I keep doing my videos. Not just to stay fresh but to keep writing and to keep my mind conditioned in that mind set of listening and paying attention to things. You always wanna be in that mind set. You put them out and you don’t know. Every time I put out a video, I get more subscribers. You never know which one will resonate enough that people will send it to ten people instead of two people.

People are trying to capitalize on the web series stuff, there’s a lot of good stuff out there but there’s a lot of shitty stuff out there too. People are paying money to make it look good but the content sucks and vice versa. I know every agency has web divisions now. In the next 5-10 years, once the internet is part of TVs, more integrated, things will probably take another turn, in a good way for comedians.
When I first started out, I was sending out links and I was self conscious about what I was putting out there and look at my stuff and accept whatever comes like “stop sending me these” which actually happened, or something like “that was funny.” And even one of those compliments is enough to keep going.

I’d say be careful and don’t put up crap, cause if people only see one video and don’t like it, they won’t check out another one. At the same time, it’s how I started. I didn’t put up everything I did. Stuff is better quality now, but there’s funny stuff from the old stuff too. The quality and execution has improved the longer I’ve been doing it though. It was a different time though, there weren’t as many people doing it, so I got away with it more. There wasn’t as much competition so I wasn’t being held to a higher standard.

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

I’m trying to get more of the Twitter thing. I can’t make myself write daily things that I think people actually care about. If I think it’s funny, I’ll spit it out. I mainly use it for shows and videos to let people know about that. I’m not gonna go against it, so I’m trying to do it more. It’s definitely another way to promote and market yourself. People are featured on sites for their tweets. Doing it every fifteen minutes seems tough. I read them and am like, “wow, do you really think people care to know what you’re thinking every ten minutes?” Although there is some funny shit.

In some ways it can be helpful to write a joke. A comic buddy will put stuff out there and if people respond, it’s like a behind the scenes way to test out if people respond to a joke without going on stage. It’s the immediate attention and gratification thing too, it’s like when you perform and do well in stand up. The immediate satisfaction you get from doing well. Twitter is even quicker. If someone retweets or comments on it, it’s immediate gratification. I’m trying to bring myself to do it more, I know it’s helpful but at the same time, I forget about it because my mind isn’t consumed with trying to make my career off of funny anecdotes. When it’s a positive marketing tool, you shouldn’t deny it.

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

I did this three part series “Cock Eyed Breakup” and it was featured on the front page of MySpace when that still meant something. It got 500,000 hits or something. The video was about a one night stand, and this girl was cock eyed and I’m trying to break it off with her and its awkward and uncomfortable. And I got messages like, “My daughter is cockeyed, you son of a bitch, how can you make fun of others misfortunes? You’re going straight to hell!” and I messaged them back, “I wasn’t trying to make fun of your daughter, I don’t even know who your daughter is.” This is people that are super sensitive. I don’t think everything is a joke, but you gotta have a sense of humor about most things in life. Of course, it’s easier to say when you don’t have the things you’re joking about I guess.

You also get girls messaging you and wanting you to come perform in certain functions. There’s a church group that wanted me to come and I was like, “Have you seen my videos? They’re not super-Christian-y”.

I’ve also had weird responses. I had a guy at The Improv who hit me up on collaborating. He was like “I wanna make a comedy music video, but I don’t have an idea, or a crew, or anything, but we should collaborate.” He was basically like, “I want you to write, provide a crew and shoot a video and put my name on it with you.”

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

I was actually reading some of your previous interviews like the one with Judy Carter and I ended up feeling really bad (that I’m not doing enough). I have a website and I use Facebook of course, and there are thousands of little things I do like going on this blog site, that blog site, what have you. But I don’t keep a blog myself (it would feel like homework, and I’ve always considered myself more of a performer than a writer), and I’m not overly concerned with my lack of stuff online.

You’ve really gotta have a lot of time to do that thing, or a web guy that you trust. And, I don’t trust my web guy.  You may be thinking “why is he saying that out loud?” to which I would say “I just fired him,” which is weird, because I also just fired my psychiatrist.  But I digress… I like the website itself, but there are so many updates and so much maintenance. A lot of times, in my head, I go “I can go home, do the calendar, do all the admin stuff for my site, blah blah blah, or I can go do a couple of shows” and 9 out of 10 times I’ll go do the shows.  I’ve convinced myself that’s the key to succeeding.  Working on my act.  Having a really good act that isn’t as well- advertised is better than very well advertised decent act. Of course, I could be dead wrong.  I probably am.  I am constantly hearing I need more internet “presence.”  But, I’m kind of addicted to doing shows.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

I have gotten booked at a few colleges just off of my website.   And, I’ve been amazed that you really don’t need that long of a video.  They’ll call and say “we loved your video,” and find out later they only watched three minutes.  Maybe that’s just the way we’re wired now. We don’t want to sit there and watch a ten minute video anymore. You can put it there, but it probably won’t be watched. Maybe the first minute or so. The beginning of the video in particular really has to be sharp, different and unique.  A lot of comics will say “it gets good four minutes in.” Unfortunately, people don’t watch it that long.

I almost feel like to have a website now, it has to be really nice, or it’s not worth having at all. If you just have an okay site, you might as well just be on Facebook.  But if you have something really nice to reference to people, and they’re impressed by it, it’s really helpful. Something with good, crisp video and an updated calendar.  Great.  When I had just a run-of-the-mill, I think it ended up hurting me.  I would’ve been better off just not having one at all.  I think people will look more favorably on you if you don’t have a site than if you have just an okay one.

I remember I was in Austin, and the club didn’t know who I was. Big surprise.  I asked if I could get up, directed them to my website, and the guy said, “Well, you don’t have any bookings coming up, so we can’t put you up.” I thought I had updated my calendar, but I guess it didn’t work. I probably forgot to click ‘publish’ or something.

3. I noticed your site has a user registration section, do you find that it helps build a fan base?

I haven’t taken advantage of it as much as I should. It would probably be really helpful if I did. It’s unforgivable and it’s laziness. A lot of comics swear by the mailing list.  On the other hand, there are so many options online that it’s just overwhelming sometimes.  There are only so many hours in a day and I would much prefer spending at least a little bit of that time writing and performing, rather than spending my entire day sending off a constant barrage of show invitations from every site imaginable, only to have people come out and see the same material because you never spend time writing or performing.

It’s getting to the point where it’s too much though: I gotta put it here, there, send it to this email list, that mailing list, it’s like I need to hire somebody just to do that. It’s a ton of admin work, and my philosophy is “if it’s between shows and sending emails, I’ll do shows.” In my experience, I have gotten more work from doing a good show (and someone sees me/books me) than I have from online stuff. But, that’s not to say I haven’t gotten anything online.

Plus, I don’t know that bookers really trust video all that much anymore anyway. Now to get booked, video isn’t enough.  It has to accompany a live guest spot. You try to get a gig at a club down in the South, for example, it used to be just a video, then a DVD, then an emailed link, but none of that is good enough anymore. Now you have to send a DVD just to get the guest spot. They won’t book you unless they’ve seen you live, a couple of times, plus referrals. Referrals have been more valuable to me than my Live at Gotham video. I don’t even know what to say about that. Maybe the clubs did try booking acts off the DVDs they were getting in and then got burned a few times.  From a booker’s perspective, with video, you never know if a performance has been sweetened. Referrals and guest spots, you can’t go wrong by that.

4. You post your cell phone on your website, have you had any issues with that?

No, it hasn’t been an issue.  There are booking sites like gigmasters where comics compete to book a gig. And, when you submit for a gig and put in your pricing and such, the site sends the client an email and sends you their email address and phone number.  Sometimes, if you haven’t booked anything, you think “Oh I’m not getting these bookings, I’m getting beat out by people who have been at it longer.” But the reason might be that some of the more aggressive comics just don’t mind actually picking up the phone and following-up with clients. While a lot of us younger guys are sending a follow-up email, somebody else is already on the line booking the gig.  I think it’s an advantage to be a bit more aggressive. I’m still learning, and forcing myself to do these kinds of things. The best, of course, is when you get a feel for how technologically savvy the client is beforehand. Some prefer not to be called at all, and others will only speak over the phone.

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

I think it’s necessary at this point. I think the question is, does it suffice to just put your videos on your own website? And the answer is no. People aren’t going to spend a ton of time searching for you. So you have to spread the videos around.  That’s what I was mentioning before, it’s a real pain that you have to put each and every clip on so many different sites. You gotta do the event invites in all the different places and videos too. People will say “I saw you online” and I ask “where?” They say “YouTube” and I know it’s an old video, so I immediately start apologizing because I know that’s old stuff.  “On Youtube? No! I don’t do that material anymore!” But if they say they saw my video on my site, I still apologize (“that stuff’s no good either!”), but not as much as if they saw it on YouTube. But it’s not one of those things you think about too much. Generally I think about “I wanna book my next gig” and not about making sure all my videos are being perfectly maintained.  I’m kind of always about the next thing.

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

I still think that comedy shows are best live in intimate settings – those are the best. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen somebody on TV, and I don’t think much of it, but then I see the same guy in a club or a smaller room and I’m just blown away. I don’t think that we’ve come so far that we can replace how much better a live show is. I think that’s the one downside about online videos – when people see them as a substitute for the real thing instead of a preview.

I just hope online clips don’t discourage people from going out. I hope instead of people saying, “Hey, I saw Ben’s video online, let me go watch every single other video he has,” they say “Hey, I saw Ben’s video online; I’m going to go see him live.”  But they might just stop at watching all of your online stuff. Their friend will be like, “Well Ben’s coming to town to perform” and they’ll go, “Nah, I’ve already seen his whole act on YouTube.” Then what’s the point of putting clips up in the first place?  There’s so much upside about getting your comedy online and out to so many, but there’s downside. Because there’s so much video out there, people may only watch 5 or 10 seconds of your clip. At a show they’ll watch the whole thing and really get you.

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

I try not to go overboard with it. I try to only plug big shows for my Facebook profile updates.

Sometimes you can look at your newsfeed and it’s like the boy who cried wolf. “This person put in their 5^th status update today about their toes…” It’s constant minutia. Which is fine, but I prefer to just put down a bigger show and not put down shows that there’s no chance people can come to. Like if I’m doing a college in Idaho, I probably won’t put it down there, because you know, who’s gonna see the status update and say “let’s go book some tickets.  Nick’s gonna be in the middle of nowhere”?  But if it’s in The City, I’ll put it down, and maybe people will come out.

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

I had a few in the beginning where people would find me online after seeing a show and email me, which is nice, but I just have nothing to say to them.  Aside from the typical thank you’s and such.  I thought fans were reserved for people who were doing it forever and on TV. It’s so weird to go to a show and hear “I heard you’d be on this so I came out.” It’s really strange.  Of course, that hardly ever happens so I don’t really have worry about it.

I’m always in awe of the number of friend requests you can get after doing some show in the middle of nowhere where you didn’t think anyone was even listening.  The kind of gig where you have to ask the band to stop setting up (or playing).  And you even get friend requests from people who didn’t like the show. “You just wanna friend me to tell me you didn’t like it?” I guess I just wanna control what I put out there, and I’d rather put out smaller amounts in an environment I understand better – stand-up.  That’s why I don’t do that many status updates or tweets. Although perhaps I should.

I’ve also had negative experiences where people will book me based on video (let’s say, for the sake of argument, it’s even a video I really like) and I’ll go in and do the gig, and the material is completely inappropriate for the gig they want me to do. I’d be like “oh they like this video, so I’ll be sure to do that material from the video,” and it turns out to be completely inappropriate for the show.  I don’t mean it’s dirty when it should be clean, just that it’s not what they wanted.  Well, why did you book me based on the video then?  Because I did that exact same stuff for you!  A guy actually said once that I didn’t perform “the video material” with the same intensity that I did in the video.  But, in the video, I was in front of a couple hundred people, and his show maybe twelve.  So, you still need to ask questions, ‘cause so many things will be taken out of context, which is why clubs are still based largely on referrals and guest spots. They’ve been burned too many times.  So, I still think word of mouth and reputation are the most important things in comedy.

1. You don’t seem to have a domain name like EricBlake.com, any particular reason?

I had one, I had to let it go. It wasn’t doing anything for me at the time. I do own the domain though, there’s just no website on it. I’m not really trying to do stuff like that until I get my career to the point where I want it. I’m one of those comics that’s constantly on the road. One show, one day, and I’m up and gone the next, then I’m back home with my family and then out the next day. The website is just stuff I can’t concentrate on.

I focus on the people individually by going to towns. The people are the ones that control the business. That’s who industry can’t control. They can’t control who people like and who they want to go see. They can’t control the things that the people want to hear and support. That’s what I concentrate on. You can have your fan base in one place, but it’s about getting out there and getting seen and getting my DVDs in their hands. That’s how I do it, old school.

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

I use twitter to get my name and my jokes out there. I try to get my voice heard. That’s what I use it for. I also use Facebook and everything in between. You gotta have all the media outlets that you can think of. I use MySpace to but really Facebook is my favorite. I like to interact and talk to people on there. Whenever I visit different countries, I always leave Facebook posts. I like to post about how McDonald’s are different in different countries.

3. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

Not really. I don’t really focus on those things. I just do it and let it go. Things like YouTube, I hear a lot of people toss my videos up there.  My DVD that I have out gets the most response. I try not to focus on those things too much, the online stuff doesn’t count unless you can put asses in seats; that’s what counts at the end of the day. You can never really gauge what’s happening until you put together a show and see how many people come out to see you.

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

I hate it but I know it’s necessary. I hate it because every time I look up someone has a joke similar to mine. My wife just emailed something somebody emailed her about one of my jokes that was similar to some stuff that I wrote or have been performing for the past few years. And that pisses me off because it’s hard being original. You come up with a beautiful concept, beautiful jokes, I write and perform them, they become part of my act, and then you got ten comics doing the same thing you’re doing and you’re scratching your head with, “How did he come up with something so similar?” Then the dude sees you and is like, “You’re one of my favorite comedians, I’ve seen you on YouTube.” And you can’t really say anything cause he thinks the jokes are his. He thinks it’s okay to write a joke similar to yours and then perform it. It’s kinda hard but you know, you need the videos out there, you gotta get your stuff out there so the people can catch on. But it’s very hard for me.

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

I think that it will make it harder for comedians to be original because with digital tools, videos get out there so fast that everybody gets wind of it, and if it’s really funny, it’s so easy to take. And next thing you know it’s not yours anymore. I think it’ll hurt comedy in some ways but maybe the younger comics can think of stuff faster. You gotta be more clever about how you put stuff out there and grow your fan base quicker. It helped some comics.

Some comics have blown up within a year just because of one joke. And one joke has gotten around and now this person is a mega star and they’ve only been doing comedy a year or two. As opposed to someone like me, that’s been doing it for thirteen years and is trying to be a real standup comedian. I don’t care how big you blow up, the truth is in the pudding. You blow up and go on the road and you can only do five or ten minutes and the audience has paid to see you do forty five minutes or an hour. Then you got a cocky feature blowing you off the stage. It all depends on how fast you develop yourself. You gotta do the work, get on stage and put the time in. I don’t care who you are or how fast you blow up, you gotta put the time in.

6. Do you think lots of comics used to have similar material but just didn’t know it, and now they see it quicker on the internet because there’s only so many concepts, or is comics stealing material?

I think it’s definitely harder to be original because comics pull from the same pool. You’re thinking in the same rhythm, that’s possible. 1-2-3 setup, punch. That’s the vehicle jokes are written in. But to come up with an original concept is a very hard thing to do. Something that you thought of personally, to say that another comic might’ve been doing that before you, is a very rare thing. By rare, I mean, the odds in that are really, really low because there are definitely so many concepts we can talk about. Anyone can do kids, relationships with wives or parents, those are general concepts that everybody has.

There are very few comics who can talk about selling drugs and making a lot of money or being on the streets when they were fifteen and dealing with crack addicts from a dealer’s perspective. And then dealing with life and the transition from big time drug dealer to comedian. Those are hard concepts to develop as a comedian, I learned to develop those and to take the things I know from my life and put them in a joke form. It took 5-6 years to develop a whole act about that. Then to see someone get on stage and do something similar when you can tell it’s not from the same perspective, but they’re trying to emulate what you’re saying because they’ve heard you say it. You can clearly see it, that is no mistake. You’ll know because that person will see you and walk up to you and tell you that you’re their inspiration. You see ten thousand Mitch Hedbergs that try to emulate him. That’s fine and beautiful, he was on his way to greatness and being a legend and he wasn’t here for that long. You see it in comics that emulate him. That’s okay, but to a comedian that’s still out there you can’t have the same style as Chris Tucker or Dave Chappelle, not just style but doing jokes like he does with his punches and concepts, you can never be you because Chappelle is Chappelle. I’m Blake. And the guys that emulate me, that’s fine, but wait til I’m gone! I don’t wanna see my jokes on TV before I can put them there. That’s the thing about comedy, we police ourselves.

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

A lot. The things that are off limits are my wife because she asked me not to, everything else, I’m an open book about. I share just about anything. Although at some point, my wife won’t have a choice.

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

This wasn’t really weird but inspiring. I had an email from a guy from when I was doing my drug thing, and he told me that I probably didn’t remember him, but years ago, I was a drug dealer in his town in Denver and he was like, “I remember you used to be this tough street cat, and one time you did something bad to someone in an altercation, but I saw you on TV and that inspired me.” When he heard I was a comedian and it inspired him to change. He decided if I could change, he could change, and he just wanted to thank me for that. He saw an interview with me about how I changed my life and he remembered that, and he went to the navy, enlisted, got out and he works with youth and kids now. And he just wanted to thank me. I thought that was kinda weird but also inspiring.

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

After live shows, there’s always people who add me on Facebook, DailyComedy, MySpace, Twitter or just Google me. They want to find me and keep tabs on me, let me know they liked my show, or see if I have any merchandise available. It’s a great tool to stay connected.

Before social networking, you would have a sheet, and people would fill out their name and phone number or email address if they wanted to know about upcoming shows. Now, mass numbers of people can find and follow you fairly easily. It’s really been an invaluable tool. And it allows you to connect with people globally. I once did a TV interview and within three days, there were hundreds of Facebook requests. That’s incredible. In the past, if you did an interview, and someone seemed interested, hopefully they’d remember your name and if you did a show in their town hopefully they’d come. Now, they can keep tabs on you and to some extent you can keep tabs on them.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

Yes. I find that now when I’m traveling through a specific city, it’s easy to target the people who live in that area. The nice thing about it, most of the time it’s people who looked for me on the websites, so that means they already have an interest. As opposed to me randomly saying, “Hi I’m a comedian, I’ll be in town.” These are people who saw you and chose to seek you out.

3. How does your show ‘Late Net with Ray Ellin’ use the internet?

‘Late Net with Ray Ellin’ really incorporates social media and social networking really well. We have done it in a unique and entertaining way. I have a monitor set up on my desk, and in real time, whoever has a webcam, can ask questions and communicate with me or the guests. It’s a live video feed – we can’t beam them into the actual studio. It’s not Star Trek (although Leonard Nimoy, the original Mr. Spock, was a GREAT guest on the show). It would be cool if you could teleport people, right? Anyway, my guest is sitting next to me, and on the monitor you see people watching the show from their homes and we can interact with them.

Late Net started as a late night talk show format: monologue, comedy sketches, celebrity guests, performances. I have a live studio audience and an interactive online audience. We have people watching all over the world, literally. I communicate with people from Belgium, Israel and Wichita, Kansas. The audience is really spread out. They can all interact with each other too. It’s a cool way to integrate technology into the talk show format. Right now the show has been airing and is archived on DailyComedy.com. DailyComedy.com has become the largest comedy specific social networking website with tons of original content. When people search for me, DailyComedy pops up. I’ve gotten an enormous amount of mileage from being a part of that community. People go there specifically for comedy; to find jokes on every topic and to learn about different comedians. From a social networking perspective, it’s been super valuable and allows me to showcase my content.

We also recently licensed the show to AOL. So it’s been broadcast on AOL’s Asylum.com. It definitely grows the audience.

We’ve had up to 100,000 people watching the show at once without it crashing. It slowed down, but it kept going. DailyComedy has crashed – when Michael Jackson died, it went down because everyone wanted Michael Jackson jokes. Tiger Woods jokes. Billy Mays jokes. Yesterday people were looking for Sandra Bullock jokes, and that brought the site down for a few minutes because it was huge traffic. But as far as Late Net goes, it didn’t crash yet. And when people watch the show archived, there’s no danger there.

4. How did you use the internet for The Latin Legends of Comedy?

In the past, before the web, you would make a movie, try to get it in the theatre, hopefully get a DVD deal, get it on TV, and that’s the end of it. Which is fine, it worked for years. With the web, just having a website is incredibly valuable. When people are searching for Latino comedy, having a MySpace and being able to interact with fans, it was incredible. And it was helpful with DVD sales. Just going on message boards, it helped. You could go on the message boards and let the people who might be interested in the movie know about it. It’s social and it’s networking, you meet people with similar interests and let people know about you or your film. You don’t just have to hope the studio will do a big marketing campaign anymore, you can take it into your own hands and spread the word. Even if it’s just with your friends, “My movie is done, take a look at the trailer.”

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

I think it’s okay to put some of your set or material online because you want people who might not really go to a live comedy club to learn about you and discover a little bit about you. And you want others to come out and see you in person. But you don’t want them to think, “I’ve seen him, there’s no need to come out.”

I don’t think you should put everything you’ve ever done online. At the end of the day, stand up is best when experienced live at the club. I think it’s the same with music, but especially with comedy. It’s best in a group setting in a theatre or comedy club. Hands down. But having a presence on the web is really great because someone can become a fan from watching some of your clips online. And by the same token, when someone goes to see you live, they then look you up for more. Let’s say they see a clip of something you just did at the live show, it’s like they have a souvenir from that. “Oh yeah, I love that bit, that’s so funny.” In some ways, for people who saw you live, it’s like a memento from the show. It’s additional material for them to reinforce why they enjoyed you.

However, online videos can also be very misleading, you might have someone post five decent minutes of stand up online, and that might be all they have. In those five minutes you’re like, “Wow this person is funny.” Then you go see him live and are like, “From minute six on, this is just awful.” It can really trick people. That’s why a web based following can sometimes be like the emperor’s new clothes.

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

I think comedy is best live, in person. I think at some point, people will start doing more stand up experiences where it beams live into people’s homes. I don’t think that will be really popular though. At the end of the day, people want to experience it in person, not as a hologram. Late Net is actually a great example. We have a way to reach people who can’t make it to a show because they live in the middle of nowhere, so they can tune in and become part of the audience through the web. It’s an example of how it can expand your audience and bring them together at the same time.

I think digital tools will change comedy more in the sense of letting people keep tabs on you and allowing the artist to stay connected to their fans even when they’re not doing a show. With twitter, people can stay connected to their fans just while sitting on the toilet. They can sit there and send out a tweet, brush their teeth and send out a tweet. You can keep your fan base entertained and engaged from your living room.

But it’s a catch 22, because you also have to get people to know you’re on Twitter. They might see you live or on TV and wanna follow you, but they gotta know about it.

Digital tools are a great way to further the relationship you already established. I’ve had people who came to New York, and then they continued to see what I post on Facebook, and are always coming on Daily Comedy and seeing what new jokes or videos I put up. That’s incredible, to maintain that relationship, the comedian-fan relationship; that doesn’t exist in the club. That being said, if you post something really stupid, you can sorta bomb online. But you can send out links to stuff you did.

I was actually just in the Bahamas at Treasure Bay in Freeport, and this national uproar existed because I had people in the audience and they were infamous in the Bahamas for some illicit activities, and I didn’t know who they were, I had no idea, and it ended up being really funny. That show was taped and clips were spread digitally all over the Bahamas. People stopped me at bars, at the casino, at the airport – the customs official asked me about it. Totally serious. Now it’s been posted to my Facebook page and I did follow up interviews in the Bahamas about it. Because of the internet, Daily Comedy and Facebook, people who weren’t even at an event can suddenly experience that event. And now people will say, “Oh wow let me keep tabs on this guy and see what he’s up to next.” That’s how the internet works, people are gonna Google me, and the interview on BigBenComedy will come up. They’ll be like, “Wow let me read what Ray had to say when he was talking to Ben. Ooh, that Twittering in the bathroom thing was fascinating insight.” And now people looking for me also discovered you, and we might share the same magnificent fans.

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

It’s a mix. It irks me when people write completely boring minutia. Like, “Just flossed my teeth.” I doubt anyone will go, “Wow, I didn’t know Tony flosses his teeth. Look how hygienic he is. That is riveting.”

People wanna be entertained or given some valuable information. If someone posts a news story about a medical breakthrough or a funny anecdote, I think that’s what people enjoy the most. I post real things about my day, but put a funny spin on it. I never put, “Just bought a new pillow,” and that’s it. Why would you do that? No one gives a shit about your bedding. For some people it works for them, because they want to feel connected with the rest of their friends and that’s how they do it. But for the most part, people want to be entertained, interested, engaged. And a new pillow story isn’t gonna do it, unless it was a pillow filled with cash and you are giving it all away.

You want to post something ideally that will be interesting or informative or funny. In the Bahamas I posted something about swimming with dolphins, without anything funny, just how much I enjoyed it. But to me, that certainly was interesting, coming from an NYC boy. And the follow up posts and photos were funny and fun. It’s not just, “About to turn off my lights and go to bed.” I tend to share some humorous stuff that’s based on my own life or an observation about something else. Like healthcare, I’ll post something funny about that. Or maybe about a good charity or cause. I’ll also let people know what’s going on, if I have a certain show, or where I’ll be performing. I just posted, “Doing 3 shows at Dangerfield’s Saturday night, stop by if you want.” It’s both self promotion and an invitation. Basically, I probably do it the same way as every other human being on the planet does it. Except that people in Bombay aren’t promoting sets at Comic Strip.

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

Once I did a show, and someone who had been in the audience looked me up on DailyComedy and posted a couple of comments to my wall on DailyComedy. I replied “Thank you.” Then from that, she learned about Late Net, so she started tuning into Late Net. One night we had a contest, a “Send in a funny video” thing. And this girl proceeded to make the dirtiest videos I’ve ever seen in my life. Like filthy. And in the videos she’d hold up hand written signs like, “This is for you Ray.” The videos were totally pornographic. This girl could’ve made a fortune in amateur home videos. It was bizarre. I’m getting these emails thinking it’s just another video entry, and she was basically getting fully naked and had an arsenal of not just sex toys, but also various household objects that she incorporated into this video. Like a dildo, a flashlight, and an ice tray. Unreal. And every once in a while, the handheld sign would say “Hey Ray” then another sign would pop up, “Do you like this Ray?” It was so bizarre yet fascinating and entertaining at the same time. I never realized a clock radio had so many filthy purposes.

I read somewhere that the number one purpose for the internet is for porn, and even when it comes to a comedy show, that purpose can also creep up and happen. That experience was pretty out there. I get plenty of emails but that was by far the most interesting one I ever opened. I was flattered but slightly unnerved. I’m thinking, “If this girl is willing to do this, what will she do if she ever comes back to NYC and goes to a show. What will happen in the show room?” But as long as it’s not violent, it will be an interesting and welcome addition to the show. And at the end of the day, people are more comfortable doing outrageous stuff on the web, from the comfort of their own home. They can pull a candle out of their butt without anyone yelling at them or throwing them out of the club. Exactly the purpose Al Gore had when he invented it, right?

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

Well, I have JeffCivillico.com as a splash page that links to my 2 separate sites – one for corporates and one for colleges. I created targeted promo for the two different markets I mainly work.

Also, I’m very active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Myspace, etc.  I’m always sending out where I’ll be performing and keeping in touch with fans from past shows. I have 15,000+ Twitter followers and I’m maxed out on my Facebook page. A couple years ago, fans from past shows would correspond with me via email. Now, it’s almost all done exclusively through sites like Facebook and Twitter.  It’s a different way of interacting.  I get a ton of wall posts and direct messages.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

Yes, I am seeing a big increase in my bookings from separating my two sites. Corporate event planners and producers want to see someone who’s clean cut, wears a shirt and tie, and speaks intelligently and articulately. College kids want to see someone in jeans and t-shirt that looks like them. Same material pretty much, but a different style.  It makes sense when you think about it – people want to connect with the person they see on stage.

Neither my college site or corporate site link to the other.  That way when my manager is pitching me for a corporate show, he sends them to JeffOnStage.  If he were submitting me for a college showcase, he would send them to the college site.  Of course if they Google me they’ll find both sites, but doing this at least allows for some separation.

3. You’ve published articles in differently themed magazines (online and print) that focus on parenting, business and technology. Have you noticed a response from that?

I really don’t believe in “one for one” thinking. I think too many entertainers are looking for payoffs from specific actions like doing one showcase, going to one conference, reading one book, etc.  That’s not how it works.  I’m a big fan of the Johnny Carson philosophy.  When people asked him how he became so successful, he said “My success just evolved from working hard at the business at hand each day.”

Back to the articles…so yea, I’ve never had someone call me up and say, “Hey I just read your article on planning a memorable event—I’d like to pay you 5k to perform for our company!” That’s not what I’m attempting to achieve by writing articles.  It’s about positioning yourself as an authority. And I believe being published helps establish that presence in the market.  It all contributes to who you are, your brand, your development as a performer and a business person. It’s consistent work over time.

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

I understand why some entertainers don’t put any of their work online, but that’s just not my philosophy.  I’m an open guy.  Sure you’re gonna get burned sometimes when somebody swipes some material, but I feel if you’re always charging forward creating new content, people will always be playing catchup.  That being said, I wouldn’t post my entire show online… I don’t really see the point in that.  I post teasers just to get bookers to bite and then I send them more info directly.

There’s also the idea that if you’re creating your content, it’s naturally going to be done with your style, energy, and voice. That can’t be duplicated.

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

It’ll change comedy just like it’s changing all of entertainment, and many other industries as well. The gatekeepers are pretty much gone now. You can do it yourself, and people now expect you to do it yourself.  You don’t need a film or production company to buy into who you are and give you the tools to make videos.  Video editing is user-friendly now.  So is web design.  Social media is free.  Blogging is free.  It’s cheesy to say, but you honestly can let the world know who you are pretty easily now.

It takes time and energy of course, so the lazy guys aren’t gonna do very well as the mediums continue to grow and change. You gotta keep up or you’re going to become irrelevant.  Every so often I hear guys saying, “I’m not really into the internet thing… I don’t do computers… I’m not a tech guy.” That means you’re gonna be a not working guy! You don’t have to be a tech guru (I’m certainly not)… but you need to recognize the importance of it in growing your performing business.  If internet marketing is not your thing, outsource it.

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

I always post my performances, where I’ll be, new stuff I’m doing, newsletters and announcements. I try to keep really personal stuff off there.  I like to maintain a level of privacy with my inner circle of close friends and fam.

I think you have to be careful. A lot of performers don’t realize when they post online, they are posting it to the world. I know guys who have lost gigs on cruise line or for companies with family reputations because of cursing and pictures on their profiles.  As everybody knows, gossip spreads like wildfire online.

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

I’ve had weirdos and creepers who write some pretty inappropriate or just bizarre comments on my wall. I’ve had to unfriend some people because of that. I try to keep a professional reputation and some people just don’t understand that.  They don’t realize that I’m friends with past and future clients, speakers bureaus and other performers, etc.  I don’t know if there’s one particularly crazy experience, but this idea comes up on a regular basis.

8. Any other thoughts?

I guess regarding the use of technology with comedy you just have to find the balance that you are comfortable with—both creatively and on the business side as well.  If you don’t put yourself out there at all, nobody will know who you are or what you do.  That’s not good.  If you are constantly tweeting and blogging about your clips and travels, you’re not developing yourself as a performer… and that’s not good.

Find the right balance, develop your philosophy, and stick to it!

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

I’m doing everything from Google Ads to Facebook, Linked In, Blogging, etc. And I’m doing lots of interviews like this and doing blog talk radio interviews. I’ve done several of those. I’m kinda all over the internet, which is nice but a little disorganized.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

Yes. What I’m noticing is people with actual money are searching the internet. In the past week, I’ve had a major company, that you think wouldn’t search the internet for comedians, find me. That’s happened a few times. Up until a little over a year ago, people that would find you wanted you to do their events for $50. Now, people have actual budgets and it’s big companies searching. I think that’s a big change that happened online.

3. Your main website is TheWorkLady.com, why do you promote that instead JanMcInnis.com?

Because people can’t spell Jan McInnis. I do a lot of work humor so I went with something people can remember and spell – TheWorkLady.com seemed like an easier thing to remember. It also let’s people know what I talk about in my act. I market myself to the convention market so work is a good subject to differentiate me from some of the other comics.  I do own JanMcInnis.com, because I think you have to own YourName.com. I think down the road the internet is the mail way we’ll do business, so owning your own name will be crucial. I’d love to own Jan.com, I missed that one. I also have a comedy writing site, www.Joke-writer.com, to promote my comedy writing services, and an Emcee site. www.ComedyEmcee.com and a couple of comedy blogs: www.ComedyWritingBlog.com, www.JanBlog.com.

I own probably fifty domain names. I’m gonna go broke owning domains. I got my book title’s domain name: www.FindingTheFunnyFast.com and two keynotes speeches I do domain names: www.FindingTheFunnyInCommunications.com and www.FindingTheFunnyInChange.com.

4. How do you think the web is different for booking corporate gigs vs clubs and colleges?

As I mentioned, up until a year or two ago, there weren’t big companies scouring the web, or I didn’t think so. Now they are. The clubs have always been doing email a little more readily. And colleges, I’ve only done a few, so I don’t know much about that market.

5. You have a blog that’s separate from your website, what’s the thinking behind separating the two?

My website is more static, my blogs have different stuff on them every week, you can follow me a little more. I have www.JanBlog.com which started out being comedy travels, fun stuff like that. Then I started putting in tips on writing. I’ve written for radio, greeting cards and I’ve sold to The Tonight Show, CEOs and speakers. And I really wanted to promote my writing service to get more writing clients. My www.JanBlog.com didn’t really fit that blog and it wasn’t on WordPress, which seems to be the most popular hosting site and one that Google likes to search, so just a few weeks ago I started www.ComedyWritingBlog.com and that’s my tips on comedy writing. So I’ve got two blogs going and I need to get better at them. I did put in an entry last night so I’m getting better!

I’m my own technology person, which is a bit of a problem. Until 3 years ago, I had a guy hosting my website and doing a few things for me, but it took him six weeks to put up a video. I got really frustrated, and then he put it up with bad quality. He actually said that it was low quality because, quote, “That’s for people who have dialup.” I’m thinking if someone has dialup, then they probably can’t afford a comedian.” So I took over doing all the web stuff (except google ads) because I want to do it now! I have a flip video camera, I can take testimonials from shows and pop them up on my website and blogs. I can make instant changes. I’ve never thought of myself as a control freak, but maybe I am a little bit when it comes to my career.

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

It’s the best way to get people to find you. I’ve had tons of people find me from YouTube videos. You have to monitor the comments though. I’ve had people put up sex references to my videos. . .I have no idea why – there’s just some weirdos out there. . .and so you’ve really got to be ready to get those off of there and/or not approve them. Most clients don’t want a mailed packet anymore. . .and you can really go broke mailing out packets and DVDS. Plus if you don’t have an online presence people don’t take you seriously. I have a couple friends who have businesses and they don’t even have a website. I don’t care if the website is 2 pages, you need something up there to show that you’re serious.

Some people are worried about people stealing your jokes, but you can’t be that paranoid about it. You can’t stop people from stealing jokes. I think the universe will take care of them. You can tell when someone has stolen material because their act is uneven. I do a lot of setup – punch, setup – punch jokes, really quick like Rodney Dangerfield. When people mix it up with set-up/punchline and maybe some stories, and then some one liners. . .it is uneven. Plus most of us write about what bothers us, from our personal experience. Someone who steals from you doesn’t have the same feelings when they’re telling the joke.

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

I think it’ll be easier to get booked because you get a sense of the comedian instantly online. One thing going on at conventions now is that the audience is twittering in real time about the speaker. I think that will come into play a little bit with comedy too. There will be more real, quick, immediate feedback. Whether you’re in a club or a convention you’ll find out what people think right then. But it also is going to get really annoying. . .we had hecklers in the clubs. Maybe we’ll have Tweklers at the convention. Hey, I just invented a new word. . .let me go buy the domain name quick!

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

I don’t share personal things like my birthday and stuff because I almost had my identity stolen last year. All the person needed was my birthday, so she kept calling me and asking questions trying to find that out, so I’m real cautious about that. I use FaceBook more with friends and family, so I haven’t put as many business people on Facebook. I use Linkedin for business. And regardless of if it’s friends and family or business people, I don’t talk about what I had for breakfast or the mundane things of my life. Instead I try to keep it more professional and/or tell some funny things that I’ve heard or mention things I’m doing. . . so as to remind people what I do for a living. . .you never know if their company or an organization they belong to will need a comedian. Plus I love my friends but I really don’t care if they’re raising farm animals on some imaginary farm and I don’t really want a bunch of snowballs thrown at me, so I don’t do it to them

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

I haven’t had anything really odd other than people will email me whole speeches and say, “Can you give me some jokes?” I’ve never talked to these people, they don’t know what I charge, yet they want me to read their whole speech and punch it up for them, usually at little or no cost and they want it done now. Or they’ll send me their jokes and ask me for my input. I do bounce joke ideas around with my comic friends, but I don’t have time to just drop everything and look at someone’s joke whom I don’t even know.

10. Any other thoughts?

It’s really fun that you can do all the web stuff yourself but I should get some more to help, because it can be overwhelming. Plus there’s just so much to learn. I do have someone doing things like google ads, etc., but there is so much more that I’m sure I’m missing out on. But it’s really cool how that it’s so easy to take comments from a show and put them up that night and have some nice testimonials. That’s really fun.

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

I got into the social media thing at “the turn of the century.” At first I was on a site called BlackPlanet. My strategy was going on, chatting, getting to know people, making them laugh and then saying “oh by the way, if you’re in town, come check me out.” That has been successful. Even this Sunday, there was a friend I met through black planet that came to the show.

I’ve always tried to jump on what I heard was the new thing. Unfortunately I’ve never been the guy who found the new thing before everyone else. I have MySpace, Twitter, FaceBook, Tumblr, Wordpress.

I have two blogs. The Life and Times of a Renaissance Man where I talk about stuff that goes on in my life, my career and inspirational things. The other is for every time I’m on something and I get video, I put it on my WordPress blog which is part of my regular site. I also use Tumblr, I try to post something everyday. It’s been videos of myself, once I run out of those I’ll post something else.

I’m always in search of the next big thing. Everyone on Twitter talks about FaceBook like it’s not cool, everyone on FaceBook talks about MySpace like it’s a dinosaur. Social media is very fickle. It’s like a club, no club stays cool forever.

2. Have you noticed the payoff yet?

Yes I have noticed the payoff, there’s people who come to shows from the internet. I was just having this conversation with a comic friend, I’ve been doing it for 18 years, there was no social media when I started out and the internet wasn’t what it is now. Only people using it at work had email. The guys who started out when I started have slowly started to realize that we gotta use this. I’m a little ahead of my friends in that manner. We have this fear that we’ll burn out our material if we put it on the internet, but I’ve realized people that follow you on the internet may never come to a show. What is happening is you’re building up your fan base.

I appear bi-weekly on the Today Show on a segment called, “Guys Tell All” and there are people who watch me every time I’m on the Today Show who have purchased my CD and support me in ways other than coming out to actual shows. I feel that’s invaluable, social media and the internet gets you out to a bunch of people at once. Some may reach out to you, some may not. With Twitter, I have people following me on Twitter, I’ll go and look and I’ll notice they’re also following other people I’m on the Today Show with, and I’m like, “Oh that’s where they found me.” Sometimes you don’t know the source of the support. There’s so many different ways people are supporting you that you may not see live at a show.

3. Your album is on CD Baby and iTunes can you talk about that process?

CD Baby lets your fans order the hard copy or get the mp3 version. It’s a website for independent artists. I’m not with a record label and my CD is a self produced project entitled “Come On N’ah”. Some friends of mine helped produce it with me. They own a Christian comedy club. I don’t curse in my act, so I have a nice size Christian fan base. So I’d come to their club and there would be other acts, guys who’ve been doing comedy for five minutes, who were selling merchandise. My friends were like, “It’s a shame you’re this funny and don’t have merchandise.” So they set up a recording session at the club for me. They didn’t take any money for the CD, but I didn’t get paid for that gig. It’s paid off greatly since then. I go to them to get reproductions, but it’s an independent thing. CD Baby is very good because they help push you out there and iTunes picked it up because of CD Baby. And in this day and age, where hardly anyone is buying CDs, being on iTunes is a totally wonderful thing.

4. Why did you decide to have two different blogs instead of combining them?

Rickyounger.blogspot.com is like my diary type blog entitled “The Life and Times of a Renaissance Man”. I’m not necessarily trying to be funny. I’m just sharing a piece of me. What happens is I go and write, and a theme will come up in the writing and that’s what the title will become. I’ll talk about my career and have inspirational words like, “Don’t quit.” I didn’t start out trying to be inspirational but I’ll get emails saying, “Hey that’s really encouraging, I was thinking about getting out of the business.” That’s the therapeutic blog.

Then I got the one on my website, it’s a “What’s New” page. I came to that because I got tired of having to depend on webmasters to update my news. It can take a while, especially if they have a lot of clients. So I wanted something on my page where I could add things on my own.

I didn’t start doing Life and Times until after I had the blog on my website, and a theme had already developed on the website. It’s pretty much videos. I didn’t want to make it so that, say I was to post three or four inspirational blogs in a row, someone went to my what’s new page, and the inspirational stuff is not their cup of tea, they won’t scroll down to see the videos.

I read an article recently talking about the benefit of a blog over a website. And my website is where I try to get more work, and bookers/producers wanna see: What do you do? Why do I know you? Why do I want you at my club or event? And having video saying, “Oh this guy is on NBC’s Today Show, Law and Order, etc,” that works better for people coming for that purpose. So I wanted to keep the personal blog separate from that. The blog is “Rick Younger, person” and the website is “Rick Younger, this is my business.” You still get a taste of the person, but if you’re there for who the business is, you’ll get what you want out of that.

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

I’m just opening up to the idea of posting comedy sets online. At first, I was really against it. My CD was recorded five years ago, and it took 13 years of comedy before I made my first CD. Coming up with enough material to make a good album, it takes time. I don’t know if everyone agrees with that. I’ve seen it where people put out album after album. You’re at the club watching someone, waiting for the first good seven minutes of their act, and they have three albums, but I digress.

Your material is like your kids, I think of some of my earliest material that took me years to stop doing because I loved the material so much. It’s like, “These are my first born.” It takes a while to move on sometimes. Now that I’ve had more experience, I find my material is based on my life. So there’s always something new coming, even if I have a foundation of certain bits. If you perform, people might put you in a certain head space like, “Oh yeah, I remember last time he did this.” Or I’ll know the person who books this show, really likes that bit.

Now I realize, when people come to the club to see you, there’s a large part of them coming to see “Rick Younger, the person they like.” So what you say as far as your material, some of it they remember, some they don’t, but they remember the experience of having a good time with you. Sometimes, you need to be able to post some things that gives a person who can’t come to the club a taste of who you are. You need stuff for people who might come to the club so they get a chance to say, “Hey I wanna come see that person live.” Then there’s the cross section that will never leave their house. A lot of people on the internet are teenage kids whose mom won’t let them come out, or the socially inept person that never comes out. But that person could decide they love you and be your best word of mouth just from their computer. So having your presence on the internet is really good in that sense. It’s good to put some material out there so people who never leave the house can become a fan possibly.

I came to this realization really recently, so I’m looking for opportunities to get out and record my sets. I put my opening monologue for The Rick Younger show on the internet just two days ago. And it’s funny because I’m so critical of putting myself out there like that. I feel if you see my live it’s so much better than seeing me on tape. So I’m watching it, and hearing people laugh, but I still feel like, “someone is gonna see this and they’ll hate me.” And once they decide they hate you, that’s where they’re gonna stay. It’s harder to make someone love you that’s decided to hate you, than it is to make someone hate you who had decided to love you.

My inspiration for posting videos on the internet is seeing the person doing comedy for 5 minutes who has 50 videos on the net with hundreds of thousands of views and a Comedy Central Presents. I’ve auditioned for pilots for people who got pilots because of their “internet following.” I’m like, “Who is this person? They got one million hits on YouTube? So did two girls one cup, do they need a TV show?” So time has taught me you can’t beat City Hall. Although, maybe I’m selling out now cause I got a kid, I need to feed him.

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

I’m hoping there will be some positive effects. But right now I think it’s totally changed who is popular. It’s like, the cool guy who has no knowledge of the internet is lagging behind. In the amount of time I’ve been a comic, I’ve seen how, for lack of better description, “the nerds have taken over”. It used to be the “cool, hip comic” was the guy everyone liked, like Eddie Murphy in the leather suits. Now, with the internet you got Aziz who’s real popular. And he plays that Randy character, but overall, he’s not your Eddie Murphy cool guy. Rich Vos, who’s popular cause of Last Comic Standing, he doesn’t have the biggest internet presence, but he’s been doing it longer. Any internet stuff by way of Rich Vos is his people and not Rich Vos, but you get the feeling that Aziz is personally interacting with his fans. Kevin Hart has over 200,000 twitter followers and he’s literally tweeting. He’s young enough where doing that is fun for him.

I’m 41, I tweet, but it’s still more of my job than it is a fun thing. I do it, but I’m aware that my wife will be like, “What are you doing, can you play with us now?” It’s kinda making it so there’s a different type of person who’s moving to the forefront of comedy. I’m hoping what will happen is, people who have been doing comedy longer and deserve to be seen, will take notice and do what they have to do.

It is cool that a person can develop a fan base and support system without having to work the road. I hate the road, I got off the road after a while because I felt miserable being out there. I was like, “Why do we have to do the road?” With the internet and social media, we don’t have to do the road. I stay in NY, I do The Today Show twice a month, The Joey Reynolds show once a week, and I do my own show that I produce, “The Rick Younger Show” and I’m on shows for my friends. Every once in a while I’ll go out of town and do something, but that doesn’t happen a lot.

Because of the internet, I’m in constant contact with people from all over the world. I have my Swedish fan, she saw me at Stand Up New York when visiting from Sweden. She bought my album, she blogs in her native country and she mentions me on the blog. I have people in England too. All these relationships have been nurtured form social media. Whenever they come to NYC, they let me know, and I’ll call a club or two, or a friend, and get on a show so they can see me live and I’m getting out there just as much as if I had gone to Sweden or England. My people from England, every time I’m on The Today Show, I send them the link. They’re not even in America and they watch The Today Show at least three times a month because of me. Even yesterday, I posted stuff from my most recent Rick Younger show, and YouTube has those related videos on the side, and I noticed another guy had posted from The Today Show, and someone had started “A Guys Tell All” YouTube page that I have nothing to do with. And I don’t think NBC has anything to do with, there’s no NBC logos, and the page was recently started. So once again, the internet is getting it out there.

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

I do a combination of self promotion and comedic insights. On Twitter, I post what I’m doing performance wise and then I’ll post my daily interactions with my son. I’m his daycare, cause I don’t have a day job. I refer to him as “The Youngest Younger” and I say what we’re up to. Like this morning, I said “The Youngest Younger just turned 17 months, by the time he’s 5, he’ll say his favorite artists are Marvin, Stevie and Earth Wind Fire.” I’ll also respond to what other people tweet. Sometimes it’ll be funny, sometimes it’ll be angry forty year old dude stuff that makes people laugh. It’s a combination of self promotion and insight into who I am, without getting into too much of who I am. Some people fill up your stream with “I turned the corner,” “I need to go to the bathroom.” I think that’s a bit much.

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

It’s all been pretty unweird. I have people who reach out to me from other countries and it was a little weird because, I thought I was being Punk’d. Once I realized they were serious and they proved they had actually seen me, it was okay. Sometimes, things get lost in translation. Even when people put “LOL” after stuff. I think maybe they’re being sarcastic. Like you write something and they reply “Hilarious LOL” and I hear it as a sarcastic, “Hilarious LOL, you’re not funny.”

People reach out to me that I didn’t know had seen me. There’s a thin line between cyber stalking and stalking. There’s a certain part of me, the old school part of me, that is so aware, because of the fact that I put dates and locations to where I’ll be, I’m leaving myself wide open to the crazy person. There’s a part that’s always afraid of people recognizing me. “Hey Rick Younger” and I’m like “Yes…? Who are you?” That’s the weirdest thing about the internet to me, people getting to know you that you’re not getting to know back. And when they say, “How are you doing?” and you’re like, “Wait you know a whole lot about me. Who are you?” Then I remember I posted all that on my website.