Note: Check out my new standup special/experiment “Substance” on YouTube where I perform high, drunk, and on shrooms. Some praise so far:
“A fantastic experiment in chemistry and comedy.” • “Thought-provoking, inspiring, and so damn good.” • “Fucking fantastic special.” • “A beautiful experience.” • “Absolutely delightful.” • “A chemistry experiment gone right.” • “Profound, courageous, insane, and, most of all, funny.” • “10/10 would recommend.” • “Great idea/execution.” • “A truly unique, funny stand-up special.” • “What a cool experiment.” • “Amazing!” • “Great special.” • “The perfect special; super existential too.” • “Fucking amazing!”
Jason Pargin writes about our culture's weird relationship with “influencers” and offers up some survival tips for those of us who make content online (i.e. pretty much all comedians nowadays).
#4 stuck out to me: Know Going In That The Audience Will Want A Piece of Your Soul. Basically, you’ve got to both put yourself out there yet not take it personally.
Have you ever looked up a recipe on the internet, only to get frustrated because the instructions for making cornbread begin with a 1,000-word essay from the writer about how this is the cornbread their aunt used to make when she lived in Baton Rouge? There's a reason they do that.
The only thing that's unique and special about your content is you. There is only one you, no one else has your exact personality. If you stand out, it's probably because people specifically connected with you. That's what the recipe writer up there is trying to do, to differentiate their cornbread recipe from the millions of others, and literally the only way to do that is by injecting a part of yourself into it. Creating for an audience means opening up some private places and letting strangers in…
Unfortunately, this means when the masses reject a piece of your content, they often won't be rejecting the premise or technical aspects of the presentation - they'll be rejecting you, as a person. They'll be saying that you, as a human being, are not good enough, not interesting enough, not unique enough.
This can be hard to take.
Never forget that modern audiences aren't just looking for media to consume - to them, media is as plentiful as air. They're looking for a relationship. And when you disappoint them, they will take it as a deep, personal betrayal. I had my first really scary cyberstalker when I was still just a little-known blogger working two office jobs. I've had fans show up at my house, I've gotten more death threats than I can count (they're so common that they really don't mean much - people raised online just use death threats as a type of insult).
Again, I'm not trying to scare you off. I love my job and wouldn't trade it for anything. But this isn't the old days, when creators could remain aloof and let their work speak for itself. No matter what medium you choose, your first publicity person will be you and the only way to promote your work is to open your guts and let the audience probe around inside. If they don’t like what they see, don’t take it personally.