What's your comedy brand?
Also, what are you supposed to do if the phrase "comedy brand" makes you wanna throw up a little bit?
What is your brand?
Actually, let’s rewind first…
It started with “Where Are You Now?” by
. Posted about that here previously:Comedy as an abusive relationship
Some people “make it.” But many more struggle on. It’s not often they come clean in public about that struggle, though.
That led to an email exchange with Josh Spector, a branding guru who works with show biz folks, about this excerpt from Sara’s piece:
The problem is, however, is that whenever I log onto social media, I am confronted with an explicit demand to be One Thing. What is your brand? It must be as clear as an L.A. sky during lockdown.
Not only do you need a brand, but it must be singular, and you also need to broadcast it very frequently. (Recently Facebook sent me a notification saying “We noticed you haven’t posted anything in a few days. Posting daily will help increase your reach.” My reach? Okay Zuck-Fuck. I’ve got an idea. How about you reach up your own ass and pull out whatever stick-bot is up there causing you to ruin the world?)
Social media companies have made us a shimmering promise: Do one thing, do it every single day, and success will follow!
Josh replied like this:
There are a few things people overlook when they go down this road.
1. You don't have to be one thing or have a specific niche/brand to succeed.
It just makes it MUCH easier to do so.
(Not easy, but easier.)
2. Social media has amplified the importance of niche/brand but it's nothing new.
Especially in comedy - this concept of branding who you are and who your work is for has been around forever.
Roseanne was the domestic goddess. Kinison was the wild man. Etc.
Did they choose those things or were they packaged by the gatekeepers? Probably a bit of both.
3. A personal brand doesn't have to be limiting.
Donald Glover has a super strong personal brand despite (because of?) doing a million different things.
4. Having eclectic interests/skills and refusing to be defined by one thing can ITSELF be a brand.
Exhibit A is her post - she's defining herself as someone who can't be defined by one thing.
That's branding.
Related: Jay Acunzo, who helps folks craft speeches and stories, wrote a piece with this framing: “If you publish consistently to social media and nothing seems to work, some suggestions…”
You gotta fall in love with making stuff. The rest is incremental. If you don't intrinsically LOVE to make, everything will feel hard, always…You have to fall in love with creating. You need an intrinsic motor to make. The feeling of your fingers as you type, the electricity crackling across your brain as your ideas become visible.
Jay also says “better things happen away from social media than on it.” Read the rest here.
