In Depth: How the web showcases bright new comedy stars
Back in the early '90s there was a popular saying that went, 'Comedy is the new rock and roll'. And it's true now, too!
There are just as many, if not more, wannabe practitioners of the comic arts today as there were then. Never before have new comedians been able to show off their work to so many people so fast, and it's all thanks to the internet.
Video websites like YouTube and the many dedicated comedy sites out there have created many stars (sometimes not always on purpose) just through contributors clicking an upload button. As the publicity power of viral emails, Facebook memes and Twitter trending topics has become apparent, more and more comedians are looking to the internet to launch them into the world of mega stardom.
Of course, it's not easy to know what will become popular or how to start out, so we decided to speak to some of the talented figures who have made the web work for them to see what tricks they used to achieve their dream.
Funny business
To start with, we tracked down Nat Saunders, one half of comedy duo Worm Hotel (the other is his writing partner Chris Hayward). They have already made a name for themselves writing sketches for programs such as Big Train and Smack the Pony, and are now using the internet to explore a new direction.
"We blindly started writing sketches and sitcom scripts together," Saunders explains, "not having a clue how any of it worked, but sending them off to names we found on the end credits of our favourite comedy programmes, and were lucky enough to get a break early on. The next few years were spent developing sitcoms and film scripts that, for one reason or another, never made it past the pilot stage. We were getting pretty narked with the knockbacks, and really wanted to perform too, so when the whole Web 2.0 thing happened we decided to learn how to write, produce, film and edit our own sketches and movies, with us in them.
"It's taken a few years to get the hang of it all," adds Saunders, "but now we're making the stuff we want to make, doing everything our way, getting commissions, and we're still able to write sitcoms and sketches for other people too. Which basically means we get about two hours' sleep a day."
So how much has the internet helped them in their careers? "For us, who always wanted to do more than just write, it's been the best thing ever," enthuses Saunders. "We simply wouldn't be able to do what we currently do. We'd just be writers, tapping away in our studies, watching other people make our stuff. Now we can show people our sketches, fully fleshed out, rather than try to dryly explain them on paper."
What advice do they have for anybody who is starting out using the internet to advertise their writing/performances? "Well, the first rule of web comedy is to keep it short," says Saunders. "Sketches need to make their point quickly, or people lose interest. Our earlier stuff was all around the five-minute mark – now we try to get everything below two. It's tricky, but it teaches you about honing your work, slicing the flab out.
"Then, get a YouTube channel and a Vimeo channel. Upload your skits and start sharing them on Twitter, sending them to the likes of BBC Comedy Extra, www.roughcutpresents.com or www.popcorncomedy.com – places where industry pros are on the lookout for emerging talent. Link them off sites like www.b3ta.com, comedy forums and your Facebook page, that kind of stuff.
"And pray. Pray your stuff isn't rubbish and that someone influential sees it and wants to know more about you. But, mainly, keep it short. The guy that taught me that, Jon Petrie at Popcorn, is a very wise man."
A wise man once said...
Taking this tip to heart, we spoke to the same very wise man, and found that comedy has been his bread and butter for a long time, giving him plenty of experience to draw on:
"I started out as a runner on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and have been lucky enough to work on shows such as QI, Comic Relief and The IT Crowd. I now work with Ash Atalla (producer of The Office and The IT Crowd) as Head of Online for Roughcut Presents. We work with talented film makers to produce material for the likes of the BBC and Channel 4."
Petrie is also the organiser behind Popcorn Comedy. He explains: "It's a comedy night and website that presents some of the strongest, sharpest and funniest videos online." In a strange reversal of the usual pattern, this is a case of internet culture spawning a live show.
"Our live nights feature the country's best stand-up and character comedians as they showcase their own short comedy films. I started the night with comedian Holly Walsh because we felt that there wasn't anywhere for comedians making films to show their work to an audience and get constructive feedback, rather than the useless 'LOL' and 'That was crap' comments that you'd most likely get from viewers on YouTube."
Since its launch, the comedy night has gained a lot of fans and attracted a large range of impressive talent. Petrie elaborated further: "One of the actors from Spinal Tap (Michael McKean) sent us an email to say what a great idea he thought Popcorn Comedy was, which was very cool. We've been very lucky to have live appearances from Peter Serafinowicz, David Cross, Graham Linehan and Adam Buxton at our live shows as well."
There's no doubt that Petrie believes the internet is a very important part in a comedy performer's armoury: "Comedians are now able to bring an idea to life in more ways than has ever been possible before. They can collaborate more easily with animators and programmers who can enhance their comedy films, and they can try out ideas without industry people telling them that they don't think it's funny.
"We now have a situation where comedians can find an audience for their work on their own without having to go cap-in-hand to industry people. Technology is getting cheaper and easier to use. It's very exciting."
If you want to try it yourself, what would Petrie suggest? "Do it! There's nothing to lose and everything to gain. A good tip for ensuring what you're uploading is funny is to ask people who aren't attached to you or the idea to watch it and see if they think it's funny. When you've spent so long filming and editing something, you'll begin to lose sight of where the jokes were in the first place. It's important to be critical of yourself, because if you're not, everyone else will be. Finally, keep it short! People on the internet have awful attention spans. Use the 'YouTube Insights' tool to work out where viewers are switching off – that might give some useful clues."
Another person who knows a thing or two about online comedy is Tim Clark, Editor of UK site www.suchsmallportions.com. Set up by journalism students in 2007, it's a popular networking site for the comedy industry.
Clark also believes the web is playing a very important role for comedy performers: "As a group, comedians have to be among the heaviest web users I know. Almost all of them have an opinion and they like to share it. I think comedy gets less exposure in the mainstream media than other genres, so blogs, Twitter and Facebook have filled the knowledge gap that exists."
And his advice for up-and-coming comedians? "Get involved with Facebook fan pages - and Twitter can help too. A lot of comedy bookers use YouTube to check out new people, so it helps to get a good clip of your act online and be aware of what your online biography (how you are described) is – and keep it up to date.
"If you get a bad review, don't take it too seriously, but contact the editor of the publication about it and ask to be re-reviewed at a later date. Ultimately, people are more in control of their media message (what is said about them) than at any time since the invention of the printing press – all they have to do is take advantage of it."
The last person we talked to is a man with more power than most to highlight new talent: Martin Trickey, the Multi-platform Commissioning Executive for Comedy and Entertainment at the BBC. It's a role he loves, as he says:
"My favourite part of the job is getting to laugh so much at work." It's part of his remit to find new writing and performing talent that the BBC can nurture and develop online – so how does he do it?
"In a variety of ways," he explains. "Some people come to us direct, sending in scripts or YouTube clips. This is great, but unless they have a production company behind them then it is difficult for us to work with them. Both new media and TV production companies pitch us ideas that we can then commission, and we also spend a lot of time online seeing who is popular and making people laugh."
So how does the BBC use its website to help new performers? "Part of the BBC comedy strategy is to use [our site] to showcase new talent – it's a quick and easy way to get new acts in front of an audience and get a reaction. It works well as we try to make quick decisions and turn things around in a few weeks, or for topical stuff, even days."
What should a new, aspiring comedian get involved with to get noticed by the BBC? "We keep an eye on YouTube and increasingly Vimeo for clips. I think Jon Petrie does a great job with Popcorn Comedy, so I try to go as often as I can or check out his site. I follow a lot of comedians on Twitter and see who they are talking about, and feeds such as B3ta links are really useful. I keep an eye on viral charts, and website Funny or Die has also produced some outstanding work. Mostly though, I get sent a lot of funny stuff via my email."
So there we have it – if there is one common theme across this entire community, it's that the best way to get noticed in the world of online comedy is to get out there and do something, and not to be put off by knockbacks at the start (or, for that matter, the middle).
The final word should go to Trickey: "The internet has made it possible for comedians to find an audience without a broadcaster or promoter and without being on the circuit for 10 years. I think this is liberating – but it doesn't make being funnier any easier."
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Review: Avermedia AVerTV A820
Simplicity is not to be sniffed at. Too many TV cards come with too many options. They're unnecessarily complicated. AVerMedia's A820 Plug & Watch is not. It's easy. Plug it in to a USB port, run a single package (stored on a sliver of integrated USB storage) to install all the drivers and software, and you're away without so much as a reboot.
The included software is as simple as it could be, putting standard DVR features at your fingertips, and the option to export recordings to Toast or directly to your iPhone is only a couple of clicks away. Of course, your experience with any TV device will be tempered by the available signal in your area.
Signal quality
We tested the Plug & Watch on the top of a hill in lovely Bristol. When using the included high-gain antenna (a tiny bunny-ears type device with the option of a clip or a sucker for optimal placement) the experience isn't exactly perfect.
We inconsistently picked up a selection of channels, sometimes brilliantly, sometimes with sporadic signal, depending on where our test machine was placed in the house. Disappointing perhaps, but picking up any channels at all on a portable aerial puts the Plug & Watch ahead of many units we've seen in the past.
With a roof-mounted aerial its signal quality was flawless: glitch free, quick to display channels, and just about as efficient as you'd find a standard set top box.
The Plug & Go has compatibility with HD Freeview broadcasts too; it has the necessary H.264 tuner, but such signals were unavailable in our test area. Still, it's a great future-proof purchase.
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In Depth: Why you must keep track of your online profile
You might not realise it yet, but you're a brand. All this time you've been walking and talking and posting on the internet, thinking you were a person, when you've been a brand all along. Who'd have thought it? All of your activities have been contributing to the brand, building a profile for it and even advertising it.
Why is it important to think of yourself as a brand? Because as information about individuals becomes increasingly available online, you want to make sure that information is not only accurate but also positive and succinct.
For example, this weekend I arrived early to meet a friend at his friend's house. I didn't know this friend of a friend, so on my way there I Googled him. I found that I was already following him on Twitter and discovered his blog, the company he worked for, his Facebook page, his Flickr account and so on. In 10 minutes, I thought I had a pretty good profile of his interests (cats, anime, politics) and personality (funny, busybody).
However, if I'd been really committed, I could have found all sorts of information. Deep Googling of my own name threw up fan-fiction from a magazine forum I used to work on, as well as some gadget fanboys threatening violence against my person for underscoring one of their preferred devices five years ago.
It wouldn't be good for a future employer to see that as one of my main hits, but thanks to good profile management and search engine optimisation, it's buried deep in Google's archive.
What differentiates your brand from you, the person? Well, everything you do as a person can contribute to the brand, but it shouldn't necessarily. Many other people can contribute to the brand, too – sometimes unconsciously, sometimes negatively.
All the data and media that we're generating and adding to the internet and social networks is part of this database, and additions are increasingly automated (location tracking on Latitude or Gowalla, media tracking on LibraryThing, LoveFilm or Raptr) so there's a need for effective filters to reveal where important events have occurred and manage their impact.
Media and social monitoring is about tracking any brand across all media. Simply put, it's about making sure you hear everything important that people are saying about your brand, and filtering out the noise, the incorrect results and the homonyms so you can reach out to the positive and negative people out there – to reward the friendly and correct the unfriendly.
It can vary from simple, free tools such as Google Alerts to complicated expensive tools such as Radian6.
Egosurfing – the act of searching for your own name – is therefore little different to standard media monitoring. The only real difference is your lack of resources – most of us aren't going to spend our entire salary on a Nielsen BuzzMetrics subscription. Nor are we going to have the time or the staff to set up and maintain a complicated monitoring tool. We just need something quick and dirty to sort the wheat from the chaff.
Taking this into consideration, we've picked four products that enable you to track your online profile. We've had Radian6 recommended to us by no less than Microsoft's Internet Marketing department, so we've included it here even though it's high-end stuff.
Google Alerts is a no-brainer because it's free and simple. Finally, Social Mention and Trackur offer easy social media monitoring. There are several tools we would have liked to examine, but which were too niche for our deliberately wide-ranging test.
Technorati is an older tool that only rates blogs and uses a fairly arbitrary metric. Blog Pulse is similarly blog-focused, but more up-to-date. Board Reader, as you might guess, tracks message boards and forums. Scoutlabs and SM2 are similar to Radian6, but Scoutlabs is cheaper and lighter on features, whereas SM2 is more useful for PR and marketing. AlertRank sorts your Google Alerts for you and is also free, so we've included it under Google Alerts.
Almost all of these, and the products on test, output RSS feeds. Put these into a feed reader and you've got a bespoke social media tracker – if you're willing to take the time to configure it.
Finding your brand online is only the first step. Next you need to ensure that the results that come top are positive, that your own content comes first and that you have procedures in place to deal with crises or negative feedback. Profile management is just starting to grow in importance. It can't be long before a standardised metric is accepted by social media experts and, more importantly, HR departments, meaning that personal profile monitoring will be key to job applications.
Now is a good time to start shaping your profile so you can become the brand you want to be.
Radian6
Price: $500 (10,000 results), $1,000 (25,000 results), $1,500 (50,000 results) + $100 per user, per month.
Supplier: www.radian6.com
Two separate 'social media gurus' have recommended Radian6 to us. Getting hands-on with it is initially daunting; the highly polished interface makes it seem more complicated than it is.
Thankfully, no-one's allowed to even use it without a thorough demo, and there are video tutorials to further explain it all.
The heart of the tool is in its configurability. It allows you to set up keyword profiles, choosing languages, media types, regions and sources, and output the resulting data in a variety of colourful and useful ways. It also includes team management tools, so someone like Stephen Fry can identify problem content and assign it to someone else.
While this power is wonderful, it's not so necessary for smaller users, especially as the base price is so high and it takes so much time to configure and maintain. If you're a media personality, the power and flexibility of this are great – but it's not really useful for most individuals' purposes.
Verdict: 4/5
Google Alerts
Price: Free
Supplier: www.google.com/alerts
Google Alerts Egosurfing starts when you first type your name into a Google box and hit [Enter]. Google Alerts is just an automated version of that, and deceptively simple with it. You put your keyword in, and hit [Enter].
It then starts delivering digests of all the mentions of your keyword across the web. If you want to configure it further, you can specify the type of content you're tracking (blogs, video, groups and so on), the frequency of the emails you receive and how many results you get (a measly maximum of 50).
It's hard to detect a difference between the results this finds and those of Radian6, but it's the output tools that Radian6 throws up and the way it rates content for you that give it such a large edge (forgetting, for the moment, its huge cost).
Alerts has been mashed up to create AlertRank, a separate rating tool that sorts alerts before they hit your inbox, but it doesn't match the flexibility of the bigger products.
Google Alerts is free and comprehensive, but if you want more results or filtered results, look elsewhere.
Verdict: 3/5
Trackur Free
Price: Free (one search), $18 (five searches), $88 (25 searches), $197 (250 searches), $297 (unlimited searches).
Supplier: www.trackur.com
Claiming a 60-second set-up time, Trackur performs a similar search to Google Alerts from a keyword or search string. However, it's slightly more powerful, allowing non-exact matches, mandatory includes and excludes, domain exceptions and unlimited results (which can be seen as a graph).
Once you've run a search, you can export it to CSV, grab it as an RSS feed or get it through email. It also includes sentiment tracking, colour-coding the results by traffic lights so you can easily see which are positive and negative.
Sadly though, despite several searches for very famous names, we never saw any sentiment other than neutral. Trakur also limits you to one saved search per account.
If you want more, you must subscribe (or create duplicate accounts) which isn't particularly desirable, but not initially expensive either at $18 for five – though the costs can rise quickly if you get into setting up corporate accounts.
Verdict: 3/5
Social Mention
Price: Free
Supplier: www.socialmention.com
Like Trackur, Social Mention aggregates user-generated content. It also has the same ability to customise your search: you can select the type of content, the date and so on. It does everything Trackur does, and it's free for any number of searches.
Its sentiment tracking actually works and is useful, though you can't click through to see it. Social Mention breaks down the top keywords, users, hashtags, postrank and sources for each search and provides you with CSV data for all of them, as well as letting you sign up to alerts that are at least as good as Google Alerts. It even gives you some handy stats about how you're reaching out to your audience.
Finally, Social Mention produces more results than Trackur does (though not as many as Google or Radian6), can be integrated with your search bar and, though it doesn't let you save searches, allows you to export as many RSS feeds or email alerts as you like.
Combined with the fact that it's free, Social Mention is an easy winner here.
Verdict: 5/5
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Review: HornetTek Janus WLAN USB adapter
High-powered external Wi-Fi adapters such as the Janus WLAN USB adapter can greatly extend the reach of your wireless network – HornetTek claims a range of up to 1,000 meters. It maintains a strong wireless signal in taxing conditions too. Connecting to your Mac via USB, setup isn't helped by a complete lack of Mac instructions and a software CD that hides the OS X version of its WLAN management app in a folder marked 'Other drivers'.
If you've set up wireless networks before, getting it up and running shouldn't be too problematic, but beginners should wait until HornetTek publishes a decent tutorial.
The device sits neatly on your desk, but could use a bracket to mount it on your MacBook's lid.
In our tests, Janus did exceedingly well, outperforming its rival USB highpower wireless adapter Wi-Fire. With our router in a thick-walled Victorian house, it achieved a 95% signal strength from the garden shed, while Wi-Fire managed less than 20% and AirPort failed to connect at all.
It regularly found substantially more networks, and in our Ping test, was 44.8% faster than AirPort and 36.8% speedier than Wi-Fire.
HornetTek Janus High Power 802.11 b/g/n WLAN USB Adapter is ideal for situations where you struggle to get a wireless connection. Just make sure you know how to set it up before you buy.
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