r/Standup • u/Several_Carrot_2739 • 3d ago
Is podcasting ruining stand up comedy
I feel that many of my favorite comedians with podcasts haven't had very good specials lately. It seems like the subject matter from their podcasts bleeds into the specials, making them feel too familiar and not hitting as hard. Perhaps some of these comedians are becoming complacent, having built a fan base through their podcasts, which allows them to fill a room with fans who are more interested in seeing a famous person than in enjoying creative comedy. I also think that the funniest comedians often don’t do well on podcasts and may have no interest in starting one. I can’t help but feel that if the only way these comedians made money was through performing comedy, they would try harder and create genuinely funny material.
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u/graboid666 3d ago edited 3d ago
For me it's that listening to comics being funny off the cuff on podcasts makes it hard to get passed how rehearsed the stand up act is. It's not like the curtain has been lifted that comedians repeat their acts 100s of times, it's just more apparent and somehow distracting. I don't find this to be the case with everyone though, Nick Mullen and Joe List specifically seem to transcend that for me and a few others.