Stand up comedy has been a difficult profession since its inception. Comics would spend years, often decades, paying their dues and performing in small clubs to thankless audiences, dealing with hecklers, and occasionally getting stiffed by club owners and show promoters. While the world of stand up comedy isn’t necessarily getting any easier, it certainly is changing, and much of that change is due in no small part to Netflix.
Before the days of on-demand viewing a television special was considered the holy grail for stand up comics. HBO had positioned themselves as an innovator and industry leader with 40 years worth of experience in the game, but specials were often reserved for a select few. The playing field started opening up thanks to Comedy Central, who for the past two decades have offered the opportunity to lesser known but still hilarious comics.
Enter Netflix. Although they face steep competition and an uphill battle thanks to imitators and licensing rights threatening the loss of existing content, they’re still the biggest player in the game of on-demand content. And with millions of people around the globe flipping through Netflix deciding what to watch, comedians of all kinds have found themselves being discovered exclusively through the service. Add to that the fact that more comedy specials are being produced now than ever before, many of them exclusively for Netflix, and you have the makings of a bid for comedic domination. It’ll be an interesting, if not hilarious, revolution to watch.
Looking for more comedic reads? Visit our online library at www.flyeread.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more, accessible anytime from your favorite devices.
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