Markets In Everything: Selling Comedy Online
NY Times: "Comics Are Now Selling Laughs by the Download"
"A handful of top-tier performers have begun producing stand-up specials on their own, posting them online and selling them directly through their personal Web sites, eliminating the editorial control of broadcasters and the perceived taint of corporate endorsements.
The turning point arrived in December, when the comedian Louis C. K. released a stand-up special, “Live at the Beacon Theater,” that was sold only as a $5 download, without electronic copy protection, from his Web site. Louis C. K., who stars in the FX series “Louie” and has performed in comedy specials on HBO, Showtime and Epix, said that he was seeking minimal outside interference and maximum ease for his audience.
The experiment worked: produced at a cost of $250,000, “Live at the Beacon Theater” sold more than 220,000 downloads and grossed over $1.1 million — enough for Louis C. K. to give $250,000 in bonuses to his crew and donate a further $280,000 to charities. Other comedians following Louis C. K.’s online trail say that they have been contemplating Internet-only projects for several months."
20 Comments:
I noticed the other day that Jim Gaffigan is doing this also. http://jimgaffigan.com/
I wonder if comedy clubs had Louis CK headlining on bigscreens, via the online download?
For five bucks you get an appearance by Louie. The comedy club could maybe charge a two dollar cover charge.
I wonder if this show is old material and would otherwise be sold on dvds?
Buddy,
No, I watched it and it's not old material.
Paul, thanks. That makes the premise even more interesting.
'Louis C. K., who stars in the FX series “Louie”..."...
Louis CK is a comedian?!?!
Who knew?
Fascinating. I wonder how long publishing houses will last.
"Comics Are Now Selling Laughs by the Download"
That is realy sad.
Juandos,
He's one of the top 5 comedians on the scene right now, in my opinion.
Paul, I agree.
Juandos is pretty funny.
"He's one of the top 5 comedians on the scene right now, in my opinion"...
Now that's a sad situation I find myself in but then again I only watched a few minutes of him (couldn't take anymore) in his television series...
Then again I didn't think Seinfeld was funny either...
"Juandos is pretty funny"...
Well especially to California liberals...
Speaking of California, did you hear/read/watch their latest stupid liberal trick?
Police to ignore California impound law amid concern of fairness to illegal immigrants
The Los Angeles Police Department will soon start ignoring California state law, which requires police to impound the vehicles of unlicensed drivers for 30 days.
The majority of unlicensed motorists in Los Angeles are immigrants who are in the country illegally and have low-income jobs. The LAPD says the state's impound law is unfair because it limits their ability to get to their jobs and imposes a steep fine to get their car back. (there's more)
Wow! No matter how stupid California's last stunt was, they always find a way to come up with something even more blindingly stupid...
Just how do they do that?!?!
juandos: "The Los Angeles Police Department will soon start ignoring California state law, which requires police to impound the vehicles of unlicensed drivers for 30 days"
Most likely, impound lots are full. Where to put more cars? When storage space space becomes available, things could go back to normal.
Keep in mind that the unlicensed driver may not be the owner of the car, and the owner must retrieve the impounded car, so the person being punished may not be an immigrant. It is difficult for an immigrant to buy and register a car themselves.
Be careful who you loan your car to, I guess.
"Keep in mind that the unlicensed driver may not be the owner of the car, and the owner must retrieve the impounded car, so the person being punished may not be an immigrant"...
Well ron h that condition exists because of a previous bit of politically correct stupidity on the part of California government, the lack of cojones to grab the illegals caught in these crimes & misdemeanors and deport them back across the border...
juandos"Well ron h that condition exists because of a previous bit of politically correct stupidity on the part of California government, the lack of cojones to grab the illegals caught in these crimes & misdemeanors and deport them back across the border..."
Ah. It's not so much a lack of cojones, as it is a lack of pesos. Immigration is a federal issue, and local law enforcement agencies have no budget for such activities, so they typically only deal with their own areas of responsibility.
I think they only deal with that problem when there's nothing else to do, and no donut shops nearby.
Were the Feds to fund such extra work, I'm sure they would be happy to handle it, if no jurisdictional conflicts were involved.
At least that's my take on it, based on a few things I've read.
The problem Arizona has had with SB1070, is that they have no Constitutional authority to legislate immigration policy, since the Founders gave that authority to the Feds in 1789.
juandos:
Actually that picture is of a device on the Mexican side of the border. That's how illegals get to the US in the first place. Don't you watch "Myth Busters"? :)
Louis CK is brilliant, really.
I mean, how many people take the time to point THIS out:
Everything's Amazing & Nobodys Happy
Thanks juandos for pointing out another law liberals choose to ignore.
It's time the rest of us get on board with this movement and start ignoring the laws we don't like.
As I mentioned a couple months ago, I bought Louis CK's special back then, but I have to confess I have yet to watch it and may never do so. It was more of a way to pay him back for his FX show that I had been pirating through torrents, plus to encourage more DRM-free sales like this. I wonder how many others paid up for these other reasons, like good will or encouraging this new model, rather than actually wanting to watch his special. I haven't watched a standup special in more than a decade, and I don't see why anyone would want to watch such an antiquated format like standup, when there's so much better and original creative stuff going on these days. Hopefully these comics will also take this opportunity to break out of the hoary standup format, similar to how Louis has been reimagining the TV show with Louie, rather than simply sticking their standup acts online.
"Ah. It's not so much a lack of cojones, as it is a lack of pesos. Immigration is a federal issue, and local law enforcement agencies have no budget for such activities, so they typically only deal with their own areas of responsibility"...
Well ron I don't disagree with this comment of yours but consider what I meant and I thought you might pick up on it when I commented 'that condition exists because of a previous bit of politically correct stupidity blah blah blah'...
I was speaking of the inordinately expensive results of the sanctuary city policy and thinking that would be money better spent kicking those illegals out...
RE: Mythbusters
No, I find those two unbearably boring and the little bit I've seen of them via Netflix some of their methodology a bit questionable...
BTW I'm with bob wright on his comment: "It's time the rest of us get on board with this movement and start ignoring the laws we don't like"...
Sprewell,
We obviously have different tastes. I love stand-up, and Louie C.K. is one of the greats. On the other hand, I found both of his tv shows extremely uneven, sometimes even boring.
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