During a recent episode of Stavvy’s World, comedian Michael Che joined host Stavros Halkias for aconversation that touched on multiple aspects of modern comedy.
The conversation naturally flowed into territory about content creation when Halkias described content as “such a dirty dirty dirty word for my pallet.” Che agreed, offering his view on the fundamental issue.
He said, “Social media is so smart because they just they basically created a network where they don’t have to pay any of the talent where they’re just like, ‘Yeah, put on free shows for our and we just have the infrastructure and we get rich off stealing your data.'”
He continued, “It’s crazy because the amount of work people put into their social media now is what used to be a job. And now they’ve successfully turned people into robots and now they’re just making new robots that are actually robots that are just more efficient that they don’t have to pay at all. And then it’s like well you’ve just created your own replacement. It’s a very strange world we’ve put ourselves in.”
The discussion then turned to the specific impact on stand-up comedy and the proliferation of comedy specials. When discussing his own special, Che noted the changing landscape.
He said, “I think there’s way too many specials, but I don’t want to be the old fat guy on the couch complaining about what comedy is.”
Despite his reluctance to criticize, both comedians acknowledged the shift. “I think there’s way too many specials,” Che said, adding, “I do think that we kind of turn specials into content.”
Halkias agreed, explaining his preference as a comedy fan. He said, “I think as a standup fan, I look forward to things that I know took time.” He elaborated on what happens when material is rushed: “You can hear what a joke cuz sometimes somebody would put up a joke and it’s funny but I’m like if you took that on the road for six more months it’d be amazing incredible and now it’s like burnt.”
Che pointed out how audience expectations have evolved. He said, “This is us being the old guys cuz the concept of burnt means nothing to anyone anymore. we thought is like well you do the joke on one place you can never do it right that doesn’t exist.”
The comedians discussed the ideal timeline for releasing specials, with Halkias suggesting three years feels appropriate: “You get a good year of sort of rest and and figuring out, living. You got to live. Gotta live. Then a year of touring. And then the special should come right after that.”
They also addressed how audiences have changed. Che observed, “I do feel like when I when I’m out there people are excited to hear new stuff.” Halkias agreed completely, noting that some fans now get annoyed if they see something live that later appears in a special.
