Epic Lulz: Creating Funny Content on the Web (SXSW Recap)
John Hargrave (Moderator), www.zug.com
Mark Malkof, www.markmalkoff.com – lived in IKEA for a week; went to all the Manhattan Starbucks in 24 hours
Jeff Rubin, editor of www.collegehumor.com
Rob Cockerham, www.cockeyed.com – specializes in pranks
Chris Wilson, cartoonist for web comic Cyanide & Happiness
I expected this panel to be kinda off the wall, but I was pleasantly surprised at how prepared and organized everybody was. Way to go, comedians! Hargarave asked each panelist to share their top 3 tips for successful online comedy:
Malkof
- Put together a great team.
- It’s all about the idea: Be original!
-Something that stands out
-Something you love
-Should be able to sum it up in one sentence (Think about it like a media pitch) - Think big; have a long-term plan.
Rubin
- Have a hook
-The reason you’d want to send it to your friend, beyond just the fact that it’s funny - Think Visually
-Rubin showed this “Luigi Finally Snaps” bit to the room and noted afterwards that the biggest laughs came from the non-verbal jokes.
-Even if something is text based, maybe you can make it visual – can you turn it into a chart? - Feel free to ignore comments.
-If even half of the comments on a piece are positive, that’s great!
Wilson
- Consistency
-Make something often
-Give people a taste of your ideas
-Get them in the habit of coming back - Publicity
-The Cyanide & Happiness team lets anyone put their stuff anywhere, and that has helped build their audience - Passion
-Cheesy, but true
-This is fun content, but people are working really hard on it
Cockerham
- The title is by far the most importnat thing
-Get a joke in the title
-Anything with the word “prank” will rise in search rankings fast
-Use “vs.” e.g. Shark vs. Octopus - Make the audience feel smart and useful
-Cockerham posted 2 different quizzes about book titles. The easy one got 4-5 times more traffic than the difficult one.
-People like being surprised at how clever they are. - Nurture relationships with link-keeping gatekeepers.
Other tips:
-When you run out of steam for fresh content — and that will happen — link to other people’s stuff.
-Regarding self-promotion – if your content is good, people will appreciate it.
Random:
An audience member asked the panel if they ever think about or are concerned about the lack of females in comedy. The panel – 5 males who had just finished showing a bunch of clips about video games and beer – cited Tina Fey as proof that there are plenty of female voices in comedy. Inspired by the Visual Note-Taking panel earlier, I drew a sketch to capture this part of the session:
