Your TV Comedy Show Relocated

-

Ron Taylor, comedian. 
"Why is there a cup holder in the car if we are not supposed to drink and drive?"

Comedy. Humor. Laughs. Where do you find comedy? It depends on who controls the means of production. The government owns airwaves therefore, you need a licence to operate a television station to broadcast music, news, sports, entertainment, religion and comedy.

YouTube changed all that. Television stations no longer have the monopoly to bring us comedy because YouTube puts the means of production in our hands. It undercuts television stations because it is literally ‘free to air.’

Money that used to go to television producers, now goes to anyone who produces a successful YouTube comedy show or skit. They are quite popular in some countries because followers can relate to the content. It’s local. Some skits use both English and local languages.

Therefore, we can call it back-to-my-roots comedy. Once upon a time, comedy was determined by where people lived, how they gathered food and age clusters. Enter radio.

It took center stage for a long time because it is mobile: from room to room, the garden, in the car or ships, but every dog has its day. Television took over the airwaves. We liked it because we saw people on the screen, unlike radio. Not anymore, YouTube comedy is the new kid on the block.

This seals the fate of American comedy, rooted in the American way of life, produced by American TV stations and also sold all over the world. How is Netflix comedy doing?

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

No Air Miles

-
Image
I don’t have Air Miles.   I’m considering putting that on a T-Shirt because I cannot go to the drugstore (chemist) or coffee shop without the cashier asking me if I have air miles. We waited for about two minutes the other day, while this guy looked for his Air Miles card in his overweight wallet.   For what?   For a few points. I don’t have air miles because Mathematics is a foreign language.   I was never good in numbers. That is why I squashed the idea of being an investment banker very early in life.   I understand you can invest in cornfields before the soil is turned up or pork bellies even before a baby pig is born. That is how I view air miles, investing in tomorrow or the unknown.   I’m the dumb one.   Some people understand this air miles’ thing so well, I overheard one customer saying: I can even convert my points into cash. Points and air miles are the same thing in Canada and the U.S.   Drugstores or clothing stores even give you a card to collect point
Read more