Comedians, on the other hand, are relatively low maintenance. It’s just a person and a microphone, so getting back on the road is “just a heck of a lot easier,” says Kinken.
Social butterflies
This isn’t the first time comedy is having an arena moment. In the mid-2010s, long thinkpieces were written about Aziz Ansari, Louis C.K. and Amy Schumer taking over the big venues. At the time, pundits gave the credit to social media.
While comics used to hustle to get the word out about upcoming shows, a few million followers can now be reached with a single tweet. How do you think Dane Cook was selling out all those hockey arenas? “I remember getting ready to play Madison Square Garden,” says Cook. “I posted once on MySpace and without spending a dime on any promotion or advertising, we sold out.”
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Twitter and Instagram have kept the party going, and now we can add streaming to the mix. Netflix has a new stand-up special dropping nearly every week, giving more comics access to the mainstream fame needed to sell out huge locations.
So … good for comedy! Or is it?