I’m not sure who is watching all the video out there, because it’s not redditors or Tumblr users. Both sites heavily favor pictures. They watch TV by reading captions on pictures. And now they listen to stand-up comedians the same way.
Comedian Nathan Anderson started the r/standupshots subreddit after complaining about Reddit taking stand-up quotes, pasting them on photos of the comedians, and uploading them to Imgur. Then, like most smart creative people, he adapted to the new reality: He learned to treat these quotes as free advertising.
Well, first his friend had to take Nathan’s complaint and turn it into this:
(By the way, someone who calls photos of people “screencaps” is probably the right person to consult on digital strategy for entertainers.)
Anyway, Nathan made r/standupshots for shots just like that, and he convinced other comedians to add their own work. In under three weeks, the subreddit has earned over seven thousand subscribers.
It’s been featured on Reddit’s user-run “Subreddit of the day” forum, where Nathan gave a fantastic interview explaining the subreddit (including the origin story above). He also gives some surprising opinions about Twitter comedy.
Here are six of the most-loved stand-up jokes:
Brian Emond (174 points):
Adrienne Lapalucci (685 points):
Gary Fletcher (670 points):
Nathan Anderson (558 points):
Elise Roedenbeck (470 points):
Louis C.K. (428 points):
By Nick Douglas, photo of Louis C.K. via Facebook