The Biggest Gatekeeper in Comedy Is a Piece of Computer Code

A.I. taking over jobs in the creative space is discussed ad nauseam these days, but one field that most people look at as uniquely safe is stand-up comedy. It’s supposed to be deeply based in human-to-human communication, both literally and emotionally. Something that even the most advanced A.I. models would struggle with.

I’d actually argue the opposite, however: At the current moment, A.I. has a massive influence over the world of stand-up comedy. It’s not writing material, and it’s obviously not performing it. What it is controlling, and heavily, is if you ever see that material. Though never built with stand-up in mind, the soulless learning algorithm behind Instagram specifically has become the modern kingmaker of the comedy world.

I’m not looking to relitigate for the thousandth time how Instagram has affected the quality of comedy. I’m also not naive enough to expect an ideal world. I understand I’m very much yelling at a cloud here. For Instagram to exist, and for the comics well-suited to get famous off of it? More power to them. What I can’t stomach is success or failure on a singular platform being used to gatekeep the entire pursuit. Being able to build an audience on Instagram, and parlaying that into bookings, representation and opportunities is a good deal, if you can get it. Denying bookings, representation and opportunities because that’s not where you’ve focused the overwhelming bulk of your professional energy? Now you’re taking food off of other people’s plates.

What set off my, ittedly already bubbling bitterness was a post (on Instagram, where else?) by comedian Charles Gould. The post was a bit resulting from a meeting with an agent where he was told, in plain , that until he had at least 100,000 followers, the door was closed. It irked me especially because the job of agents and managers, in my maybe childish mind, is to find talent and then help that talent find an audience. If the people who like to say they made people famous will only work with people who are already famous, well, in the words of Office Space, what would you say you do here? 

This isn’t just a sentiment held by small-time, jaded comics like me. Roy Wood Jr. echoed the same ideas in an interview with Variety, saying:

We used to be in a society where if someone saw your talent or they saw potential in your talent, they would bring you in, and they would work with you, and they would polish you: ‘Hey, you look like a talented person. us, and together we will find your audience.’ And I think the transition now is, ‘Hey, you look like you have an audience. us.’ And if that’s the case, and if it’s on me to go get an audience first? Well then, once I have the audience and if you’re making the show for $8 and I can make it for $6, then you’re not really offering me anything better.

These lines in the sand drawn over specific Instagram follower counts aren’t uncommon. Though some comedians I’ve talked to haven’t experienced them, and have met industry figures that (at least transparently) don’t require them, I know from firsthand s that many do. Some have been directly told they were ed over for acting or hosting gigs because their follower count was too low. 

This isn’t something that affects lesser-known comedians, either. Even comedians who have achieved what any sane person would consider success have been denied gigs due to not hitting a magic number. Jay Jurden, who sits at 208,000 followers, putting him in roughly the top five percent of all s on Instagram, told me he’d received the same ultimatum regarding a gig. Not to mention that with three Tonight Show appearances and a stint on The Problem w/ Jon Stewart, he arguably shouldn’t have to rely on a follower count as a demonstration of ability at all.

He also shared with me some thoughts on the landscape. Ones that I think hold more weight coming from someone who’s successfully conquered it, instead of an angry man mashing a keyboard in his apartment. He said of the effect the focus on Instagram has had: “Now there’s an idea that some of these places are just banquet halls where they beg people’s followers to come watch someone do undercooked stand-up, instead of restaurants where they present new and interesting chef-curated dishes — i.e., break new talent.” 

He also sounded off on the idea that Instagram has given power back to comedians, saying, “I’ll even add that a faux populist narrative about stand-up comedy currently is that the algorithm decides. But slop for 14-year-old boy brains who just learned slurs isn’t the goal of any good stand-up comedian, or at least it shouldn’t be.” 

I fully agree. It’s another common defense that Instagram serves as a tool for exposure. The fact is, though, that your ability to be seen, and the path to success, is still heavily dictated by what’s effectively a virtual executive, one with even less of a sense of humor than the flesh-and-blood variety. Arguing that an algorithm built for roughshod commodification is freeing us from the whims of the market? It doesn’t hold water.

Of course, the idea that the high-level entertainment industry isn’t solely focused on talent is a quelle fucking surprise. If you want to get good, grind it out in the clubs, where real comedy is made. Except more and more clubs are following suit, requiring minimum followers to headline. I talked to multiple comedians who had been flatly denied headlining gigs due to followers, at clubs that they had already successfully headlined in the past. Now we’re not just talking about Instagram limiting a comedian’s ability to succeed, but actively erasing past progress. Also effectively destroying an alternative path, further monopolizing its control over success in comedy.

Do I expect any of this to change? Not especially. I’m not sitting here still coated in the placenta from my mother’s womb, with wide-eyed hope that the world is a nice place. If there’s anything to be done, it’s probably, unfairly, the job of comedy lovers. Seek out comedy for yourselves, instead of relying on the prix-fixe menu provided you by your Discover page. Ask your favorite comedians who their favorite comedians are. 

And when you find one you like? Well, follow them on Instagram, I guess.