No aspiring comedy writer can resist a headline like “What All Writers Can Learn From Mitch Hedberg.” It was the crack, and I was Tyrone. And like all aspiring writers, when I read something almost as good as its headline, I read the bio. Author Nick Jack Pappas linked to new social network Comedywire.
Besides just being a good idea, I think Comedywire can be a treasure trove for marketers who need content (so, like all of them).
Comedywire is a social network for aspiring comics. From the welcome email: “Congrats, you can officially call yourself an early adopter. Yep, you’re early to the party. Go eat all of the guacamole before the rest of the guests show.”
I’m so early I was the first and only person named Cathy on the site, making it super easy for my friend Andrew to find me.
How does it work?
In Comedywire comics post jokes associated with today’s news stories.
Here’s mine.
People vote on jokes, and the cream rises to the top. You can see which stories are currently getting good jokes in Trending.
You can also see topics without their jokes.
Or just write jokes that don’t correspond to news stories.
It seems like a something comics built so they could more easily tell each other jokes online. In fact the email says, “P.S. In case you’re wondering we are a group of comedians and tech geeks. Worst Christmas party ever.” As an aspiring comedian and tech geek, I beg to differ.
So the whole thing is rather social. Find the most active users in the Funny People section. Follow people you like. Collaborate on “Top 10” lists where you, your friends, and the community can all write a list together.
It’s also a huge self-esteem boost. Most people are not funny. At all. And yet, some people on Comedywire are freaking hilarious.
Click “Submit” on Topics page to add a news story you want to comment on.
What’s in it for content marketers?
The biggest value-add for content marketers is all the funny people! It’s nearly impossible for brands to find and hire talented writers right now, for all the reasons I covered recently.
Comedywire, especially as it grows, will be an incredibly easy way for brands to identify pithy, funny writers who clearly have time on their hands and a desire to get their jokes in front of more people.
Brands hiring comics is nothing new. The problem is that brands don’t have time to look for the wheat in the chaff of fledgling funnypeople. So they end up fighting over the few established names, like Ze Frank and Jenna Marbles. Brands have a wonderful opportunity here to pluck talent from obscurity, to give funny people a budget and a platform and in exchange get great content and ultimately grow their audience and awareness.
That’s the entire idea behind Tidal Labs: Brands offer fledgling creators a platform, the talent rises to the top, writers get exposure, and brands get content and a community. But most brands will need more than a platform to get people writing for them for free. So they need to find the talent, bring it in, and pay it. Platforms like Comedywire make finding the talent a million times easier.
What could be better?
All that said, Comedywire isn’t a job board, though it should definitely have one. They should also seriously consider holding events, a la BlogHer, to train comics and to connect writers with brands. The most egregious flaw right now is that there’s no easy way to contact comics.
While we’re on the topic of the broken marketplace for writers, why in the everloving crap does Medium not have an optional Hire Me button for writer bios?
Anyway. Check out Comedywire. Follow me. Vote for my jokes. Find a writer. Hire them. Let me know how it goes.
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