A funny Twitter feed does not a comic make. At least, that's what Wanda Sykes and several of her fellow comedians say. When it comes to the widespread use of social media, plenty of funny people have gotten exposure for their wit and even explored careers in comedy. But the question is, does social media really help or hurt the industry?
This is something Sykes and other comics -- Gloria Bigelow, Andi Smith and Dominique -- tackle during a roundtable discussion for Sykes' OWN special, "Herlarious."
"With social media and everything, a lot of comics [get] famous on the Internet first," Sykes explains. "Yeah, they might be funny on your screen... And then you see them in real life..."
"...It's a whole different thing," Bigelow finishes.
"[Social media] did hurt, in a lot of ways," says Dominique. "Sometimes I tell comics that haven't been in the business as long that they're at kind of a disadvantage when you grow up able to [look] somebody up [online] and look at YouTube."
For these comics, getting out on stage and being in the club provided them with a far different learning experience when it came to honing their talent and tweaking their jokes for a live audience. "You had to stand up there, flat-footed, and work it out for yourself. As opposed to if you could punch a button and look at somebody and say, 'Oh, I like that. Let me be that,'" Dominique says. "That's just not comedy."
Along those lines, Sykes shares her thoughts about being videotaped while she's performing. "You see a little red dot in the audience and you're like, 'Man, come on. Don't do this to me... I'm out here working some stuff out. This isn't ready for them to see!'" she says. "They're taking away what we do. Your creativity. It bugs the hell out of me."
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