Comedy On YouTube

It is no big secret that comedy is a popular form of entertainment. Even in YouTube, there are comedy channels and videos with millions of subscribers and views. For example, the comedy duo Key & Peele and CollegeHumor channel each share millions of subscribers and views.

You might think: “YouTube comedy channels have millions of subscribers and their videos have millions of views. I should start creating comedy videos as well, then I would make a lot of money and become famous as well.”

This might not be your way of thinking but I bet there are many who have this kind of thinking. So this is a word of advise: “Think first if you are indeed funny and have the talents of a comedian before trying to make funny or comedy videos.”

This advise is true. Not may people are suited for comedy, but being a comedian or being funny can be learned by people who have the talents to become a comedian. For example, there are actors who are not natural comedians, but through the direction and/or script become funny.

And we come to the importance of direction and/or script in making a funny video. A joke or a funny moment is a form of written script which through the correct execution becomes funny. And how does a correct execution gets made?

None other by excellent direction, without this a joke or a funny moment would fall flat on its face. That is why more than the actual comedian or funny person, the director and the scriptwriter are equally important or more important.

If you want proof then consider joke books. There are no actual physical comedians or funny people involved in the books when you read them, but the words or the images in these joke books are enough to make you laugh.

So the first thing to consider when making a comedy video is not the actor, but the jokes and the sketches involved whether or not they are performed by actual persons or are just written jokes and funny images.

Even though you are one person team, you could still do comedy videos. There are enough forms of comedy out there that it is possible for you even as a single person to be funny and entertaining.

One Man Stand Up Show

Have you noticed recently that many comedians have been uploading portions of their comedies online? The most basic would be a still image of the comedian or some other picture while audio plays which is about the jokes or the comedy of the comedian.

If you are an aspiring comedian you could also do this. The beauty of this is that you do not have to show your actual performance while doing your jokes or comedy piece. You could be just reading from a script and people would not know.

And as previously stated, it is the delivery and the script which makes a joke or a piece of comedy effective. Later on, when you become more confident, you could actually show a video of yourself actually presenting your jokes or piece of comedy.

Podcast

Similar to jokes and pieces of comedy, a podcast can be very funny. I have listened to several podcasts of the comedian Bill Burr. One thing I have learned from Bill Burr is that satirical comedy can be very funny but also enlightening.

There are many comedians like Bill Burr who are good with satire that they can make a satire very funny without being too insulting. If you are not good at delivering jokes or comedic piece, then you could try a podcast themed on satire.

Cartoon Shorts

This comedy entertainment form is difficult and time consuming to do but if you search YouTube thoroughly, you would find that there are many comedy cartoons being made especially for YouTube.

A noteworthy comedy cartoon in YouTube would be the Spy Vs. Spy cartoons. One could complain that they were made by a big company back then which is Mad Inc., but one just needs to look at the cartoon to appreciate its simplicity.

There is not much audio in the cartoons and the cartoons are even presented in black and white. Another thing that you would notice from this cartoon is that the drawings are not too difficult to do.

In fact, when I was a kid, I used to make my own Spy Vs. Spy comic scripts. This is how easy it is to make them. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that this comedy cartoon is not popular due to its simplicity. Even up to today, there are still many fans of this comedy cartoon.

There is even the possibility of your YouTube cartoon to be discovered by a major television network. There is also the possibility of you being hired by a television cartoon company to work for them.

This is where most of the comedy on YouTube is formatted by indie YouTube channels and could be the most profitable of all the types of comedy content uploaded in YouTube. In fact, I am a subscriber of many of these comedy YouTube channels. Among them are:

Key & Peele

Although this is by no means an indie YouTube channel, it deserves a good mention in my list. For one, they are incredibly funny as compared to the Saturday Night Live videos I see in YouTube. This must be because their comedy shorts are as the name suggests, comedy shorts.

Unlike other comedy shorts from the big name comedy television shows, they deliver maximum laughs for the short time their comedy shorts run. I may be biased because they do have a big budget courtesy of the company that owns them which is Comedy Central

But what makes their comedy shorts so brilliant is the fact that in many of the videos they have, the comedy short is mostly composed of just the two of them. Their example is good for any comedians wanting to make a good video but only has a limited budget.

This means that by working as a two man team, one can effectively produce a good comedy short. Seeing them, I remember very effective two man comedy teams like Abbot and Costello, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and so on. Incidentally, they are called Double Acts.

But let us return to Key & Peele, they currently has 3.05 million subscribers and have a few videos that have exceeded the 20 million view count. One of their videos titled the Pawn Shop has over 25 million views.

What makes this video special to me is not the fact that it has more than 25 million views, but rather it was made with just the two of them acting. All they need is a pawnshop setting and themselves plus excellent delivery and a good script.

Comedy Video: Pawn Shop by Key & Peele

I can’t stress enough the importance of good delivery and script in making a very successful comedy video. This video by Key & Peele is just one good example of how you don’t need a big budget to create profitable comedy videos.

CollegeHumor

They are another comedy YouTube channel with over a million subscribers and many of their videos have millions of views. They have been around for such a long time now that even named actors have been guests in their videos.

Although they have few YouTube videos now because their videos are now mostly subscription based, their old videos as well as their few new ones still manage to pull in regular views from people who keep rewatching their comedy shorts over and over again.

Although they are not hosted by famous comedy celebrities and are not owned by a big television network, they have managed to create their own unique comedy brand based on a limited budget.

In their early videos and even the most recent ones, most of their comedy shorts have a company setting or are made in their actual office. This enables them to save on money by having their office as their main work location and prop.

This is not to say that their comedy looks cheaply done. Rather, they write scripts that almost blends with their office setting and props. In fact, one could barely have a problem with most of their comedy short being done in the office because their comedy shorts are so funny.

Again we see the power of effective delivery and the script when it comes to creating a comedy video. The CollegeHumor team has done a magnificent job at creating comedy on a budget that they beat out better budgeted television comedy shows.

Currently, CollegeHumor has 14.1 million subscribers with several of their videos having more than a million views and some of their older videos having several millions views. As I have told you, comedy videos tend to be rewatched over and over again, so it is no secret that many of their videos would continue to be rewatched over the years.

A good example of their successful videos is their CEO series with their in-house actor named Brennan doing all the CEO roles. This is one of their more popular series which has been done on a good budget.

Comedy Video: A Message From The Skype CEO

The comedy videos show only Brennan as the actor and a behind the scenes cameraman and even co-actor interacting with him. This is again a good example of how even just one man could be made into a successful comedy video.

Viva La Dirt League (VLDL)

This New Zealand based YouTube Channel has grown from its humble beginning as a comedy channel themed after video games. Now, they have multiple themed videos which encompasses games like medieval fantasy video games, PUBG, tech store based comedy and so on.

Formerly composed of just three men and one woman, they have grown to add more men and women into their comedy videos. Their production quality and props have also improved tremendously.

One thing special about this YouTube channel is the fact that they make very high quality comedy videos in terms of props and setting. This must be because a large part of their budget is spent on making these high quality videos.

They are also popular with the gaming community. If you are a regular watcher of their videos, you would come across videos where they state which game company is currently sponsoring them. This is proof that many gaming companies think that VLDL has a significant gamer following.

In fact, they are in a league on their own. So far, I have seen too little comedy videos being themed after video games. So it is safe to say, that VLDL has a good following of people who are interested both in gaming and comedy.

It is noteworthy too that even though they are from New Zealand, which many consider as a bit remote, they still managed to connect with a worldwide audience. If you read the comments made in their videos, you would see that they have an international following.

Why should you consider them if you are planning to make YouTube comedy videos? This is because they have a special emphasis on gaming. And gaming as a form of entertainment is the fastest growing one. It beats out movies and other forms of entertainment.

It is safe to say that soon, many forms of entertainment including comedy will invade the gaming space just like what VLDL has done. And so far, I have seen no other comedy channels in YouTube competing with their game content.

Currently, VLDL has more than 3.12 million subscribers and several of their videos has several millions of views. It’s worth noting that their videos are short. They usually last no more than several minutes, but are very funny and well done.

There is no doubt that comedy videos are one of the most popular video content in YouTube. As shown by several of our examples, you do not need to have a large budget or plenty of actors to make a successful comedy video.

What you however need is a good direction and script for your comedians. With these two, your comedians would be able to deliver a successful comedic performance that would make the viewers laugh and continue wanting more.

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