{"id":300672,"date":"2025-10-13T19:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T19:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/300672\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T19:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T19:22:11","slug":"what-openais-new-platform-means-for-comedians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/300672\/","title":{"rendered":"What OpenAI’s New Platform Means for Comedians"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe next phase of the AI<\/a> revolution has begun.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn October 1, OpenAI<\/a> unveiled Sora 2<\/a>, the first social media platform whose purpose is to distribute premium-grade AI-generated content. Its arrival marks a watershed moment for the creator economy \u2014 and for the comedians trying to make waves within it.<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore Sora, AI video tools existed largely as technical curiosities, offering glimpses of what might one day be possible. Even the first iteration of Sora, introduced in February 2024, was primitive in comparison to the new model. While it demonstrated the potential of generative video as a medium \u2014\u00a0an entirely new content type that might one day take over the internet \u2014 sound hadn\u2019t yet been integrated, and the video output itself largely lacked in realism.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut with the advent of Sora 2, the future is here \u2014 and disruption is inevitable. Now, anyone can produce studio-quality audiovisual content from a prompt, collapsing traditional barriers of cost and geography. Already underway, the explosion of polished AI-generated content across social media feeds will shift the constraint among creators from resources to ideas: Whether you\u2019re creating a short film, a commercial, or what have you, a lack of funding or equipment is no longer a concern.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo Erik Hammer<\/a>, AI\u2019s intrusion into creative spaces is a disruption \u201con par, or even more impactful\u201d than that taking place when the world went from painting to photography, or live theater to film. A venture capitalist whose Marquee Ventures makes \u201cearly-stage technology investments in sports, media and entertainment\u201d \u2014 with the AI-powered animation company Animaj in his portfolio \u2014 Hammer sees AI as an \u201cunderlying technology\u201d that is now being built into the very foundation of society.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor digital creators\u2019 purposes, the technology takes two forms. \u201cIt\u2019s like a picks-and-shovels approach, where it\u2019s giving creators or IP owners the ability to do more than they have in the past, or it\u2019s being used to actually create content,\u201d he explains. \u201cOne is an enablement tool, and the other is a totally new production medium.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUnpacking all the implications of AI for entertainment would necessitate the writing of volumes. Ideally, volumes you could keep updating over time, given the technology\u2019s ongoing evolution at an exponential pace. So for the purposes of this piece, let\u2019s focus on what Hammer calls the shovel \u2014 AI as a production medium, the resulting product, and what its integration into the social media scroll will mean for stand-up comics.<\/p>\n

\t\tAI\u2019S IPHONE MOMENT\t<\/p>\n

\n\tDanny Frenkel<\/a>, co-founder of Punchup Live \u2014 a platform built to help comedians engage more directly with fans \u2014 likens our current moment to a generational technological leap.<\/p>\n

\n\tTaking the cell phone as an example, he says, \u201cEvery technology is kind of the same. There\u2019s a moment where it starts and you\u2019re just like, \u2018All right, cool. We have cell phones; we have a phone with us at all times, but I\u2019m still using it to make phone calls.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThen came the BlackBerry, \u201cwhere it was like, \u2018All right, cool. Now we can use it to send emails.\u2019 And then the iPhone launched and it was like, \u2018Oh, wow. There\u2019s a whole developer ecosystem that\u2019s making apps. It\u2019s a whole giant touchscreen that can play videos in super high resolution. It\u2019s got a GPS device, an accelerometer, Bluetooth. What is all the stuff that we can do here?’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe moment we\u2019re living through, Frenkel argues, is AI\u2019s iPhone moment \u2014 one where a profoundly powerful new technology is introduced that makes it impossible to conceive of where things are heading. If the iPhone gave rise to entire new economies of content and attention, he says AI is now poised to do the same. The leap isn\u2019t just about machines becoming more capable; it\u2019s about the infrastructure of the internet itself reconfiguring around human-prompted, machine-generated creations. This is to say that the social platforms that once depended on human creators for an endless stream of content are on the brink of transformation, themselves.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere have been [several] major shifts in modern [social] content, let\u2019s say. The first origin of content was individuals \u2014 so, you and I sharing pictures of our dogs,\u201d Frenkel reflects. \u201cThe second was TikTok coming about, when it really shifted towards influencers and creators. So, a lot of people watching a few people\u2019s content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFrenkel calls the current moment \u201ca resetting of content types where it\u2019s unclear who exactly is going to be creating the content \u2014 but what\u2019s going to be generating the content are these AI models.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor now, Frenkel acknowledges, \u201cyou have to use a little bit of your imagination\u201d to see where things are going with Sora and AI-generated content. We\u2019re \u201csuper, super early\u201d in the process, particularly given that for the moment, Sora 2 is invite-only. Still, AI video began its takeover of social even before the introduction of this new app. Those who do have access can now take their Sora creations and upload them to mainstream social media platforms, like Instagram and TikTok. And as Frenkel sees it, these platforms will \u201cinevitably\u201d soon be integrating their own alternatives to OpenAI\u2019s app \u2014 refusing to \u201close people\u2019s time spent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEXISTENTIAL FEARS\t<\/p>\n

\n\tFor most artists, what Sora 2 represents is nothing less than an existential threat \u2014 an automation of jobs and workflows that could very well leave legions of filmmakers and craftspeople on the dole. This is something that Hollywood\u2019s guilds have railed against, from the introduction of ChatGPT, to the WGA & SAG strikes of 2023, and up to the present. Talk of agencies vying to sign AI \u201cactress\u201d Tilly Norwood has riled up actors, with studios and agencies increasingly sounding the alarm on what\u2019s to come from Sora 2.<\/p>\n

\n\tA second big fear with AI-generated video \u2014 which extends beyond entertainment and into every aspect of society \u2014 is its creation of a world in which people are unable to trust their own eyes. Per David Nelson<\/a>, a veteran filmmaker and content creator who serves as Director of the Mixed Reality Lab at USC\u2019s Institute for Creative Technologies, \u201cThe uncanny is nearly gone, if not gone. So [it\u2019s going to be] really hard to distinguish \u2014 especially when you\u2019re looking on your phone quickly, not with a lot of discernment \u2014 what\u2019s real and what\u2019s fake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe quality of AI is becoming so good, says one manager, that someday soon, \u201cwe aren\u2019t going to be able to tell the difference, to the naked eye,\u201d between what\u2019s real and what\u2019s AI.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is something that should concern every actor and every comedian, alike. Already, Sora 2 has tried its hand at replicating stand-up clips, not to mention screen icons living and dead.<\/p>\n

\n\tA third concern with AI video is the degrading of value, when it comes to artistry. If consuming real, human-based art is like eating your vegetables, says comedian Liz Miele<\/a>, scrolling through Sora 2 is like downing a sleeve of Oreos\u00a0\u2014 \u201cempty calories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tLIMITED TIME & INFINITE CONTENT\t<\/p>\n

\n\tFor comedians, though, the immediate fear with AI video is less about being out-and-out replaced. It\u2019s about visibility \u2014 the ability to surface in a hyper-saturated algorithmic sea. It used to be the case that comics would use television appearances, like a Tonight Show spot, to promote their specials and boost awareness of their tours. But in our current era of cord-cutting, social media platforms have become the go-to vehicle for helping comics to connect with their fans. In recent years, it\u2019s mostly been about short-form video discovery through the likes of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, which serve as a marketing funnel.<\/p>\n

\n\tEven before Open AI\u2019s bombshell, culture-transforming introduction of ChatGPT, says Marquee Ventures\u2019 Hammer, social media platforms had become overwhelming. While they started out as \u201ca very powerful way to connect directly with friends and family,\u201d what they morphed into is \u201cthis distribution tool to serve up content that tries to sell you things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an age of endless distractions, Punchup\u2019s Frenkel says, AI video will now just be \u201canother thing competing for your time.\u201d This is not to say, of course, that this kind of content will wind up consuming the majority of people\u2019s time in the scroll. \u201cBut is it 10%?\u201d asks Frenkel. \u201cIs it 20%?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlready, according to Forbes<\/a>, AI-generated images constitute 71% of social media material. So, for comedians, the concern is two-fold. Emerging comics who have yet to build a solid fan base will struggle more than ever to cut through the noise \u2014 and even for comics with large existing audiences, this will be a headache. There\u2019s just no way AI content is not taking away a certain percentage of eyeballs from all existing content online, including that created by comedians.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe whole point is there\u2019s only 24 hours in a day. There\u2019s only so much time you can spend watching content,\u201d says Frenkel. \u201cSo if there are 11 million views on whatever Twitter video that was AI generated, those are 11 million impressions that could have gone to Shane Gillis. Similarly, if you\u2019re watching a long-form video of AI, that could have gone to a podcast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor those not buying traffic, the AI revolution may impact the ability to promote live tours and otherwise meaningfully engage with their their fans. Presumably, this would of course affect the moving of tickets.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlready, a rep said, it\u2019s been getting harder to get people to buy tickets, even with consistent social promotion. Uncertain of the economy\u2019s stability, people are being cautious with their money. This downslide amplifies an economic correction in the live space, following a years-long explosion of business post-Covid. So the comedy business is hardly in need of another wrench in the works.<\/p>\n

\t\tTHE UPSIDE\t<\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, Frenkel will be the first to tell you that the impact of Sora 2 will not be \u201ca tomorrow thing,\u201d but rather something felt over time. Live comedy is here to stay, sources agreed, and there will actually be a premium placed on this kind of experience amid the AI takeover, in the same way it was embraced when the N95 masks came off.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt also may be the case that comedians can find ways to benefit from access to AI platforms, making fun promo videos to get the word out about their shows that they otherwise couldn\u2019t afford to produce. Perhaps they can make compelling use of Sora 2\u2019s cameo feature, allowing users to create and build clips around a synthetic version of themselves. Already, I\u2019ve spoken with multiple comics who have tinkered with Sora 2.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI feel like every time I\u2019ve tried to say, from the beginning of social media, \u2018Nah, I\u2019m not going to get Facebook; I got a MySpace. Nah, I\u2019m not going to get on Instagram; I got a Facebook,\u2019 it\u2019s only hurt me, delaying the process,\u201d comedian Ian Edwards<\/a> told me. \u201cSo I\u2019ve been messing around with it. I made some Sora videos today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUndoubtedly, some comedians will make productive, and perhaps even lucrative use of new tools at their disposal. \u201cBut realistically speaking,\u201d says Frenkel, \u201cit is going to inevitably be a different group of people who are the best at making this new type of content. And so some time spent and eyeballs are going to shift to these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tNEW MARKETING MECHANICS\t<\/p>\n

\n\tFor comics, then, marketing methods will almost certainly have to change. To be clear, our sources aren\u2019t recommending that anyone get off of social media. Said a manager, \u201cI don\u2019t think that we have a strong, more guerrilla tactic in comedy yet for being able to sell tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut she and Frenkel agree that stand-ups will need to \u201cget more creative\u201d with their promotional materials if they want their business to thrive, embracing opportunities to foster a more direct line to fans outside of social platforms.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI believe that email lists, text lists and having a website that you\u2019ve created with strong back-end analytics is the strongest foundation you can have for understanding who your audience is,\u201d the manager said. \u201cSocial media analytics only go so far, and understanding where your audience is clicking in from, whether it\u2019s to sign up for your email list or to buy a ticket, is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFrenkel\u2019s Punchup Live is one resource that currently exists to allow comedians to engage more directly with their fans and assert more ownership over that relationship. Lizrd Mail, an emerging app from Miele, is another.<\/p>\n

\n\tArtists accustomed to juggling a portfolio of business accounts might not love the idea of adding new direct-to-fan channels to their rotation \u2014 more accounts to manage daily or weekly. But they may find themselves enjoying the experience in comparison to social media platforms, which were always highly imperfect systems presenting their own obstacles to success for creators. It\u2019s a relief, Miele says, to not have to \u201cbring the entire internet into the equation,\u201d instead making a direct line on Lizrd Mail to people who are already invested in her work.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI have 172,000 fans on Instagram, and I have a bunch on all social media. But in the last couple of years, it almost doesn\u2019t even matter because even if I have a video go viral\u2026 I had a video get almost 3 million views. You look at the analytics, only 30% of my fans saw it,\u201d Miele shares.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis makes her wonder, \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of following people?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tSOCIAL MEDIA\u2019S LIMITATIONS\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe mainstream social platforms\u2019 priority, Miele explains, is \u201cgrowth of new people. But also, you have to basically pay to play. I\u2019m giving [the platforms] free content so that they can hook people onto the website, and in exchange, I can talk to my fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn social media, she notes, you also have a very limited window to make a new fan and convert them into somebody you can engage with off app. \u201cIf you followed me today, you would start seeing my stuff for the next couple of weeks. And if you don\u2019t interact with it, you\u2019ll never see me again,\u201d she explains. \u201cIf you interact with it, hopefully we\u2019ll continue to see each other. But in that short window, converting them to my mailing list or to something where I can actually talk to them and then having them see a live show where I actually make money\u2026I think that\u2019s why people are liking things like a Substack, where it\u2019s an opt-in kind of culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s frustrated Miele to see the internet change in such a way that \u201cthere\u2019s more advertisements on the internet than there are on TV.\u201d It\u2019s agonizing to be at the mercy of constant algorithm changes, and the ability to connect with fans aside, social media platforms are not even ideal for freedom of expression, which is obviously at the heart of her art form.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou can\u2019t curse; I have to bleep out \u2018sh*t on the internet [or risk being demonetized]. That\u2019s crazy. Or bleep out the word \u2018rape\u2019 because people won\u2019t see it,\u201d she says. \u201cEven if you\u2019re trying to tell people, \u2018Don\u2019t go here, people get raped.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tPRO TIPS\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile we\u2019ll be walking into a new normal at a global level very soon, we\u2019re still near the beginning of AI-generated video\u2019s evolution. Every creator is learning in public \u2014 but for now, there are some clear takeaways as to best practices for comedians pressing on into the future.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat I do think is always going to be true is that great branding and great marketing is always going to reign superior, regardless of the kind of content that you\u2019re creating. Knowing who you are, who your audience is, who you\u2019re writing for,\u201d said a rep. \u201cIs it yourself? Is it your peers? Is it a completely different audience? What are you making and who are you making it for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe argues that knowing who you are, and what you alone have to offer, is going to be \u201cthe most crucial thing in making sure you stand above whatever the appetite is for AI in the marketplace, which I don\u2019t think is ever going to be high on a meaningful level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEvery comedian should consider themselves a brand, she explains, and it would be a good idea for them to orient some of their promo videos around their interests outside of comedy, in an effort to pierce through the internet more broadly than they might have before.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor example, if a comedian has showcased on their platform that they love to golf, making videos about the cities that you\u2019re going to be going to on the road while you\u2019re on the golf course, and making people feel as though they have a more parasocial connection to you, I think is going to be crucial to getting people to engage in becoming part of the fan base,\u201d says the rep. \u201cI always encourage comedians to get creative about how you can integrate comedy into other things that you love, because you\u2019re then not only capturing comedy fans online, you\u2019re also capturing fans of whatever your interests are, and getting integrated in those online communities, too. So you\u2019re building a fan base that\u2019s fully your own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhatever content comics are putting out online, she says, should feel like a teaser \u2014 \u201cbecause that\u2019s how you get people out to shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo Miele, the big takeaway for comedians who want to build an enduring career is that \u201cin this economy, if somebody f*king buys a ticket, puts on pants, leaves their house, comes and sees you\u2026 you need to stay connected with them. However you do that is your choice. But to not cherish that person, whether it\u2019s 10 people or 4,000 people, is a misuse of your fan base.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTaking care of her fans can be as simple, she says, as sending free stickers to people who\u2019ve signed up for her mailing list.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPeople that leave the house for you are a special breed of people in this world,\u201d she says, \u201cand you need to cherish them as a live performer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story originated as part of Deadline\u2019s\u00a0Comedy Means Business<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0newsletter, offering an in-depth look at the latest in the comedy business.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The next phase of the AI revolution has begun. On October 1, OpenAI unveiled Sora 2, the first…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":300673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,738,152959,152960,152961,152962,152963,152964,305,149317,30907,16994,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-300672","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-comedy-means-business","11":"tag-danny-frenkel","12":"tag-david-nelson","13":"tag-erik-hammer","14":"tag-ian-edwards","15":"tag-liz-miele","16":"tag-openai","17":"tag-sora-2","18":"tag-stand-up-comedy","19":"tag-techline","20":"tag-technology","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115368489751958149","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}