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Who is that advertising up there at the top of the column?

It’s TheStandupComedians.com. At least it is/was until the ad comes/came down. Anyway, it’s interesting…

Paul Breau explains:

The idea for the comedy site came after watching Louis CK’s Live at the Beacon Theatre stand-up show. His DIY-style digital download site was a game changer. Fans could buy his comedy for $5 and do whatever they wanted with it. He wasn’t the first to do it, but he was the first comedian. And the idea that artists, even comedians, could deal directly with fans was very cool. Once Louis CK did it, other big name comedians quickly followed: Aziz Ansari and Jim Gaffigan both came out with their own downloadable website specials shortly after. I wondered if the same model could work for lesser-known comics.

We wondered, too. And we figured there’s no better place to advertise than here… after all, we reach a bunch of comedians and comedy fans.

We’re pleased to be part of such an effort.

It’s grassroots-y and it’s plucky! (And if there’s one thing we admire around here, it’s grassrootsiness and pluckiness!) And we’ve been wondering (quietly, to ourselves) if this Louis CK hoo-ha would result in the industry being turned upside down… well, it hasn’t… at least not immediately. But that’s not how industries get turned upside down. They get tilted slightly… then they get turned on their sides… then they get upended. And, like a piñata, the rewards spill out and everyone gains! (Sorry for mixing metaphors. But if there’s anything we admire around here, it’s grassrootsiness, pluckiness and mixed metaphors!)

And the folks at TheStandupComedians.com are helping to tilt the industry just a few degrees. And they’re whacking at the industry pi˜ata with fury… and we hope the candy is spilling out! They are: Erica Sigurdson, Graham Clark, Patrick Maliha, Ivan Decker, Dylan Rhymer, Charlie Demers and Ben McGinnis.